6 Thoughts
1) I'd like to say that any player on the Heat team other than Shane Battier had anything to do with this win, but, honestly, they didn't. The Heat (and the Wizards) sleepwalked through three quarters, and Miami led by 7. In the fourth quarter, Coach Spo started Battier, Mike Mil-lar, Norris Cole, UD, and Bosh. AND BATTIER WENT CRAZY, TIPPING BALLS, STARTING BREAKS, MAKING SPOT UP THREES, GOING BACK DOOR FOR LAYUPS, AND THEN, WHEN HE WAS REALLY, REALLY FEELING IT, TOOK NICK YOUNG INTO THE POST, BACKED HIM IN FOR SEVENTEEN SECONDS, ALLOWING ME TIME TO TELL M.MINUTOS 'HERE COMES THE DORKY HOOK SHOT,' AND THEN DROPPED THE DORKY HOOK SHOT RIGHT IN!!!! TEN QUICK POINTS, HEAT RAGED OUT TO A 17 POINT LEAD, BALLGAME, PUT ON THE FULL-BODY COMPRESSION SUIT, CRANK UP THE JIMMY BUFFETT, GET OUT OF TOWN!!! THANK YOU, MR. BATTIER!!!!!!
2) Or, in calmer terms, 6-9 (3-6 triples) - 15 points and 5 boards in 23 minutes for Battman.
3) For the second or third straight game, KJ James was in an absolute sleepwalk. I've never seen anyone look so tired on a basketball court. He looks completely out of gas to me. Finished 6-14 from the floor for 18 points, with 9 assists, but only 2 rebounds. And there were a lot of rebounds to be had - the Wizards (38% for the game) aren't exactly a bunch of dead eye marksmen. Because the bench put the game away early, KJ only played 33 minutes, which is good. Dwyane, who scored 26 on 11-18, only played 31, and he looked tired, too. On one play in the third quarter, he pushed the ball up the court in transition, got stripped from behind by John Wall, then turned around and watched the other 9 players go back the other way, like he couldn't imagine having to run full-speed back. It's frustrating to watch...
4)...But you know what? It's isn't just KJ and Dwyane, and not just Coach Spo grinding them into the ground. Check out these final scores from around the league tonight: Clippers 78-Sixers 77; Raptors 86-Celtics 74; Hawks 89-Magic 87 (in ot); Hornets 94-Blazers 86; Knicks 92-Lakers 85. These are low, low scores. Everyone all around the league is tired all the time. The Heat were terrible tonight - except for Shane Battier - and they killed this team. Yes, the Wizards are bad, but they were at home, with one of their only decent crowds of the year, and they jogged around with the same minimal effort that the Heat did. Thanks a lot, David Stern! Thanks to your stupid lockout, the quality of basketball is weak - appreciate it!
5) Play of the game: there were a few to choose from. Dwyane Wade had a ridiculous spinning 360 degree floater over a vaguely engaged JaVale McGee; Chris Bosh had a tip dunk that he totally whiffed off the front iron, but bounced up in the air and went in; and Emcee Chalmers returned after a night off with a sore hand and committed a turnover approximately 4 seconds into the game - he's back! But I'm going to have to go with the play in the fourth quarter when KJ James received a pass out on the perimeter, and got whacked so hard in the head by a Wizard that it knocked his headband off. KJ looked over at the referee Tony Brown in disgust, since no foul was called - why would it be a foul, a guy only hit another guy in the head and knocked off his headband? - whereupon Brown shrugged sheepishly, then went over and picked KJ's headband up off the court, and spent the next few possession running up and down the court with it! Good idea - why worry about reffing the game? Make sure you keep that headband clean!
6) Finally got to watch "Drive" in its entirety. This was a fine film. It is an edgy story about the seedier side of Los Angeles, far away from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. It stars the always excellent Albert Brooks as a sleazy low-level mobster, and Walter White from "Breaking Bad" as a hard-luck mechanic. About three minutes in, you start feeling uneasy, a total "I don't like the direction this is going" feeling, and it never lets up. Awesome tension and drama. Anything else? Hmmm, let me think for second, did I forget anything important about this movie? Oh, yes: YEAHHHHHH, GET IT RYAN GOSLING, YOU DON'T HAVE TO FUCKING TALK TO BE IN A MOVIE, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS BE COOL AS SHIT AND WHEN ANYONE SAYS ANYTHING TO YOU, JUST GIVE A VAGUE, KNOWING, WORLD-WEARY SMILE AND DON'T SAY A WORD! YEAHHHH, ILL!! AS!!! SHIT!!! ON A SCALE OF 1-10, I GIVE THE MOVIE A 100, AND I GIVE RYAN GOSLING A 1000!!!!!!!
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Next up is the worst stretch on the schedule: three straight games on the road, beginning Sunday in Atlanta (followed by Milwaukee Monday, and Indiana Tuesday). If you need me before then, I'll be chilling so hard like Gosling, and if someone asks me if I want, like, a glass of water, I'll pause for like nine seconds, smile wearily with a far away look in my eyes, and say nothing. Maybe - maybe - I'll say softly, "okay." But only maybe, if I feel like it. See you Sunday. Maybe. If I feel like it.
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