6 Thoughts
1) Well, there's a sleepover going on in my house tonight, with O. and P. Minutos hosting a few of their friends. There is more noise coming out of the room they are all packed in to right now then there was all night in Minnesota - just a horribly boring game, filled with bad play, and low intensity. Boston, on a late season slide, lost again to Atlanta tonight so, improbably, the Heat have slipped past them momentarily in to the # 2 spot. We'd bust out the confetti and noisemakers, but we don't want to wake up any of the good folks - or the players - in Minnesota. Let's do it, and let's go!
2) Minnesota took a 1 point lead going in to halftime, but it was clear that Miami meant business to start the third quarter. How clear? On Minnesota's second possession, someone missed a jump shot, and Chris Bosh took two steps down the lane and jumped - jumped! - for the rebound! Make that one jumping rebound for Chris this year! Miami immediately went on a 7 minute 25-1 run, which featured about 15 run out dunks from Wade, a couple of threes from Bibby, and missed shot after missed shot for Minnesota. While it wasn't a great performance overall, and Minnesota, at 17-59, is one of the worst teams in the league, one thing Miami was conscientious about was keeping the NBA's leading rebounder, Kevin Love, off the glass - held him to only 7, less than half his average - and as a result, outrebounded the Wolves 46-31 overall. Bosh was fine, with 24 and 11, but LeBron was fairly atrocious, finding himself continuously isolated in space against the likes of Wesley Johnson, Martell Webster, and Mike Beasley! (more on him in a second), but for some reason, steadfastly refused to go by them, preferring to quietly run the offense from the perimeter. For most people, his 27, 10 and 6 would be their best game of the season - for LeBron, it was an odd affair. You would love to see him punish mismatches - but that's not really what he does. He is stubborn that way, at times...
3) The game was like a trip to the dentist's office, as many of these late season road games against non-contenders are. Best case scenario, you draw a hygienist who doesn't really care too much about getting your teeth clean, she goes in there half-hearted, brushes for a minute, and you move on with your life unscathed - that was tonight. Worst case scenario - you get a hygienist really dedicated to the destruction of plaque, she gets the electric scrubber and that hook thing in there - at the same time - and makes you bleed - that was the Cleveland game earlier in the week. But that doesn't mean tonight was pleasant - the atmosphere was super-depressing, like at most peoples' dentist's office (not mine - my dentist is a peach!). It was so quiet and eerie in the building, that each time a Heat player stepped to the free throw line, and the Wolves PA announcer piped in their signature, high-pitched wolf howl, it was actually scary - sent chills down my spine, like watching a game played in the Pet Sematary. A couple of years ago, in this very same building, a fan spilled a beverage all over Tony, causing him severe nightmares ever since (talked about it again tonight), and ruining his suit. Eric Reid, late in the game, commiserated with Tony: "We've been here two days, but it feels like a week!" Not great times in Minnesota, overall.
4) Keeping it in Minnesota - their leading scorer, of course, is one Mr. Michael Beasley, former Heat problem child, now a grizzled 22 year old veteran, playing out the string on a horrible team, but, at least, getting to shoot the ball more often. Last year, many readers of this blog - believe me, it was more than 3 or 4 - claimed that Miami erred severely in retaining Dwyane Wade and jettisoning Supercool, asserting that Beasley was the guy to build around. Well, the Timberwolves tried that strategy this season: oops. Which is not to dump on Mike - he still looks to be in good shape, much better than he was here. He looks quicker, and his scoring is up, although his shooting numbers remain average. His rebounding, already a weak spot, is down significantly, although in fairness to him, he is playing more small forward than power forward. Still, in 29 minutes tonight, managed just 1 rebound with his 13 points - that's not exactly "engaged and aggressive." Mike Bibby had 4 rebounds in 30 minutes, and Dexter Pittman, in his first NBA action, had 2 in 2 minutes. Mike said all the right things coming in to the game, praising his former teammates and coaches, so it was good to see him figuring out the media thing a little, too, although he told Eric Reid before the game that he is picking Miami to win the NBA title, which means he is either, one, trying to put the jinx on us, or, two, still hi--never mind, don't even want to go there. The best thing we can wish for Mike is to get the hell out of that mess and get on to a good team which just needs him to fill a roll as a shooter off the bench - that's his role in this league going forward, and he can be good at it. See you next year, Supercool - always love you, boy....
5) Play of the game: not even close, it was with under 3 minutes to go in the game, just playing out the string, and LeBron was at the line for one free throw, after getting fouled while making a driving layup. LeBron missed the free throw, but nobody standing on the lane realized that it was only one attempt. Chris Bosh was the only person to step in to the lane, but he did so casually, catching the ball underhanded while still talking to the nearest Timberwolf (Timberwolve?). Wayne Ellington, playing behind LeBron, did realize it was one shot, and stepped in to the lane in front of LeBron, which was his job. But when nobody else moved, you could see him sort of nod, and think, "Oh, I guess I was wrong." Meanwhile, LeBron suddenly realized that it was only one free throw, and as Bosh started to flip the ball to the official out of bounds, he suddenly ran down the lane, grabbed it out of Chris' hand, and dunked it through the basket, while the other 9 guys on the court watched him. Kind of fit in with the theme of the night - lack of effort and awareness...
6) "Chances are, sooner or later, we're going to end up behind bars, or buried in a ditch somewhere......but not to-dayyy." Fuck, yeeaaah! This summer just got a whole lot mo' faster, and a whole lot mo' furious!!! 1:45 mark, boy!!!
