1) Man, I have to be honest with you: I thought that game would be a lot harder. I mean, I thought that would be a battle, a war, an absolute slugfest between the best two teams in the East. As good as the Pacers claim that they are - and they do a lot of claiming - you figured this would be an outstanding game. But, really, no, Miami blew their doors off, dominated them all night long, and didn't even need a particularly great game from KJ James to do it. Hey, Coach Frank Vogel, see that pile of numbers on that desk next to you? No, behind our championship trophy from last year, I mean the little stack of numbers behind it, like the ones you use in the little calendars at the deposit table in a bank - can you go through those and find me the "18?" Yeah, we need the 18. Let it fly.
2) If you are gonna beat the self-proclaimed best defense in basketball (I can't lie - they are good), you probably need a huge night from presumptive MVP KJ James, right? No, not really. Well, then Dwyane Wade must have absolutely exploded? Nope - he was great, but just as much defensively as offensively. On this night, Chris Bosh and Mario "Emcee" Chalmers were ultra-aggressive, and together they turned this game into a blowout. Bosh set the tone early with 9 first quarter points, including a blow-by flush on Roy Hibbert and David West, and he also blocked an early shot, and set an uncharacteristically physical tone by chasing down Paul George in transition and stopping his dunk with a hard foul. He also closed the game late - made 4 straight jumpers in the fourth quarter as the Pacers tried to stay in the game. For all the talk the Pacers do, and for all the people who think that Indiana can beat Miami in the Eastern playoffs, everyone forgets: Miami beat them in 6 without Bosh last year. The Pacers pack the paint - having Bosh to space the floor makes a huge difference - 11-15 for 24 points, 4 assists - he moved the ball nicely - and 3 blocks. Why does he only play well in big games? Also a big game player: Emcee Chalmers. It wasn't just the 5-6 triples for 26 points - he also attacked the paint for layups, and generally kept the ball moving on offense. Terrific night for those two guys - obviously, when those two guys play this well in a game, the Heat aren't going to lose very often.
3) Play of the game: we're making this the plays of the game, and they were all Dwyane Wade. With time running down in the second quarter, after Indiana got into the penalty early and made a ton of free throws to get the lead down to 6, KJ James drove right against Roy Hibbert and tomahawked the ball on him with extreme aggression with about 10 seconds to go. Indiana got the ball into George who tried to weave upcourt for a last shot, but as he turned at midcourt, Wade suddenly flashed in front of him low, swiped the ball, motored the other way, checked the shot clock, and dropped an 18 footer in over Roy Hibbert at the buzzer for a 10 point lead. In the fourth quarter, with the Pacers still clinging to life, down 12, Wade aggressively ripped a pass out of Tyler Hansbrough's hands, drove down court, and found Chris Birdman for a dunk. Pacers' coach Vogel got t'd up arguing for a foul on Wade, Ray Allen made the free throw, the Pacers brought the ball back up court, and Wade immediately ripped a pass out of Paul George's hands, and flushed on the other end: +17, timeout Pacers, annnnd, ballgame! Six steals for Dwyane tonight (and 23 points on 9-16): WoW!
4) The Pacers, everyone agrees, are the dirtiest team in the league. They are an onslaught of high elbows off the ball, and pushes in the back. They also sit in the paint on defense and dare illegal defense calls - kind of proud of the refs tonight, they called 3 illegal defenses on them, that's unheard of. Also, every time they make a mistake, David West yells at the offender, shakes his head in disgust, and walks back upcourt - for some reason he feels the need to make it very clear he didn't mess up the possession. Like he's Karl Malone out there. What a bad teammate - lighten up, Tough Boy...So that's how they do. Early on in this game, Pacer guard Lance Stephenson held the ball out on the wing, and as KJ James pressed up on him, Stevenson swung an elbow and caught KJ in the chin, doubling him over. The refs called a foul - probably should have been a flagrant, it was a fairly physical play, but not as physical as when Stevenson threw his girlfriend down a flight of stairs in 2010. That's not a joke (at all), you can look it up. KJ was supermad, and so were the rest of the Heat, and they went out of their way to pound Stevenson the rest of the night. In the third quarter, he got middle off the dribble and Shane Battier, of all people, grabbed him by the arms, made absolutely no play on the ball whatsoever, swung him around, whacked him in the face for good measure, and then discarded him into the basket stanchion, where Stevenson stayed down for a good while. The refs called a flagrant, went to the monitor to review it, and replays showed it was even worse than it looked live action - it was a clear "f- you," foul. Then, somehow, the refs rescinded the flagrant, as Vogel went mental. I know the NBA claims refs don't take into account reputations, etc, but there is no way anything happened in that referee huddle other than, "you know what? Stevenson's been asking for that all night, let's take away the flagrant." In the fourth quarter, he was guarding KJ, and trying to pick up full court, and Chris Anderson kept coming up and setting early screens in odd spots just to hammer him. Finally, on a late missed Pacers jumper with the rout on, KJ elevated for the rebound, grabbed it, saw Stevenson under him, and absolutely drilled him with a forearm to the neck. Stevenson was wobbled, but gamely set off after KJ only to get picked off by another Anderson screen, with an extra shoulder that dropped him to the ground again as Chalmers nailed his fifth triple. Again - Anderson's screen was an "f- you" screen, it was absolutely outside the lines, and the refs were like, "ehh, I didn't see anything." Much like last year's playoffs when Dexter Pittman almost decapitated him with a forearm shiver, Stevenson went looking for trouble, and found it. Funny how that goes sometimes...
5) KJ was physical on both ends of the court, but with everyone else making shots, he didn't need to shoot much. He defended and facilitated, and had 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and 13 points on 5-10. He was patient - he was ready if they needed him, he looked spry, but they never really did. Quiet night for the MVP, many guys on his own team outshone him tonight. On the other hand, none of them have a giant chocolate life-sized statue being built in their likeness:
Oh, that looks delicious, if you like poop! Really, I just ate, I'm not that hungry for dessert, thanks...
6) I got nothing for you here, sorry, I did not plan a #6 for you tonight. How about a cool acoustic version of Bulletproof by La Roux? I'll be playing this on St. Paddy's Day in Palm Beach Gardens with great friend of the blog Snet's band - I know how much they are looking forward to backing me on it. Come on out and see me folks, I'm gonna put on quite a show! (if I show up - I'm kind of notorious for missing gigs)...Underrated great thing about this video: it's at something called the Ed Hardy Studio! Haaaa! That noted musical savant Ed Hardy - I wondered when he was going to start hosting outstanding musical performances. It was almost as if he was spending so much time designing ridiculously douchey t-shirts that he didn't have time for great music. Thank god now he does. For real, though, this song is ill:
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Next game is Tuesday against Atlanta. Miami's 18 straight is the longest streak in the league so far this season, one of the longer streaks in NBA history, and the one seed in the East is just about guaranteed. We're gonna have to lose eventually - haven't taken an L since February 1st. That's crazy. If you need me before Tuesday, I'll be making a giant life size marshmallow peep of Lance Stevenson. See you Tuesday!
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