Lets go HEAT!

March 29th, 2013 | By love not hate

For the first time in almost two months, the Miami Heat head into a game after losing the previous one.

Their 27-game winning streak was snapped in Chicago by the Bulls on Wednesday night, so the Heat will try to start a new one on Friday when they visit the New Orleans Hornets.

Miami fell 101-97 on Wednesday to end the second-longest winning streak in NBA history. They fell six games short of tying the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers record-setting mark, but the focus is still on a bigger goal than a winning streak.

“It was a heck of an experience for all of us to have together. We’ll understand, probably more so later on in our careers, the significance of that,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “It was never about the streak. We have a bigger goal.”

That goal is a second consecutive championship.

On Wednesday, the Bulls definitely rattled the Heat with physical defense.

LeBron James, who led all scorers with 32 points, complained after the game about two fouls committed against him that were not “basketball plays.” He himself committed a Flagrant-1 foul against Carlos Boozer.

“It’s been happening all year, and I’ve been able to keep my cool and try to tell Spo (Spoelstra), ‘Let’s not worry about it too much,’” said James. “But it is getting to me a little bit because every time I try to defend myself, I got to face the consequences of a flagrant for me or a technical foul.”

Chris Bosh had 21 points and Dwyane Wade netted 18. No other Heat player scored in double figures and Miami was outrebounded 43-31 by the more physical Bulls team.

The Hornets had a three-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday. The Los Angeles Clippers came to the Big Easy and won, 105-91. It was the second setback in a homestand where the Hornets are 3-2 thus far with Miami and Cleveland still on deck.

“I thought for the most part we forgot a bit about how we won these past three games – defending, moving the ball and playing with a level of force that’s necessary to have a chance to compete,” said Hornets coach Monty Williams.

The Hornets trailed by two at the start of the fourth quarter, but L.A. outscored New Orleans 26-14 in the final frame.

Eric Gordon led the Hornets with 24 points, followed by 19 from rookie Anthony Davis. Robin Lopez had 13 and Brian Roberts added 10. Starting point guard Greivis Vasquez went scoreless in almost 28 minutes.

Miami has won three in a row in this series with New Orleans, but the Hornets have taken six of the last 10. The Hornets have also won six in a row and 13 of 15 at home against the Heat.

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The heat brought the HEAT TO THE KNICKS.

March 4th, 2013 | By love not hate

NEW YORK — LeBron James stretched his arm above the rim, soaring high on a shaky knee and turning his steal into a finishing dunk as Carmelo Anthony hung his head near midcourt.

The Heat took the Knicks’ best shot, but it wasn’t good enough to beat the defending champs.

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Nothing is right now.

James had 29 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, and Miami tied a franchise record with its 14th straight victory, rallying for a 99-93 victory at New York on Sunday.

“We feel like this is one of our better wins of the season, even under the circumstances that we went through tonight, a little adversity being down double digits,” James said.

Dwyane Wade added 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Heat, who had to overcome a 16-point deficit to beat the Knicks for the first time in three tries this season. Chris Bosh bounced back from a dismal first half to finish with 16 points and Shane Battier hit all four 3-point attempts to score 12.

The Heat won their sixth straight on the road by controlling the final minutes against a team that had a pair of 20-point victories over them this season and looked ready to run them out of the building again.

But James shook off a third-quarter leg injury and was back in top form by the finish, putting it away by coming up with a steal and throwing down a dunk with 23 seconds left.

“Obviously, it’s great to win games, period. But when you’re on a win streak, you’ve got to find many different ways to win ballgames and we’ve had comebacks in the last seconds, we’ve had double-overtime games, but this was probably the most thrilling one,” Wade said. “It was the most challenging. For a team who beat us twice, they handled us twice and they were up 16 in the first half, for us to have the resilience to come back, find a way fight out this win, it was great.”

Anthony scored 32 points for the Knicks, who had won three in a row. Jason Kidd emerged from a lengthy slump to finish with 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists. J.R. Smith had 13 points and 12 rebounds, but shot 5 of 18 from the field.

“I think we are disappointed because we had an opportunity to win a ballgame here at home against the champs,” Kidd said. “So it’s something we can look at and get better at with those mistakes, especially later in the game.”

The Heat matched their 14 straight wins during the 2004-05 season and finally beat one of their closest pursuers in the Eastern Conference after dropping their first four against the Knicks and Indiana Pacers.

James landed awkwardly when he was fouled trying to catch a lob pass in the third quarter and was trying afterward to loosen his left knee or leg. He looked fine in the closing minutes, making key plays on both ends of the floor.

“His motor is limitless. I don’t want to take that for granted. I don’t just want to assume that he can play 40-plus minutes, but he had to do it on both ends,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Couldn’t get him out in the fourth quarter and if I would have tried, he probably would have strangled me.

“He was strong and was at his strongest after 40 minutes of basketball.”

Bosh tied it at 87 and Wade’s basket with 4:29 left gave Miami the lead for good. James then blocked Tyson Chandler at the rim and hustled down the floor to put back a Miami miss, making it 91-87.

The Knicks twice were within two, but James scored on a drive the second time. Bosh followed with a jumper for a 97-91 advantage, and after two free throws by Raymond Felton, James ended the Knicks’ final hopes when he stepped in front of a pass headed toward Anthony and broke in alone for the slam.

“They kind of walked us down towards the end,” Anthony said. “We made some mistakes, turned the ball over, and then that turnover was probably just the icing on the cake right there.”

James said he felt the knee a little bit during the game, but expected to be in uniform Monday at Minnesota.

The Knicks beat Miami here by 20 in their season opener and won again in Miami in early December by 20, even while playing without Anthony because of a cut on his finger that required stitches.

This looked headed for another blowout.

Kidd missed his 14 3-point attempts in the last three games and had been in a 7-for-49 slump behind the arc since Feb. 1, finally losing his starting job before Friday’s victory at Washington.

But he made a 3 early in the second quarter, then hit three more in the period. The Knicks rattled off eight points in a row to make it 59-43, their only concern coming when Anthony went to the locker room before the half ended with what the team said was pain in his ribs. He was back when the second half started and said the injury didn’t bother him.

The Knicks’ two victories over the Heat came during their 18-5 start, when they seemed championship capable. But they are just 17-16 since, and Miami’s a far different team now than it was in December.

Bosh had eight quick points in the third quarter after a two-point, 1-of-6 first half. Miami scored the last six of the period, cutting it to 77-73 on Battier’s 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds to go.

Miami finally caught up at 79-all when James nailed his second straight 3-pointer, stomping his feet forcefully as he walked away following the second with 10:04 to play.

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Lil Wayne admits he slept with Chris Bosh wife!!!

February 19th, 2013 | By love not hate

Rapper Lil Wayne claims he slept with the wife of an NBA player.

The star – whose real name is Dwayne Carter Jr. – told a packed audience that he bedded Adrienne Williams Bosh, the spouse of Chris Bosh.

The outspoken music star made the claim on stage as he hosted LIV on Sunday All Star Weekend edition at Stereo Live in Houston, Texas.

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Boasting rant: Lil Wayne claimed to have slept with the wife of an NBA player as he spoke on stage on Sunday

The 30-year-old then led the crowd in chanting: ‘F**k NBA! F**k Lebron! F**k SheWade! F**k Chris Bosh! And I f**ked Chris Bosh wife!’

It comes after he was escorted out of a Miami Heat game at the American Airlines Arena last week for apparently cheering on the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Paired up: Adrienne Williams-Bosh and basketball player Chris Bosh

In a Twitter rant he said he had been banned from future games too.

‘So I’m @ da Heat game right, rootin 4 da Lakers kuz dats my team & would u believe they got police 2 make me leave?! Wow! F**k da Heat.’

He continued to explain to fans at the gig attended by stars including Drake, J Cole and the Young Money collective: ‘The NBA banned me from all NBA events … because the Miami Heat told them to ban me.’

Other targets: Lil Wayne also made Expletive-filled references to LeBron James and Dwayne Wade

However, a spokesperson from the Florida team told USA Today that the performer was not kicked out but he chose to leave.

Also, according to multiple reports, a fan named Danny Vega said that Lil Wayne was kicked out for making gun gestures at another attendee.

Despite his apparent rage towards the organisation he paid his respects upon hearing that the owner of his favourite team had passed away aged 80 on Monday morning after a long illness.

He said about LA Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss via Twitter: ‘Rest peacefully Dr. Buss and may God bless your family. Purple-Gold.’

Passed away: He paid respects to LA Lakers owner Jerry Buss (pictured August 2010) who passed away on Monday

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Miami Heat Win NBA Championship, LeBron James Named MVP

June 22nd, 2012 | By

LeBron James’s decision has finally paid off. After defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 121 to 106 The Miami Heat are the 2012 NBA Champions.  This the second championship in six years for The Heat, who won their first title in 2006.

LeBron was awarded series MVP honors and in the final game “The King” had an impressive triple-double, notching 26 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. But the other story of the night was the superior play of Mike Miller, who went 7 of 8 from 3 point land and finishing with 23 points of his own.

Two years after his controversial departure from the Cavaliers, and nine years after entering the league, LeBron finally has the “no ring” monkey off his back.

“It means everything,” James said moments before being named the playoffs MVP to go along with his regular-season award. “I made a difficult decision to leave Cleveland but I understood what my future was about … I knew we had a bright future (in Miami). This is a dream come true for me. This is definitely when it pays off.”

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who cursed LeBron when he left the team by saying he wouldn’t win a championship before Cleveland, was gracious but reserved in his comments on Twitter, congratulating The Heat.

“Great NBA season. Enjoyed playoffs. Congratulations to Miami & OKC for an exciting Finals. Back to work on next weeks promising Cavs draft,” @CavsDan tweeted.

Kevin Durant was a superstar for The Thunder scoring 32 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, but he didn’t get much help from the rest of his team. Russell Westbrook was held to 19 points on 4 of 20 shooting after going off for 43 in game four. James Harden had 19 as well.

TheUrbanDaily predicted The Heat in seven games, but after handing OKC their first four game losing streak all year The Heat got the job done in five.

The Heat have several first-time champions including 39-year-old Juwan Howard, the last of Michigan’s Fab Five still active in the league and the only one to win an NBA Championship.

The next stop for LeBron is the 2012 Olympics to play for Team USA Basketball and competing for a Gold medal. James was part of the Gold Medal team in 2008.

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THE HEAT IS ON FIRE!

June 15th, 2012 | By love not hate

OKLAHOMA CITY — “Resilient” is not a word most people use to describe the  Miami Heat, but since I’m not allowed to repeat the words they do use, let’s  start with that one. In one of the toughest road venues in the NBA — season on  the line, world ready to pounce — the Heat were tougher, stronger and just  grittier than the Oklahoma City Thunder.

At the end, it looked like the Heat escaped with a 100-96 win in Game 2 to  even the NBA Finals. There was Kevin Durant, ball in hand, team down two,  releasing a shot he so often makes, and possibly getting fouled by LeBron James.  The shot missed. No foul was called. This being the NBA in 2012, it immediately  became the most outrageous bad call since British Prime Minster Neville  Chamberlain declared “peace for our time” in 1938, but really, there are worse  NBA calls in every game. If that happened in the second quarter nobody would  remember it by halftime.

The Thunder and Heat were not fooled. They know that Miami was the better  team in Game 2. The obsession over this particular foul call is annoying because  it just adds to the narrative that everything is handed to the Heat on a  diamond-studded platter carried by Jim Gray. And that was not the story of this  game.

If you can strip away all of your feelings about the Heat, good or bad,  hopefully you can appreciate what Miami did. The Thunder are younger, deeper and  just as athletic. But here was Chris Bosh, still coming back from an injury,  grabbing 15 rebounds, and here was Dwyane Wade, who might be injured himself,  putting up extra shots before tip-off and scoring 24 points, and here was Shane  Battier, who waited forever to go deep into the playoffs, sinking five of seven  three-pointers.

“We’re not the best passing team in the history of basketball, and I’ve let  people know that on my team,” Battier said with a laugh. “I’ve told guys, ‘Give  me good passes and I’m going to make some shots.’”

These guys aren’t the aging Celtics, but they aren’t young, either. They have  struggled to figure out how to play together, and to deal with what coach Erik  Spoelstra calls “noise.” Well, they are figuring it out. That doesn’t mean they  will win the series. But this looked like the team that Pat Riley envisioned in  the summer of 2010.

James was the best player on the floor, playing everything from point guard  to power forward. Miami’s defense was relentless and disruptive. Bosh said he  “absolutely” thought this was a must-win game, and Miami embraced that pressure.  That has not always been the case with this team. Perhaps you’ve heard about  that.

Miami led 18-2 and then tried to get James involved. The Thunder  played catch-up the whole way after that, and Oklahoma City almost did make it  all the way back, but oddly, that made Miami’s win even more impressive to  me.

I recognize that it might have looked different on TV. But in the building,  with the Thunder crowd going nuts and Durant also going nuts … well, wilting  would have been easy. The Heat sent a message to Oklahoma City: We will not  fold. You want this title, you’ll have to take it.

Now, back to that non-call in the final minute. A bizarre series of events  led to it. Wade was stripped at midcourt. Durant got a wide-open three in  transition. Then Miami did something silly: It bled the clock and let James take  a three-pointer as the shot clock wound down with no screen, no action, no  anything. It was bad strategy, because the Thunder would have plenty of time to  score anyway, and up two, Miami needed a basket more than it needed an extra  three or four seconds. Plus, James and Wade had been getting to the rim all  night. Sometimes the Heat offense doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Anyway, that led to the Durant shot, and the James non-call. But James still  had to hit two free throws to finish the game, and he did. He was 12 for 12 from  the line.

For all the amazing plays from James — the leaning bank shot, the bullet  passes to open shooters — the Heat cannot win the title on highlights. Miami  needs guts. In what is starting to look like an all-time-great NBA Finals, Miami  showed guts.

Once Miami built its big early lead, you knew the Thunder would make some  kind of comeback, and the only question was whether Miami was tough enough to  withstand it. The Heat did.

It was not a perfect night. Miami probably should have gone harder at Durant  when he had five fouls — Battier said they wanted to — but that could have  taken the Heat out of their offense completely, because Durant was not guarding  James, Wade or Bosh at that point. Miami could have played a little better in  the fourth quarter.

But champions don’t have to play like champions all the time. They just have  to believe they are champions all the time. The Heat can’t win this series on  talent. Battier said, “The effort it took to win this one game was monumental,”  and the Heat will need that kind of effort the rest of the way to win. But this  year, they know it, and they know how to produce it. And that is why they can  win.

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Whats up with the HEAT?

June 14th, 2012 | By love not hate

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Miami heat game 5, no win!

June 6th, 2012 | By love not hate

When it comes to the Heat, it doesn’t take much for Miami’s legion of skeptics to seize on every mistake, miss or misstep. Doubt creeps in, then cascades over this team for which it’s all or nothing.

Back home Tuesday after an 0-2 road trip in Boston, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra challenged his players not only to win the basketball game but also to win the mind game. To assert their will. To be tougher, burn hotter, want more. To match the intensity of the savvy Celtics, and turn it up a notch.

But the Heat could not do it.

Miami bared its vulnerability, again. Miami had its chances but could not capitalize, again.

The Heat blew its precious home-court advantage in a 94-90 Game 5 loss to fall behind 3-2 in the seven-game series.

The questions about the lack of clutch plays and players will come thundering down on Heat heads, just as they did last season. Whether Miami can ignore the questions and withering criticism as it prepares for Game 6 will be key in determining whether they can win Game 6 on Thursday in Boston’s extremely inhospitable GAH-den.

Miami squandered a comfortable lead inside AmericanAirlines Arena, which went from boisterous to stunned. Then, it allowed the score to ricochet back and forth in the fourth quarter. Big breakdowns followed big shots for both teams.

Yet when push came to shove as it so often has in this “good ol’ bar fight” of a series, as Paul Pierce described it, the Celtics had the last punch. The Heat whiffed.

It was another entertaining, excruciating game. Fans’ nerves are frayed. Players’ legs are heavy. Coaches’ brains are fried.

But this rivalry between the aging Big 3 of Boston and the dynamic Big 3 of Miami keeps on delivering irresistible drama.

It was closer than it should have been for the Heat, and then it was a loss it could not afford.

Now the Heat faces “a test of character,” as Spoelstra put it. “That’s what the playoffs are all about.”

The Heat is 0-7 in these playoffs on game-winning or game-tying shots in the last 24 seconds of games. It has had to work frantically to dig out of 15-, 18- and 24-point holes in Games 2, 3 and 4, and lost two of those. Game 5 was different, at least for a while, because it was the Heat with the double-digit lead. By the time it got down to the last 9.4 seconds, the Heat was two points behind. Miami couldn’t finish.

One of the Tuesday headlines in Boston — above a photo of James — asked “Worried?”

Yes.

The pivotal shot Tuesday came from Pierce. He played chicken with LeBron James. He dribbled inch by inch closer to the three-point line as James crouched, ready to pounce. Then Pierce made his move, bounced off his feet and swished a three-pointer over James’ outstretched hand for a 90-86 lead with less than a minute to go.

“We had an opportunity to come home and take the lead,” James said. “We have to go to Boston and take one. There’s no other way out.”

James drove right past Rajon Rondo and soared by Kevin Garnett to give Miami hope with his layup with 9.4 seconds left.

But Garnett, fouled by Udonis Haslem, nudged Boston’s lead back to four with two free throws — extending Boston’s free-throw accuracy to nine in a row and 81 percent for the game.

Wade missed a long three-pointer and the game was over. The series? Miami is now the underdog and must win Thursday to bring it back to Miami for a Saturday finale.

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Chris Bosh Will Decide Who Wins the NBA Championship

May 31st, 2012 | By love not hate

Chris Bosh could be the key to winning an NBA Championshp Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

While only two games in either conference final have been played, it already seems as if we have our NBA Finals matchup, as both Miami and San Antonio have looked thoroughly dominant.

The Spurs have put on an absolute basketball clinic in dismantling and discarding the Oklahoma City Thunder, making one of the best teams in the league look exceptionally average. Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and company are playing fundamentally perfect basketball, which includes everything from their defensive rotations to their ball movement on offense.

If any team has ever played like a machine, it’s the 2011-12 San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs are currently riding a 20-game win streak, and they are showing no signs of slowing down. While I expect the Thunder to take one game from the Spurs, I don’t see much hope of them reaching the NBA Finals.

In the East, Miami has recovered from a surprising 2-1 deficit against Indiana to rally and win their last five. Both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are playing at a level we haven’t seen from two teammates since Jordan and Pippen. For perhaps the first time since LeBron came to Miami, both superstars seem in perfect rhythm with each other, and the Heat have greatly benefited from it.

The Celtics have put up a great fight so far, but despite playing a near perfect game on Wednesday, including an all-time great performance from Rajon Rondo, they trail 2-0. And it feels as if the gap between the two teams is even greater. With an energy-draining overtime loss yesterday I don’t expect the Celtics to recover and win the series; at best, they win two games.

So that takes us to the match up we all want to see, or at least we all expect. The Miami Heat against the San Antonio Spurs. One team is based on two superstars and the other based is on the entire team. One team is built through free agency and one team is built through the draft and development of players. One team is built the new way through signing superstars and one team is built the old-fashioned way.

Parker, Duncan and the Spurs have made the playoffs look too easy Tom Pennington/Getty Images

 

Despite the Heat being preseason favorites, a lot of experts and analysts seem to be picking the Spurs as champions already because they have dominated the playoffs unlike any team we have seen in a very long time. One would have to go back to the 1999 Spurs or Jordan’s Bulls to see a team play this well throughout the playoffs. Basketball writers, such as Bill Simmons and Stephen A. Smith, have both said they don’t see anyone stopping the Spurs en route to the NBA championship.

However, Miami does have a not-so-secret weapon in Chris Bosh. Bosh, who has not played since suffering an ab strain in Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers, may be the player who tilts the title in Miami’s favor. With LeBron, Wade and company holding it down extremely well, any impact Bosh has from now on will seem like a bonus for the Heat.

But, for the Heat to use Bosh successfully, Erik Spoelstra should bring Bosh off the bench instead of having him in the starting lineup.

Much like what Popovich and the Spurs do with Manu Ginobili, bringing an All-Star-caliber player off the bench allows you to rest your starters without taking all your prime talent of the court. For a team like Miami that struggles to get production from their bench, making Bosh a sixth man could turn a weakness into a strength.

Another aspect of the game that favors bringing Bosh off the bench is his place in Miami’s primary offense. Namely, he is the third option behind LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, something that he and the Heat have never really been comfortable with.

Some people forget that Chris Bosh was once a Second Team All-NBA selection during his time in Toronto, and in his final season with the Raptors, he averaged 24 points per game and nearly 11 boards. All of this was achieved as Toronto’s primary option and go-to guy. With James and Wade on the court Bosh will never be the first option, but if he comes off the bench with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller, he will be the primary option.

Bosh’s scoring and rebounding of the bench could be a huge advantage for the Heat

 

With Bosh comfortable as the main guy on the court, he should be able to produce like he did in Toronto, while providing some much-needed rest and aid to LeBron and Wade.

Also with Bosh coming on as a substitute, he will be matched up against Tiago Splitter and Matt Bonner instead of Tim Duncan. So now, not only is Bosh playing in his preferred role as the main guy, he is also playing against the Spurs’ backups.

Against the backups, Bosh should have his way on the court, scoring and rebounding the ball easier. The Spurs often bring in Ginobili against other teams’ backups, and he quickly brings in the game into San Antonio’s favor. With Bosh coming off the bench, Miami may not only be able to minimize Ginobili’s impact, but they might even take their own advantage with the starters off the court.

Bringing Bosh off the bench has too many advantages for the Heat. With Bosh out, LeBron and Wade transcended to a place they haven’t been before, and their on-court chemistry has reached an all-time high. Adding Bosh straight into the starting lineup may upset that chemistry, which would be devastating to the Heat.

So by bringing him off the bench, the Heat are essentially maintaining LeBron and Wade’s synchronicity, allowing Bosh to steadily ease himself back in form and shape.

These are all advantages the Heat must consider if they wish to stop the machine that is the San Antonio Spurs. Without Bosh, I can’t see the Heat winning the finals because the Spurs will exploit their inability to score from the post and match up anyone with Tim Duncan. However with a healthy Bosh coming off the bench in the role I envisioned, the Heat should be the favorites to win the NBA Finals.

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Who turned off the heat??

May 18th, 2012 | By love not hate

Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat walks up the court after missing a shot against the Indiana Pacers in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in the 2012 NBA Playoffs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on May 17, 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Pacers defeated the Heat 94-75.

    Jonathan Daniel    /    Getty Images

There was a rending, tearing sound to this Heat loss, like when you hear seams ripping apart, or seasons slipping away. There was a frustration that boiled over in the third quarter as a team dreaming of an NBA championship was helpless to stop its own collapse. Coach Erik Spoelstra approached Dwyane Wade during a timeout, as if to place his hand on the player’s shoulder. “Get out of my [expletive] face!” Wade snapped. This is the state of the Heat today — angry, beaten and wondering what to do now — after Thursday night’s 94-75 loss that gave the Indiana Pacers a 2-1 lead in this best-of-7, second-round series. Spoelstra downplayed the outburst by Wade, like you knew he would. “That happens,” the coach said. “That really is nothing. That’s the least of our concerns.” If so, that, too, is indicative of a team reeling and seemingly at a loss for answers. Wade’s frustration was understandable after perhaps the worst night of his stellar career. Has anyone seen Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr.? Black male, 6-3. D.O.B 1-17-82. No visible tattoos but often seen wearing a No. 3 basketball jersey. Mr. Wade is missing. His shots are, anyway. And largely because of that, it now looks as if his team is in jeopardy of disappearing from these playoffs as surely as his shooting touch has. Everything was collapsing all around Wade here Thursday. A game. A series. A season. Maybe everything. And the most beloved player in the franchise’s 24 seasons was helpless to stop it. You kept waiting, right? You filed away Wade’s scoreless first half — the first of his playoff career — as some sort of bizarre aberration and kept expecting the second-half burst, the run, the shots to start dropping, and D-Wade to be D-Wade again, muting the enemy crowd, lifting his team. Nothing. This critical loss isn’t Wade’s alone but it is his foremost, after the whisper of an astonishing five-point performance on dismal 2-for-13 shooting. “It was a bad night,” he said. “There were a lot of reasons for it. I just didn’t have it going.” Wade still was simmering following the game. He was asked if he had anything to say about the courtside outburst. “No,” he said. It wasn’t just Thursday that led to Wade’s frustration overload. Wade shot poorly from the field in the first two games as well, and his series totals are now 18 shots made in 58 attempts, or barely 30 percent. Wade wasn’t himself Thursday, so Mario Chalmers played Wade instead, scoring a game-high 25 points while his mentor missed and stewed, stewed and missed. Wade has been the hero plenty for Miami over the years. Miami needs him to be again. Desperately, now. If LeBron James were shooting as awfully as Wade is in this series, he would be on a national rotisserie, being turned slowly by a hungrily salivating media brandishing sharp knives. Wade tends to get a pass because even he is eclipsed now by the shadow of James, the league MVP. But Wade’s shoulders are broad enough and his skin thick enough to take the truth: His poor shooting is costing Miami about as dearly right now as the injury absence of Chris Bosh. “He’s one of the best players in the world,” James, who scored 22 Thursday, said of Wade. “When you have a game like that you just move on to the next one.”

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Miami Heat falls to New York

May 7th, 2012 | By love not hate

Carmelo Anthony scored 41 points Sunday in Game 4 as the Knicks avoided a sweep and sent the series back to Miami.

New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony squeezes between Miami Heat players as he leaps for the basket in the third quarter in Round 1 of Game 4 of the 2012 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden in New York City, May 6, 2012. CHARLES TRAINOR JR / Staff Photo

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Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade unable to stop Carmelo Anthony in the fourth quarter.  Round 1, Game 4 of the 2012 NBA Playoffs between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks. Madison Square Garden, New York City. May 6, 2012.. CHARLES TRAINOR JR / Staff Photo

 

     Consider this one a stay of execution.

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Miami HEAT smashes down on those knickys!!!

May 4th, 2012 | By love not hate

Game 3 Game Leaders Heat lead 3-0 POINTS REBOUNDS ASSISTS Box Recap Photos 87 70 James 32 Chandler 15 James 5

Despite a team-high 22 points, Carmelo Anthony  was just 7-of-23 from the floor with five turnovers in Thursday’s loss.

Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images

Heat lead 3-0 GAME 1 Heat  100,             Knicks 67 GAME 2 Heat  104,             Knicks 94 GAME 3 Heat  87,             Knicks 70 GAME 4 at NYK, Sun.             May 6, 3:30 p.m., ABC GAME 5 at MIA, Wed.             May 9, If Necessary GAME 5 at NYK, Fri.             May 11, If Necessary GAME 7 at MIA, Sun.             May 13, If         Necessary

 

NEW YORK — This was no New York nick. This was a full-blown laceration, a  wound that left a trail of blood, necessitated stitches and, depending on your  sources, almost divorced a finger from the rest of a left hand. Three days had  elapsed since Amar’e Stoudemire stalked off the AmericanAirlines Arena court in  Miami and decided to fight the glass encasement shrouding a fire extinguisher –  the glass won decisively, as glass tends to do when pitted against bare human  flesh.

Still, Stoudemire’s injury was the talk off the town — “Bloody ‘Mare” as the New York Post splayed on the back page — heading into the Knicks’ 87-70  loss in Game 3 of their first-round series with the Heat.

Talk radio buzzed about Stoudemire’s “freak accident.” But really it was no  such thing. When a man — even in heat of battle/ Battle of Heat — throws a  haymaker at an inanimate object and suffers a self-inflicted injury, it is not  an “accident.” And this wasn’t freaky either. It was completely consistent with  the vibe of the 2012 New York Knicks.

For whatever else you might say about this franchise, it has a singular knack  for drama and Melodrama. In this season — the compressed variety, no less –  the Knicks may only have won 36 games, but they were the league leaders in  surreal storylines.

Consider: Despite acquiring center Tyson Chandler, a defensive stalwart, in  the offseason, the Knicks lost 15 of their first 23 games, often playing  layup-line defense. And despite watching the games in a newly refurbished  Madison Square Garden, the angry fans booed early and often. Life was bad.

Then, with the season slipping away and the team’s leading scorer, Carmelo  Anthony, out with an injury, the Knicks unleashed Jeremy Lin on the world  (literally). Life was good. Then Anthony returned, couldn’t coexist with the  authority figure, and the coach, Mike D’Antoni, was fired. By then, Lin had  injured his knee and the team was losing games. Life was bad. Under the interim  coach, Mike Woodson, New York went 18-6 and reached the playoffs. Chandler? He  ended up winning Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Don’t blame this on the tabloids or the ravenous New York media. Had these  unlikely storylines and undulating fortunes and wacky rhythms visited teams in  Salt Lake or Milwaukee or Memphis, it would have warranted just as much  coverage. And, damn, was it fun.

In sports, though, practicality tends to trump theatricality. For all the  plot points and hairpin turns, New York’s season is about to end with deafening  quiet. With Stoudemire on the bench wearing a gray suit and beige sling, the  Knicks lost to the Heat on Thursday and now trail 3-0 in the series. The game  had its moments — characteristic Knicks moments — including an 18-1 New York  run and a J.R. Smith dunk destined for YouTube. But the Knicks disintegrated in  the fourth quarter and have still haven’t won a playoff game in their last 13  tries, a streak dating back to April of 2001. (Perspective: This was pre-9/11;  when Anthony was a high school junior.)

If you needed a contrasting franchise, you could do worse than the Heat.  Having learned from the circus of last season, chastened by losing to Dallas in  the Finals last June to the delight of a nation, Miami is now a buttoned-up  outfit, one that doesn’t traffic in distraction. The coaches and players talk  often of “professionalism” and “business.” As in, “we took care of business  tonight,” a bromide offered by both Dwyane Wade and Mike Miller within minutes  of each other Thursday night. Then again, when the opposing team shoots 31.9  percent from the floor and scores 30 points in the entire second half, business  is easy.

This is another loss that reflects poorly on Anthony, who made only seven of  his 23 shots. Take these numbers lightly, given Anthony’s mandate to score with  Stoudemire out, given the four and six arms contesting every shot. But here  goes: he has now shot less than 50 percent in eight straight playoff games. His  career postseason record is 16-36, the worst of any NBA player who has appeared  in 50 or more playoffs games over the last 20 years.

Carmelo Anthony has been in the postseason every  year, but his teams have never made it out of the first round.

Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

Anthony, of course, was a postseason star at Syracuse, the main reason he was  picked third in the 2003 NBA draft (Irony: two picks behind LeBron, immediately  ahead of Chris Bosh and Wade, all four on the floor Thursday.) In his nine NBA  seasons, Anthony has made the postseason every year, yet his team has made it  out of the first round only once. This is a player who has now earned more money  for his career than Michael Jordan did.

And this season will be no different. The Knicks are a game from ending this  rollicking, bizarre and ultimately unsatisfying season. Was it a good time?  Sure. What it successful? Not really. Like the shell game they play outside the  arena on Eighth Avenue, there was a lot of motion and possibility and, finally,  not much payoff.

Where is the franchise, big picture? It still has no true point guard. It  still has no true coach. Outmaneuvered this series, Woodson is likely to keep  his interim status until Phil Jackson, John Calipari, Stan Van Gundy and  Lord-knows-who-else officially turn the job down. Stoudemire, the team’s  cornerstone when the season began, may be on the trading blocks, though his  value has gone down the mineshaft. As for the other cornerstone, for all of  Anthony’s dynamic scoring, it’s still unclear whether he can be the leader of a  contending team. The Knicks aren’t likely to build through the draft either, as  they traded their 2012 first-round pick.

After Game 3, no one battled any courtside structures. Instead, staring at  the ground, the Knicks filed out of their new locker room, issued a few  statements of disappointment, walked down the twisting catacombs of their  refurbished arena. One by one, they disappeared into a tunnel. Presumably it led  to somewhere.

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THE HEAT IS ON

April 29th, 2011 | By love not hate

Five writers tackle five questions on the Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat. Check out one of the questions below, where Rajon Rondo is a popular answer for key player to watch in this second-round series:

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