Heatwave in Houston Spoelstra Joins James, Wade, Bosh

With the win yesterday over the Toronto Raptors, the Heat locked up the best record in the Eastern Conference and punched tickets for Erik Spoelstra and the rest of his staff to head to Houston to run the East’s all star team.

Spoelstra becomes the 2nd Heat coach ever to manage the all star tea – the first being Stan Van Gundy back in 2005, when Spoelstra was an assistant on Van Gundy’s staff.

The Heat edged out the Knicks by half a game while the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich will coach the West’s team when the two teams square off in Houston on February 17th.

The main focus for Spo’s all star duties will be to name the starters but also to find a replacement for injured Boston point guard Rajon Rondo. There is speculation that he will try to find a way to get Chris Bosh into the starting lineup. “Look, I’ve only given this thought for the last nine minutes, but I will tell you this, unequivocally, that my loyalties, first and foremost are always with the Miami Heat,” Spoelstra hinted. The last time three players from the same team started in an all star game was 1990 with the Lakers represented by Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and A.C. Green.