1) Really? Dwyane Wade has to get hurt in the fifth game of the NBA Finals? Really? That's what has to happen? He couldn't have got hurt on a Tuesday in December against Minnesota, or a Saturday in February against Detroit? Really - tonight he had to get hurt? C'mon, mannn! It doesn't even feel like a "real" loss, it feels fluky, which I suppose is a silver-lining in an otherwise dreary night...Dallas shot the snot out of the ball (13-19 on threes!), shot a bunch of fourth quarter free throws again, and LeBron couldn't find his jumper...Let's go...back to Miami, thank the Lord!
2) Wade got hurt in the first half on a collision with Brian Cardinal, of all people. Brian Cardinal shouldn't even be in an NBA Finals game! What are you doing putting him in there to injure Dwyane Wade, Dallas coach Rick Carlisle - I hate you!!! Banged up his hip, missed a few minutes, labored through the closing minutes of the first half, then stayed in the locker room for the first 8 minutes of the second half. Came back out, limping noticeably, with no explosion, with Miami down a handful of points, and still almost willed them to victory! It would have been an all-timer, for sure. Finished with 23 points in only 34 minutes, and most tellingly, only 2 rebounds. Didn't have lift in his legs. Man, Miami's got home games Sunday and, if they win that one, Tuesday - win two home games, and you're the NBA champions. If they lose because Dwyane Wade is limited - after playing like a hundred games this year - that is going to be super-aggravating....
3) Biggest exchange of the game: With Miami down 2, and two minutes to go, Wade drove middle, found LeBron cutting baseline, and LeBron elevated and finished while colliding with Tyson Chandler. At home, that is almost certainly a three point play, or at worst a no call and a basket, and Miami would have been up one or even. Instead, Joey Crawford called an offensive foul, wiping out the basket, Dallas came down and drilled a triple when Mike Miller inexplicably wandered down the lane trailing a driving Jason Terry, who was not his cover, leaving Jason Kidd alone to set his feet on the perimeter, receive a pass, and drain it. If that were Dwyane Wade or Dirk Nowitzki, they probably would have been awarded 4 or 5 free throws. But LeBron - nothing. Such is life as LeBron...Frustrating for Miami - it couldn't get that one driving LeBron call, the Mavs shot 13 more fourth quarter free throws in this game, and was in the bonus for the last seven and a half minutes - and it was that way for three games in a row in Dallas. That's not a complaint - that's life on the road in the NBA. If there is one tangible thing getting back to Miami can do for this team, it is the opportunity to perhaps get more chances to make fourth quarter stops. It just feels like they can't catch a break right now.
4) Totally heroic: Mario Chalmers. With Wade in the locker room, and then limping badly, and all Dallas defenders loading up on LeBron James in Dwyane's absence - and LeBron can't locate the stroke from the perimeter - Mario Chalmers came in and played as well as he can play in the first half, allowing Miami to hang around. Hit another first quarter buzzer-beating 45 footer when Mike Miller, wisely, sought him out for the crazy shot. As M.Minutos again pointed out, all that time everyone thought Mario was wasting in the gym by flinging half-court runners his entire life has now paid off two games in a row. Emcee hit 4-6 triples before the break and had 13 points. On the verge of getting run out of the game a couple of times, Chalmers saved them. Against all odds, he was Miami's best player in the half.
5) Dirk Nowitzki was great again - broke out with 29 points. Also, my third favorite boat captain on "Deadliest Catch," the raddest show on tv:
I did not think it was cool when Dirk's brother Edgar bailed on him at the end of Blue Crab season last week, but, in fairness, Dirk sits up in the warm captain's chair the whole time, barking over the loudspeaker at Edgar and the rest of the crew to pull pots faster, while they are down there working in, like, arctic hurricanes. We'll see how Dirk likes Opilio season without Edgar - I'm guessing he's going to wish he was a little less abrasive, and a little more understanding of Edgar's needs...
6) I got nothing tonight, but I'm in a suprisingly good mood considering Miami just lost a game in the Finals. Just seemed like fate when Dwyane got hurt - this game wasn't going our way, and even I couldn't jinx it back into a victory. But since I have nothing to write about, here's what we are going to do: a couple of months ago, someone emailed me a list of the 100 Least Appealing Celebrities, and asked me to comment on it. I never opened it - I don't even know who wrote the list, but I saved it for a night like tonight. I am going to pick a random number, riiight now-- okay: 31. Now, we are going to open it, and see who # 31 is, and see if we like them, or don't like them. You know, just see where it goes...Okay, hold up a sec while I check the list - I'll copy whatever they say about the person here, then comment below...Wait a second, there are only 20 names on the list, and there are no blurbs - what the hell? Okay, I'm picking a new number between 1-20, annnnd it is: 5. And number 5 is: JON PLUS EIGHT GOSSELIN!!! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE, HOW DARE YOU PLACE JON PLUS EIGHT ON A LIST OF LEAST APPEALING CELEBRITIES, JUST BEHIND THE OCTOMOM, AND JUST IN FRONT OF HEIDI MONTAG, WHOM I HONESTLY HAVE NO IDEA WHO SHE IS!!! WHY - JUST BECAUSE HE IS ASIAN, HAS BAD HAIR PLUGS, AND WEARS ED HARDY T-SHIRTS SEVEN YEARS AFTER THEY WENT OUT OF FASHION? FIRST DWYANE GETS INJURED AND NOW THIS? THIS IS THE WORST NIGHT OF MY LIFE!!! I HATE THIS LIST!!!
Man, these two teams, they're giving each other a battle. Miami won Game 1 kinda easy, then there's been 4 straight tight, tight ballgames. Dallas has won three. If Dwyane is healthy, I absolutely believe Miami can win two straight back at home - but it's going to be a war. If you need me before Sunday night, I'll be making my Top 100 List of Lists I Am Never Going To Read Again...Have a good weekend!
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