LeBron, D-Wade, Bosh almost beat Bobcats by themselves

There were a couple of sharks in the water in Charlotte last night, and neither one of them played for the home team. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James smelled blood in the arena, and almost immediately went about splurging with some devastating results. Miami ran away from the Bobcats in the second half en route to a 14-point win led by James (38 points) and Wade (31 points). Throw in the 11 points from the third leg of the tripod, Chris Bosh, and they were just one bucket away from beating Charlotte by themselves … It’s plainly obvious LeBron and Wade have finally figured out how to play together. Their solution? Take turns. After Wade scored 14 consecutive second-quarter points, LeBron finished the first half with a solo flurry to give Miami the lead. Then LeBron put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter with a sequence that included a 30-foot three (to beat the shot clock and a double team), a breakaway reverse dunk, and two pull-up jumpers. Wade added a few circus layups. The duo was drowning Charlotte so easily that the Bobcats were lucky Erik Spoelstra called them off early. And it didn’t help that Charlotte went one stretch missing 21 out of 22 shots … LeBron recently said he thinks he and Wade are already out of the running for MVP, but how can you really argue that LBJ isn’t among the top three candidates? In December he averaged 25.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.8 assists and his team was dominant. Plus guys like Kevin Durant and Kobe aren’t exactly setting themselves apart from the field, so we don’t see why LeBron or Wade couldn’t win it … Miami’s in-state Disney nemesis ruined the Warriors’ Micky Mouse visit in an eerily similar fashion, using a ridiculous 35-18 run in the third quarter to wipe away a G-State lead and cruise to a 20-point win. It was Orlando’s sixth straight convincing win, outscoring the visitors by 29 in the second half …

Dwight Howard (22 points, 17 rebounds) was a predictable beast against a thin front line, but it was his supporting cast on the perimeter that busted the game open. Gilbert Arenas hit a three at the third-quarter buzzer, and J.J. Redick, Jameer Nelson and Jason Richardson combined for 11 more treys. Amazingly, Orlando placed eight players in double-figure scoring, and got a triple-double from Hedo Turkoglu (10 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists, 5 steals) … At one point in the first quarter, the Orlando broadcast showed a few clips of some Warriors/Magic connections, focusing on the former partnership of Arenas and Richardson as young guys in Oakland. Then they showed a young Adonal Foyle, who now works in the Magic organization, playing with the Warriors and spinning into the lane for a reverse dunk. We’re still not sure that wasn’t an optical illusion. Maybe they accidentally threw on a Chris Webber highlight … Boston barely escaped with a three-point win over Minnesota behind big nights from Paul Pierce (23 points) and Rajon Rondo (16 assists). They took their first lead on a lucky bounce that resulted in a layup for Shaquille O’Neal with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Tommy Heinsohn further solidified that aging is a terrible thing by serenading the bucket with, “It wasn’t pretty, but who needs an oil painting at this stage?” … The Wolves made a few costly mistakes down the stretch, including calling a timeout when Wesley Johnson was on his way in for a breakaway dunk, and Luke Ridnour committing a travel on what could have been a game-winning layup … Al Jefferson won’t like it, but Kevin Love has to be an All-Star this year. At one point in the first half, Love was outrebounding the Celtics by himself, 13-10. He ended the night with 24 boards … Funny moment from the Hornets’ win over the Sixers: Trevor Ariza got the ball on the wing by himself, took one power dribble and was in position for a monster dunk. Or it would have been a monster dunk, except Ariza banged it off the side of the backboard … Other headlines from around the League: Utah held off the Pistons thanks to Deron Williams‘ 22 points and 10 assists, surviving a big game from Tayshaun Prince (26 points) and a potential overtime-forcing three from T-Mac (11 points, 9 rebounds, 11 assists); and Carmelo Anthony had 33 points and 11 boards as the Nuggets outlasted the Rockets … WWE Raw was in Phoenix last night, and Vince Carter was among those spotted in the crowd with a few Suns teammates. When Vince first noticed the camera was on him, he gave a classic Vince doo-doo face. Apparently he doesn’t even drop the heel character in public … We’re out like Adonal Foyle highlight reels …

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