6 Thoughts
1) Tough loss. Got down 17 late in the third quarter, but rode Wade's ridiculous finish (40 points, 11 assists, 5 blocks) back to a lead midway through the 4th, only to get beat by two late, bad-look Anthony Parker jump shots. Anthony Parker? Tough, tough loss.
2) A leading statistical indicator of really bad teams is that they get blown out at home. Decent teams very rarely get blown out at home. Can't get blown out at home - have to battle. Second night of a back-to-back for both teams and Miami definitely looked fresher down the stretch, battling their way back in a game that looked lost.
3) Michael Beasley in his first slump. Couldn't stay on the court with foul trouble and played only 12 minutes as Coach Spo played Quinn, Wade, Cook, Marion, and Anthony almost the entire 4th quarter, only pulling Anthony for Haslem late. Always tough to know when a group that has battled so hard and so well is gassed and needs help. Spoelstra gave this group a chance to finish it on their own, and they came up just a bit short.
4) Jermaine O'Neal with 35 rebounds in two games against Miami in the past four nights.
5) We at Dos Minutos make a good deal of fun of Shawn Marion, so tonight he gets his due. Scored 20 on 10-17, and added 14 rebounds. Even better, he held Chris Bosh to a 7-17, and only 1 free throw, primarily without help. Great night.
6) Rookie referee Eric Dalen spent his entire night asking for help, arms outstretched at his side. At one point Raptor guard Will Solomon grabbed a rebound while flying through the air, landed three feet over the baseline, and dropped the ball on the floor, knowing he was way, way out of bounds. Dalen, standing approximately 8 feet away from him, with no bodies in between, immediately threw his arms in the air and looked for help, as the players ignored him and lined up for the inbounds play. South Beach gets to a rookie.
