Eric Gordon, Dime #28

Apparently karma is is a b**** who gets you every time, even when you’re merely basking (publicly) in the misfortune of those who originally wished misfortune on you. The day after LeBron sent the tweet heard ’round the world, his Miami Heat found themselves doing a pretty good impersonation of the Cleveland Cavaliers — allowing the lowly L.A. Clippers to drop 44 points in the first quarter while shooting over 70 percent from the floor — on their way to a rare loss … Without Dwyane Wade (31 points), Miami might have been down 30 at the half. James (27 points) and Chris Bosh (26 points, 13 rebounds) joined the party in the third quarter, almost bringing the Heat all the way back despite another insanely great night from both Blake Griffin (24 points, 14 rebounds) and Eric Gordon (26 points). But then LeBron hurt his ankle and L.A. finished off what is so far their signature win of the year. If you’d only been watching the crowd and listening to the announcers, you’d think the Clips had won Game 7 of the NBA Finals … A sore ankle, an ugly loss to one of the worst teams in the West, getting his shot blocked by Eric Bledsoe — you have to wonder if LeBron wishes he could have that tweet back. At the end of the day, though, it’s not that bad. The Heat have still won 21 of their last 23 games and the Cavs still stink … Interesting question posed during the broadcast: Who is the best athlete in the NBA? LeBron, Blake, D-Wade and Dwight Howard were the candidates … The night after they devoured the Cavs’ beating hearts, the Lakers found themselves in the standard track meet that comes with visiting Golden State, and it turned into a one-on-one duel between Monta Ellis and Kobe Bryant … The Warriors led most of the way as Kobe played pretty casually, but in crunch time he entered Black Mamba mode. When Ellis (38 points) hit a three in Kobe’s grill late in the fourth, Kobe (39 points) countered with one of his own. Then he took Ellis off the dribble for a three-point play and a jumper before Ellis came back with a reverse layup. Still, Kobe was just too much, dropping another trey before finishing G-State off with some late free throws. By that time, the “MVP” chants for Kobe — in Oakland, mind you — were drowning out the boos … Down in the Big Easy, the Hornets needed and deserved to beat Orlando, but a couple of mistakes nearly cost them. Initially it seemed like N.O. was going to end it in regulation, but Jason Richardson (21 points) made two ridiculous treys to make it a ballgame again. The Hornets were up three on Orlando’s last possession of the fourth, and twice had the chance to foul Dwight Howard. They didn’t do it, and Hedo Turkoglu hit another three to send it to overtime. In the extra session, N.O. led by one in the final seconds before Dwight missed a pair of free throws and J.J. Redick missed a desperation three at the end …