6 Thoughts
1) Look - it was a bad game. For the second time in a row these two teams played each other on the second night of a back-to-back. Also, for the second time in Miami this season, both Devin Harris and Shawn Marion missed the same game. One wouldn't wonder about that normally, but after Bad Santa's `tryst' with Hedo Turkoglu last night, and with Devin Harris also a Western conference refugee, one might wonder if they have a `special' friendship. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The Nets had been 4-0 in overtime games this season, and seem to have won a disproportionate percentage of close games. At some point, they have to regress to the mean, one would think. It is a matter of statistical fact that good teams teams don't win close games with significantly more frequency than bad teams - it is the larger wins that separate them. Also, `close game success' doesn't transfer from season to season. In a general sense, it is an anomaly. In any case, 3 times in 32 games is enough Nets for me for a while. Each game has been a grind - somehow the pairing doesn't make for aesthetically pleasing basketball.
2) Dwyane Wade suffered through one of his worst games of the year for three and a half quarters. Similar to the first New Jersey game in Miami earlier this season. Came to life defensively in the fourth quarter and overtime, blocking a Brooks Lopez layup, a Vince Carter runner, then a Brooks Lopez dunk - all huge, game-changing plays. He is Miami's only defensive intimidator around the rim. And he's 6'4". Generated just enough offense - usually 1 on 3 or 4 - to pull the game out. On one huge bank shot and foul where he was knocked down, gave the ultimate tribute to fallen teammates Antoine Walker by pulling out the Antoine Shimmy. Ahhh, those were the halcyon days...
3) Mike Beasley - freed from the fourth quarter bench due to Marion's back spasms - contributed down the stretch with a jumper from the foul line, then took an offensive rebound away from Yi and earned two free throws, defended the pick and roll admirably (one of his weaker attributes), and, most dramatically, had a late block of Brooks Lopez at the rim. Finished with an efficient 7-12 for 17 points and 7 rebounds. When he gets his swagger going a little more, when he realizes that he really can't be guarded one on one by most forwards, when he realizes where the good shots are on the court for him, he is going to be a player. Nice night for a rookie to help finish a win. He needs to feel that success.
4) Old friend Keyon Dooling was a handful for the second time this season: 9-14 for 23 points and 7 assists. One hammer dunk in transition ahead of a Micheal Beasley block effort. A huge three at the end of regulation. He was most of the Nets offense throughout the night. Carter suffered through a 5-21, and Lopez was 6-17. In fairness to Lopez, of his 11 misses, approximately two thirds of them were blocked, so maybe they would have gone in. Time to develop a pump fake, Big Fella.
5) Carter's 5-21 was due, in large part, to Thunder Yak Diawara's oppressive defense. A little too oppressive at times, as he sent Carter to the line for an endless parade of free throws late in the game. Still, taking the body to Carter is the proper strategy, and for the most part it was successful. Not that it bothered Carter, who had several moments of mirth on the court with last year's teammate/nightmare Jamal Magloire. On the other end, Thunder Yak was unconscious, throwing in - and I mean throwing - 5 out of 8 threes. He kept Miami around in a dreadful first half. Also assisting in this effort was Chris Quinn, who, at least for the night, reclaimed his backup point guard spot, and dropped 3-5 shots for 7 points (and 3 assists) in 13 minutes of work. It warrants mention that both Diawara and Quinn have been riding the pine in recent games - to get in and contribute after such a stretch always means an automatic nod from Heat play-by-player Eric Reid to "staying ready." And every time Eric talks about "staying ready," he always mentions how former Heat forward and current assistant coach Keith Askins always "stayed ready." It may be a good time to mention that in the late 90's, Keith Askins nearly decapitated former Net forward Keith Van Horn with a brutal clothesline. He was ready for something...Back to Reid, he mentions "staying ready" so often, that now, every time he brings it up, he actually references how often he references it. Did we mention that Reid has never missed a Miami Heat game, home or away? Ever? In the history of the franchise? By the way, he's divorced...On a similar note:
6) Early in the game, we at Dos observed that most teams love to play at home when they get an opponent on a back-to-back. For Miami, it is more of a curse. When you play a New Jersey team in January, you want them in town a day or two early, soaking in the sun, out in the clubs at night. There isn't a better road trip in the NBA, or a more tangible home court advantage, except for the extreme racist hostility in Utah. Moments later, analyst extraordinaire Tony Fiorentino voiced the exact same thought. It was approximately the 600th time such a moment has occurred in 32 games this season. You really have to reevaluate your life, Mami Minutos argued, when you are on the exact same wave length as Senor Fiorentino. It is a fair point. I am thinking of growing a bushy moustache just to complete the effect, although I am pretty sure that I still can not.
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To the one reader who attempted to crack a light on the Sam Davis story by pointing out the timeline didn't quite work - you got me, sir, I made it up. I hope you don' think less of me.
Also, to the reader (from Scotland) who worried that I may be getting a call from the Davis estate, I say that would be just the sort of publicity this blog needs.
