When Miami plays like they did last night against the Spurs, you can see why people get all fired up and revert back to the hyperbole they used when they would talk about the Miami in the offseason. They’ll win 70 games! It’s not “Will they win a title?” It’s “How many?” The Heat looked great last night, destroying San Antonio 110-80. Miami was faster to the ball, faster on the break, better on defense and just in attack mode all night long … Case in point: The Spurs were battling their way back into the game in the third quarter, chipping away at the lead. Then on back-to-back possessions Dwyane Wade (29 points) got a defensive board and raced down the floor to toss an alley oop to LeBron (21, eight dimes, six boards). The next play saw LeBron get a rebound and fire a perfect outlet strike to Wade for a breakaway dunk. It was like two haymakers landing flush on the Spurs’ chin for a knockout, pushing the lead back to 20. Ballgame … LeBron’s numbers were nice, but really Wade and Chris Bosh (30 and 12) led the way. It’s interesting that the Heat always seem to win when Bosh has a big game. It’s almost like because LeBron and Wade’s games are so similar, when they are both on, the Heat are too one-dimensional – everyone stands around to watch them drive to the hoop. Having Bosh on and invested in the game gives them a different look. Maybe there’s something to his whining other than just wanting his numbers … Did we really hear Hubie Brown say that Manu Ginobili‘s reputation as a flopper is “debatable?” Come on now Hubie, you’re way too old school for that. You would have wanted to strangle a player back in the day if they pulled the nonsense that Ginobili does every single night … We were cracking up during the game when we saw this tweet from ESPN radio host Ryen Rusillo about the Spurs’ Steve Novak: “hey whats up ladies, I’m Steve Novak, I had to guard Lebron a few times on a switch, then I dribbled the ball off my foot, you on myspace?” We can’t speak on the MySpace thing, but the rest is fairly accurate … Read More: A great “pause” from Dwight Howard on National TV, karma bites the Warriors and what’s the Celtics’ problem?
The Lakers beat up the Magic in L.A., 97-84. Kobe was a game-time decision because of the ankle injury he suffered the other night, but he still started and dropped 16 on 7-19 shooting. The real story though was Andrew Bynum. He only shot 3-10 from the field, but came away with 10 points, 18 boards and four blocks. Of more significance though, he was able to keep Dwight Howard in check. Dwight still got 22 and 15 boards, but Bynum’s physicality clearly had an effect on Howard – it felt like he was under control the entire game … Dwight had us laughing when he stopped to give his halftime interview with ESPN’s Lisa Salters. She asked him about how he was dealing with Andrew Bynum, to which Dwight replied trying to not to break up on National TV, “He’s very long … pause.” … After suffocating Milwaukee on Sunday night, holding them to a shot clock era-record low off 55 points, the Boston Celtics didn’t look much better than the Bucks last night in New Jersey. Boston failed to crack 90 points for the fourth time in five games as they lost to the Nets 88-79. So what’s going on? Are they just too old and are dragging during a tough part of the season? Are they bored? There was one time in the first half when Paul Pierce was on the bench and the TV cameras showed him staring into space for several minutes. There was nobody home … There was definitely one play where Pierce was locked in: took the ball through the defense from beyond the three-point line and hammered it home for one of his multiple turn-back-the-clock dunks this season … The Nets’ Kris Humphries continued his run of impressive double-doubles with 16 points and 15 rebounds. We caught Rick Kamla in the NBA TV studio after the game yelling at Dennis Scott, “[The Nets] have to give him money! They have to lock him up!” … The Thunder continued their massacre of Eastern Conference teams last by trouncing the Wizards 116-89 in D.C. They’ve beaten Philly, Cleveland, Detroit, and now Washington in consecutive games … Kevin Durant dropped a light 32 and Kendrick Perkins made his OKC debut with six points and nine rebounds in 20 minutes of action … Chris Paul has been great since his return from a head injury. Last night against the Nuggets, it took two guards to outplay him. Raymond Felton (22 and 12 assists) and Ty Lawson (23 and 10 assists) were great, leading Denver to a 114-103 W that included 17 threes from the Nuggets. CP3 had 27 points, 10 dimes and seven steals … In Utah, the Sixers were down 18 at halftime to a Jazz squad that was missing Paul Milsap and Gordon Heyward. Philly came storming back, took the lead with under a minute to go, gave up the lead, and went to overtime where they suddenly forgot how to play basketball. A few bad shots, a few turnovers and the monster that is Al Jefferson and his 30 points and 17 boards later, and the Sixers were losers … We put on Golden State/Sacramento with seven minutes to go in the first quarter to find the Kings up 19-3. Maybe it was some karma for this? Either way, the Warriors took the loss, 129-119. Marcus Thornton had a career-high 42 … We’re out like giving Kris Humphries big money…
