Posts Tagged ‘heat’

Celtics 106, Heat 77

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010


Meet Dwyane Wade, the angriest basketball player in the NBA. Possession after possession, Wade ran up and down the TD Garden floor, the Lone Ranger on an abysmal Miami Heat team. Where is his head right now?

  • Jermaine O’Neal: one for ten, two points. $23M expiring contract at season’s end.
  • Michael Beasley: four fouls at the start of the third quarter. Trade bait at season’s end.
  • Daequan Cook: DNP-CD. Only player under contract with Miami in 2010-11 besides Beasley.

Wade is a Finals MVP, an NBA Champion and an Olympic gold medalist. Can he single-handedly make this series competitive, or is he already thinking about the summer? When with the rage of the humiliating 2-0 hole in this series surface?

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Posted in Season 09-10 | 1 Comment »

Heat 102, Magic 108

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

The Orlando Magic defeated the Miami Heat 108-102 in overtime despite a poor game for franchise center Dwight Howard. Howard was plagued by foul trouble for most of the game and picked up his 15th technical foul for the season. His next technical foul will result in a one game suspension.

Dwyane Wade carried Miami through a dismal third quarter and looked to have made the go ahead play when Matt Barnes committed a touch foul on a Wade drive. However, Wade missed the free throw and the Magic wrestled the game away in overtime. It was the second consecutive overtime game for the Heat on TNT, having beaten the Lakers two weeks ago.

Most of the Heat players are auditioning for their spot on the 2010-11 Miami roster and Mario Chalmers and Dorrell Wright showed their worth with big fourth quarter plays. But both ultimately know that their tenure with the Heat will be decided as a matter of second priority when Miami go shopping for marquee free agents in the off season.

Get ready for the playoffs by using the NBA Scoreboard 2010 addon for Firefox.

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Posted in Season 09-10 | No Comments »

Suns 108, Jazz 116

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

The Utah Jazz rallied on the road to storm past the Phoenix Suns in the 4th quarter for a 116-108 win. The Suns, playing their fourth game in five nights, could not shut down Utah from beyond the arch who went 12-24. Mehmet Okur landed the final 3-pt blow as the shot clock expired and with the Jazz leading by one, putting them ahead for good.

The Suns’ 10 point lead unraveled spectacularly. Williams hit back to back threes after sitting most of the 2nd quarter with foul trouble. Phoenix tried to match Utah but ill-advised shots from Frye and Richardson gifted the Jazz with the stretch momentum. Then suddenly the game was over and Phoenix had lost.

Phoenix plays the next six games at home and must win five of them to keep themselves away from the dreaded 8th seed and a first round matchup against the Lakers. Hopefully Dragic will return to ease the load on Hill and Nash – the two veterans cannot run this team in tandem.

Follow all the NBA action with the NBA Scoreboard 2010 addon for Firefox.

Heat 114, Lakers 111

The Miami Heat held off the LA Lakers in a thrilling overtime game in Miami. With over thirty lead changes – the most in the NBA so far this season – it was Dwyane Wade who had the final say after Kobe Bryant dominated the end of regulation and the start of the extra period.

The question that I asked watching this one was, “What is Jermaine O’Neal’s future in the NBA?” His contribution was far from steady as he:

  • Stepped out to set a screen on a critical possession but instead drew an offensive foul.
  • Caught a lob from Wade near the bucket on a critical possession and finished softly for two.
  • Goal-tended a fast-break layup on a critical possession.
  • Drew a charge on Kobe on a critical possession that ended up grounding the Lakers for good.

O’Neal is off contract with the Heat and has a number of factors to consider. He can still compete at a high level, but not on every possession. Can a team afford this inconsistency from its starting center? Will Miami sign some big name free agents and force O’Neal to look for a job elsewhere? And if so, with lots of teams with cap room, will he end up with a bigger contract than necessary because someone can spend?

What future do you see for Jermaine O’Neal?

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Posted in Season 09-10 | No Comments »

Clippers 104, Sixers 88

Monday, January 4th, 2010

The Los Angeles Clippers overcame the Philadelphia 76ers 104-88 in a game that lived up to my expectations. The revelation of the game for me was Chris Kaman, who is one of only three players this season averaging twenty and nine. (Chris Bosh and Zach Randolph are the other two.) Kaman finished with 26 and 10 after being troubled by the defence of Samuel Dalembert early.

The game itself was not gripping enough to keep me entertained, so I started playing a look-a-like game with the players. It wasn’t a very entertaining game either, but I do think that the winner is Chris Kaman, whose mug shot could easily lead your regular Aussie bloke to think that rugby league star Darren Lockyer had grown 30cm, put on 30kg and and signed a contract worth an extra $30 million.

Surely Blake Griffin will be back in time for the Denver game on January 22.

Spurs 108, Heat 78

The San Antonio Spurs crushed the Miami Heat in a 30 point blowout at home on New Year’s Eve. Despite a fast start by Michael Beasley, with 20 first half points, the Heat faded badly in the third quarter under the pressure of the Spurs’ defence. Dwyane Wade spent the entire fourth quarter on the bench, finishing with just sixteen points and seven turnovers.

More concerning for Heat fans is that this was another game when Wade’s demeanour on the bench and not his play on the court was the focus of TNT’s cameras. With every addition to the Spurs’ lead, with every wild Heat pass to a spectator, with every uncontested Spurs’ layup, the displeasure on Wade’s face grew. It seems that the off season free agency of 2010 is destined to be the defining period for the Heat franchise in this next decade. Can Miami build a championship team around Dwyane Wade?

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Posted in Season 09-10 | 1 Comment »

Lakers 121, Suns 102

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

As a Suns fan, it was hard to watch Phoenix get smacked down in L.A. 121-102 on One HD on Friday. Behind 26 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks from Andrew Bynum, the Lakers ripped the heart out of the Suns’ 7-1 start to the season.

Bynum blocks NashWatching Bynum, one word comes to mind. Patience. The Lakers finished eleventh in the Western Conference in 2004-05 season. Kobe Bryant could only manage All-NBA Third Team and the MVP was one Steve Nash. With the 10th pick in the 2005 draft, the Lakers took Andrew Bynum and he became (at the time) the youngest player to ever play in the NBA. No-one outside of the Lakers’ front office believed in the pick, and certainly not Kobe, who would have loved to turn Bynum into Jason Kidd. But times have changed.

Bynum, with size and power, dispelled any ideas that the Suns can match it with the best in the NBA. Too tall and too strong, I watched Bynum running the court and I thought, “How do the Lakers manage to get a guy like this?” Patience. Now the Lakers have a genuine player in the middle,  and a player who Bryant needs if he is going to win more championships. And all the Lakers had to do was simply… wait.

Thankfully, the Suns have two chances next week to put in a better showing than the 36.5% brickfest that I endured today.

Follow all the NBA action this season with the NBA Scoreboard addon for Firefox

Heat 104, Cavs 111

The Cleveland Cavaliers completed an important one-two punch by defeating the Miami Heat 111-104 on Thursday night. Having beaten the Orlando Magic in their previous game, the Cavs are building some early momentum after a poor start to the new season.

Wade over VarejaoThere was however only one talking point from the game. In the first quarter, Lebron James drove to the hoop and had his dunk blocked by Jermaine O’Neal. Dwyane Wade calmly collected the loose ball, pushed up the court and surprised Anderson Varejao at the rim with the dunk of the season. In fact, it was one of the most explosive in-your-face dunks that I have ever seen.

If dunking over Alonso Mourning was Vince Carter’s biggest dunk, then Wade has already topped him with this effort. You only need to watch how hard Varejao hit the floor to see that this dunk was huge.

What is the biggest facial dunk that you remember?

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Posted in Season 09-10 | 1 Comment »