Dwyane Wade once said a three-game Miami losing streak would be treated like the world was collapsing, but even the most staunch Heat hater has to admit this current skid comes with an asterisk. LeBron hurt his ankle late in the loss to the Clippers (though that one was probably a lost cause already), he missed the Denver loss (the second of a back-to-back), and he sat out again last night — plus Chris Bosh hurt his ankle and left in the second half — when the Heat lost to the Bulls … Even if LeBron had played, the story line would have focused on D-Wade and Derrick Rose. Wade was back in Chicago for the first time since shunning his hometown squad in free agency. He got booed, though it wasn’t as bad as what LeBron heard in Cleveland or what Bosh will hear in Toronto … The D-Rose vs. D-Wade shootout would have been better only if they’d been guarding each other. With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Bulls were up three before Rose (34 pts, 8 asts, 3 blks) made what seemed like his fourth or fifth incredibly acrobatic layup to make it a five-point game. Wade (33 pts, 6 rebs, 5 blks) responded with a trey, then Rose baited Mario Chalmers into fouling him while hitting a jumper. The and-one put Chicago up five again, but Wade came back with another triple, and after Rose turned it over, Wade drained another three for the lead. Now down by one with 30 seconds left, Rose missed a J, Carlos Boozer missed a putback, and Kyle Korver corralled the loose ball and stepped into a three from the sideline for the game-winner … Talk to the Mavericks about playing short-handed. Dallas was 2-7 without Dirk Nowitzki in the lineup and took a four-game losing streak (without Dirk and Caron Butler) into last night’s game in Memphis, where Dirk made his return. And it was like he was still gone. Clearly playing cautious on that knee, Dirk (7 pts, 2-7 FG) barely made an impact in 14 minutes and was ejected in the third quarter for arguing with the refs … Meanwhile, his team got smoked. If you thought it was bad for Dallas any time DeShawn Stevenson is their top scorer, consider that last night it was Ian Mahinmi leading the way with 17 points. The Mavs had to work their asses off for every shot, and a lot of them weren’t good — they hit 32 percent from the field and went 6-for-31 from three. Defensively, Dallas had no answer for Zach Randolph, who posted 23 points and 20 rebounds …Read More>>
T-Mac left Pistons/Kings in the first quarter with what he later called a leg strain — and tweeted that he was just playing it safe by not returning — but his absence opened the door for Will Bynum to key Detroit’s comeback win … Bynum (18 pts, 7 asts) and Charlie Villanueva (16 pts) were playing out of their minds. Charlie V actually scored on a post-up one time like he was 6-foot-11 or something, and after Bynum put the Pistons up by four at the line with 18 seconds left, he skied above the rim and swatted a Tyreke Evans (25 pts, 11 asts, 3 stls) layup that pretty much sealed it … You make the call: After Andray Blatche hits a free throw, the Raptors are down three to the Wizards with less than a second on the clock but no timeouts. Andrea Bargnani is handling the inbound pass. Does he throw it to uncovered Linas Kleiza and let him launch a 70-footer facing the basket? Or does he go for the touchdown pass to Sundiata Gaines, who is at least on the right side of the court, but would have to catch and turn and shoot in less than a second, and isn’t even outside the three-point arc? Of course Bargnani throws it to Gaines, who couldn’t pull off the miracle. It was like Eli Manning on a 3rd-and-12 throwing to a receiver who runs a 7-yard route … Nick Young led the Wizards with 29 points, dropping 18 in the third quarter. When Young goes to KFC, does he get multiple buckets simply out of habit, even when he’s not that hungry? … When one of Toronto’s announcers said Rob Base would be performing at the Raptors’ next home game, the other one said “THE Rob Base?!?” like it was a Jay-Z/50 Cent double feature … Other stat lines from Saturday: LaMarcus Aldridge put up 27 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists in Portland’s win over New Jersey; Dave West had 26 points and 8 boards to lead New Orleans past Charlotte; Jason Richardson and J.J. Redick scored 21 apiece in Orlando’s win at Minnesota; Aaron Brooks had 24 points and 10 dimes off the bench as Houston beat Atlanta; and Nene posted 22 points, 7 boards and 3 steals as Denver smashed Cleveland, the NBA’s most smash-able team. The Nuggets scored 80 in the first half … Right at the beginning of the fourth quarter of that Magic/Wolves game, Gilbert Arenas was bringing the ball upcourt when the lights in the arena went out. For a half-second we thought The Undertaker‘s music was about to play and Kurt Rambis would be catching a choke-slam … We’re out like the DJ E-Z Rock …
