Heat 103 Nuggets 98

6 Thoughts

1) Block party tonight in my neighborhood.  I ate myself into an arroz con pollo-induced semi-coma (with sweet plantains!), then had to watch back-to-back basketball games, Miami's solid win against Denver, and the University of Connecticut's victory to advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament.  It's late, I'm tired, I'm sunburn, and I smell like roasted pork...

2) It was a solid win on the second night of a travel back-to-back against a hot team.  Wade had 32 points on 20 shots, while LeBron had 33 on 15-25.  Again, the disparity in the calls that Dwyane gets versus the calls LeBron gets is absurd: Wade shot 13 free throws, James only 2. With a refereeing crew headed by Bennett Salvatore, though, anything is possible.  Quick - who is the worst person you know at his or her job?  Unless you are good friends with former Palm Beach County school superintendent Art Johnson, Bennett Salvatore, guaranteed, is worse (HA! - my first ever local political joke in this blog!  I've been loading that one up for weeks!!!).  You know how sometimes you criticize a person by saying, "he is a joke?"  Bennett Salvatore, literally, is a joke - people who watch NBA basketball laugh watching his games.  Tonight, the last laugh was on Denver.  After Salvatore put the Nuggets in the bonus early in the fourth quarter with four absolutely absurd foul calls that had the entire Heat team up in arms, moments later, with Denver desperately trying to hang in the game, Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari drove the lane, got sandwiched in between two Heat players, helicoptered to the floor...and stunningly, no foul was called, though four fouls with combined less force, had previously been whistled on Miami in the immediate preceding moments.  Instead, Miami picked up the loose ball, got a run out dunk on the other end to push the lead to 9, and Denver never seriously threatened again.   That's 5 wins in the last 6 games, all against playoff teams, including Lakers and Spurs.  Sky's not falling so fast now...

3) ...or is it?  Emcee Chalmers is hurt!  I jinxed him, I doubled jinxed him, and then I probably somehow re-jinxed him.  In the midst of the best stretch of basketball of his career, Chalmers - at a minimum - sprained his knee, and had to be carried off.  Looked bad - no contact, just a buckle on a backpedal.  Let's be honest: there have been many times I wished Mario Chalmers would get hurt and miss a few games.  But not now, not when he's playing well, and the playoffs are around the corner.  Let's hope it's not too bad - but it looked pretty bad.  Get well soon, Emcee.

4) In a related note, 34 minutes for Michael Bibby tonight.  He made 4-8 triples, although, to be fair, several times he did have to initiate the offense thirty-five feet from the basket due to the ball pressure from the considerably younger and quicker Ty Lawson.  On offense, though, he is fine, he's a good floor spacer for Wade and James, and moves the ball crisply on rotations.  On this night, too, he was fine defensively - generally kept Lawson out of the lane, and even blocked one of his shots.  While he isn't quick enough to keep opposing point guards in front of him, which is problematic, he also gambles less than Chalmers, so at least he is generally positioned properly.  Emcee gets struck with wanderlust from time to time, and runs all over the court chasing the ball, fouling people in his wake...One more thing about Bibs: not following the NCAA tournament too closely.  Visited Jax's Sunsport Lounge after the game to talk about the win, and Jax asked him who Arizona, with whom he won a National Championship, was playing in the tournament this weekend?  "I have no idea," admitted Bibby.

5) "Birdman, drive a red Range!!!"

6) Music Review: The Strokes new album, "Angles."  Or, it might be "Angels," now that I think about it - too lazy to check.  Thursday night I was all, like, "I need some new music," and I remembered The Strokes new album had just come out, so I downloaded it from the Russian website.  Listened to it some over the last couple of days.  Forgot one key thing: I don't really like The Strokes.  They're okay, I guess,  but I feel like we've heard it all a million times before, even in the way, way back from a band called Televison (that's for Snets, since I know he doesn't know who the Strokes are) - just a melange of New York punk and rock influences.  More importantly, I don't feel any emotional connection with them - their songs don't mean anything to me.  They kind of broker in a certain blase detachment, whereas I relate far more easily to a self-centered, angsty detachment.  So, if you like The Strokes, I give this album like an 8; if you're like me, and mostly wish that one of the Artic Monkeys would punch these dudes in the face, I give it like a 4.

Well, the 11 straight games against playoff teams are over.  Twelve games to go in the season, I believe.  Back Wednesday against the Dee-troit Pistons.  I'm trying to go to the Miami Metro Zoo tomorrow, so if you are looking for me, that's where I should be.  I like those little bike-wagon things they have, so look for me on one of those, or by the Icee machine near the giraffes.  Or, if you don't find me there, check your momma's house...Later!!!

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