6 Thoughts
1) Wow. Our old friends the Knicks were in town and cruising for three plus quarters tonight, up 15 with 8:30 to go, and the Heat looked resigned to suffering a disastrous loss at home. Just when it seemed bleakest, Knick rookie Danilo Gallinari hit Wade with an inadvertent elbow, causing a ruckus, a bloody lip for Wade, and a technical foul on Heat coach Erik Spoelstra as he bum rushed referee Kenny Mauer (who told Spoelstra that Wade had "flopped," Spo later related). Wade got up blood-stained - and mad. Led the Heat on an immediate 19-0 run, scoring 15 of the points himself, and Miami escaped with a win. Now 31-27, with 24 games to go. Find 10 wins in those 24 games, and you are in the playoffs assuredly. Wade had 21 in the final 8:30, and 46 for the game. Also, 10 assists, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks. Wow.
2) The other big contributor down the stretch: Jermaine O'Neal. Jermaino scored several big buckets, provided a defensive presence, and finished with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and two blocks, along with a couple of charges drawn. Shot 9-16 - including two big mid-range jumpers late. Can't jump a lick anymore; but he knows how to play the game.
3) Coach Spo's attack on Mauer was the first time he has truly lost his cool during a game all year - only a quick intervention by Heat assistant Bob McAdoo saved Mauer a potential throttling, and a certain Spoelstra ejection. It happens if you coach enough games, and tonight the result was satisfactory as the Heat seemed motivated by the incident. However, Spo is struggling with his rotations at the moment. The team looks tired, and he has made two decisions that I think are wrong: 1) He will not play Chris Quinn anymore. This is saddling Dywane Wade with too many ballhandling responsibilities, and he has to start too many drives from 25 feet away. Easy baskets are a memory for DWade right now. 2) He is going small upfront by playing Udonis Haslem at the backup center minutes, instead of Anthony or Magloire. When Haslem and Beasley are playing together upfront, it is too inviting for other teams to go to the rim - it is the exact reason he changed the starting lineup early in the season. Miami began the season starting UD at center, and the Beas at the 4, but switched about 5 games in because there was no deterrent at the basket. I think both trends are troubling, and that Spo should reconsider.
4) Speaking of Jamal Magloire, he was inactive again tonight. Nattily dressed with brown slacks and an earthy-green colored velvet blazer. That's how the big men do it in Canada - 6'11' inches of sexy velvet.
5) Little Nate Robinson - Krypto-Nate - came out smoking with 25 - yes, 25 - first half points. He is on fire lately, and really has developed in to an outstanding offensive weapon at a diminutive 5'7". Still a obnoxious punk, though - took a cheap push on Jermaine O'Neal halfway through the Heat's fourth quarter run, then backed his way in to the crowd before O'Neal could get back to him. Apparently he has never seen this:http://media.putfile.com/Pistons-Pacers-Brawl-ESPN. Jermaino is the one who comes sliding in late with the right hand on the fan in the white shirt, about a minute in to the clip. The fan is actually bigger than Nate Robinson, I think.
6) Just saw another quick news report on Sully Sullenberger, the guy who landed the plane in the Hudson. Extraordinary feat - if it really happened. Doesn't this whole thing sound a lot like the plot to Lost? Are we sure that all the people who were on the plane came back? Nobody's missing, right? I thought I noticed a slight trickle of blood in the corner of Sully's nose as he walked the red carpet at the Oscar's last week. By the way, again, what was he doing there? In a related story - now that they are time traveling, at any point will the the survivors of Oceanic 815 go back to the 1940s and try to kill Hitler? I mean, Cruise didn't get it done, from I hear...
