Well… at least they didn’t blow a huge lead and lose at the buzzer. Seriously, it had to be a relief for LeBron James. His team is still losing, but at least he doesn’t have to think about another late-game brick all day long. You know things are getting ugly when the players probably felt better about losing by a larger margin than they had in their previous four games. I doun’t think this is a defeat that anybody will be losing any sleep over, and at this point that’s probably damn near as good as a win for the Heat. Man, this Lakers game on Thursday… be there.
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap: Chalmers goes behind-the-back to LeBron for the yam. LeBron destroys the ankles of Nicolas Batum. Hakim Warrick goes with two hands for safety. Jrue Holiday denies Josh McRoberts. Kobe Bryant swats the hell out of Josh Smith. Goran Dragic makes a nifty dish to Patrick Patterson. Gerald Wallace swats Mike Miller. Ryan Hollins with a dunk and1. Andre Iguodala drives baseline and throws the hammer down.
- The Heat got down 57-51 to the Blazers at halftime and never led the rest of the way in their 96-105 loss. You can’t really blame this one on LeBron… he dropped 31/11/8 on 14-20 from the field. You can’t blame it on Dwyane Wade, either… he scored 38 points on just 21 shot attempts. I suppose offense wasn’t really the problem in this game at all. They shot 51 percent and scored nearly 100 points. The defense, on the other hand, left a lot to be desired. Portland shot 50 percent from the field, 41 percent from long range, and racked up 12 offensive boards. Their bench gave them a huge boost with 41 points while Miami’s reserves scored just eight. I’m not going to bother talk about how desperately the Heat need some depth because I think we are all well aware of that. It seems that all three of the core guys need to play well for this team to win… and that’s never going to work. Chris Bosh missed 8 of 11 shots last night, and that type of thing is going to happen, which is why teams need guys who can come in off the bench and step it up. The Heat obviously lack those contributors. Speaking of Chris Bosh, he’s apparently unhappy with his role these days…
- This doesn’t really surprise me. Chris had a rough night both offensively and defensively (gave up 26 to LaMarcus Aldridge), and I could see that he was frustrated. This is the problem with extended losing streaks. When a team is winning games guys will be cool with their roles. When the losses begin to pile up players will want to switch things up, their ideas on how to fix things will conflict, and team chemistry will be damaged, resulting in more losses. I feel like a win over the Lakers this Thursday would be HUGE for this team. They desperately need an injection of some positive energy into their lockerroom. As for the Blazers… I’d just like to point out that I really enjoyed watching Gerald Wallace and Marcus Camby last night. Those guys are two of the hardest hustlers in the league, and it was cool to see them busting ass in the same uniform.
- Vince Carter dropped 14 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter as he led the Suns to a big victory over the Rockets. Phoenix and Houston are fighting with each other (as well as Memphis, New Orleans, and Utah) for the final two spots in the Western Conference playoff picture, and with this win Phoenix took a two-game lead over Houston. They currently sit just 1.5 games behind Memphis for eighth, but they have tough games againt Denver and Orlando on the horizon. Following those two challenges they will face key matchups against Houston and New Orleans. The Suns definitely have a tough road in front of them, but I wouldn’t put anything past a Steve Nash led squad. Anyway, back to last night’s game… Hakim Warrick dunked his way to a career-high 32 points. Marcin Gortat put up a huge 13-point, 16-board double-double off the bench. Kyle Lowry led Houston with 32. Houston led this game by 10 in the second quarter and held the largest lead of the second half (six) late in the third. Phoenix would go on to out-score them 34-28 in the third, though.
- Kobe Bryant passed Moses Malone for the sixth spot on the NBA’s all-time scoring list as he dropped 26 in LA’s 101-87 victory in Atlanta. Andrew Bynum had one of his best games of the season with 16 points and 16 boards, his third consecutive outing with 16+ rebounds, and LA’s eighth straight win. The Lakers are now just one game behind Dallas for the second spot in the West, but they will have to play Miami, Dallas, and Orlando next. With the way they’re rolling along right now I wouldn’t be surprised if they take all three. I’m officially going to predict that they win at least two of ‘em. I remember talking about how unconcerned I was with the Lakers’ struggles back when they weren’t playing well earlier in the year… well, this is why. Kobe, Pau, Bynum and company appear to be hitting their stride at the perfect time.
- The Other Games: Brandon Jennings and John Salmons scored 23 and 22 points respectively as the Bucks beat the Wizards by 19. Andrew Bogut posted a nice fantasy line (14/9/7), but did air mail a freethrow. Baron Davis did 19/5/6, but he took a ten-point L to his former Warriors team. Monta and Steph combined for 47. The Sixers picked up win number 9 in their last 11 with a 110-100 victory over the Pacers. Seven Sixers dropped 10 or more. Tyler Hansbrough scored 26 on 11-14 in a losing effort.
Quote of the Day: Kevin McHale said this on NBAtv when just a few seconds remained in the Blazers/Heat game…
“It’s all over but the crying!”
I lol’d.
Photo of the Day:
