6 Thoughts
1) Sometimes you just need one more shot. In Miami earlier this season, Kobe Bryant's runner in the lane to send the game to overtime rimmed out and the Heat won. Tonight in L.A., Chris Quinn's wide open three with 10 seconds to go, down 2, came up just short, and the Heat lost an incredibly well-played and scintillating game. Warrants mention that on the next to last possession of the game, Wade drove and collided heads with Kobe Bryant so hard that both were bleeding from gashes, and no foul was called. Moments later, Daequan Cook's three to tie at the buzzer came up short as he was knocked to the ground by Derek Fisher. Finally, the Lakers shot 31 free throws for the night, compared to 14 for Miami. Tonight's "very special" referee - why, yes - Mr. Bennett Salvatore! Although, to be honest, he was approximately 80% less terrible tonight than he is in most games. The Heat were right there, had a chance to make a play, and didn't. It happens.
2) Sometimes, too, numbers don't tell the whole story: DWade had 27 points, 9 assists, and 5 rebounds to go with with 2 steals and 2 blocks compared to Kobe Bryant's 19 points on 5-14 shooting. But it was Bryant's dogged and outstanding defense on Wade throughout the game that set a tone of toughness for the Lakers. If your best player plays the defensive end that hard, what choice do your other players have but to get in line and do the same thing? Early in the game after a Wade block, Heat color commentator and Wade apologist Tony Fiorentino called him the best defensive guard in the game. That's not even close to true. Wade makes as many big plays defensively as anyone this side of Tim Duncan, but often plays his man soft throughout the course of a game - realistically he has to, given his tremendous offensive responsibilities. Bryant didn't take a play off defensively tonight. It was tremendous effort by one of the league's brightest stars, and selfless - a word not often associated with Kobe Bryant.
3) Mike Beasley almost won this game for Miami. 16 of his 23 in the 4th quarter, including 10 straight down the stretch. He knocked down jumpers, he got to the rim, he rebounded the ball - and played the entire fourth quarter for the second game in a row. That's 23 points in 22 total minutes, since he had played only ten entering the 4th - and 23 points two games in a row. Professionals bring it night after night - that's where he is trying to get to.
4) During the requisite Lakers game celebrity crowd scan early in the 4th quarter, Tony Fiorentino spied Denzel Washington. Tony, who is from Mount Vernon, New York, never misses a chance to rep a pasean from his hometown. "Denzel Washington - great actor, Eric," crowed Tony. "Not much of a basketball player, though - more of a football guy. I think his son is in the NFL. I'm not sure, but I think so." Tony's right - Denzel's son is Ben Roethlisberger.
5) Both Tony and his play-by-play partner Eric Reid seemed to have a little extra pep in the step tonight, even halfway through an interminable road trip. One - big game against the Lakers. Two - the computer problems experienced on the Heat charter in Denver have, apparently, not caused any subsequent flights to turn in to a flaming death bomb. But 3, and most importantly - they have escaped Sacramento, and won't have to return for another year. Dos reader Scott sympathized with the duo by email: "Sacramento is indeed the entertainment wasteland that is depicted." Good to know that Sacramento's reputation stretches even to Scotland...
6) Saw The Curious Ben Button. Incredibly creepy and sufficiently moving at the same time. If there is any criticism to be made of it, it is that you don't really feel Button. You feel the inescapable gnawing of life's temporality - but not really Button himself. It is, perhaps, not a "must-see;" but certainly a "should-see"...It is a fact that Brad Pitt almost always makes interesting movies - some work, some don't - but he always tries. Currently shooting a Nazi war film with Quentin Tarantino. Let's go out on a limb and guess that will prove more interesting than Tom Cruise's Valkyrie. Overheard recently: "Why is Tom Cruise trying to kill Hitler?" Speaking for my Jewish roots - thanks, Tom, we'll do without the help. Wait - he is anti-Holocaust in the movie, right?
