1) When Norris Cole finally scored Miami's first points on a short jump shot with 9:40 still remaining in the first quarter, I didn't know how I was going to make it through the game - I was already incredibly bored. But, with Miami playing for virtually nothing (other than to end Houston's slight playoff hopes), and with every excuse to go through the motions, KJ James delivered another tremendous performance. He scored 32 points, had 8 rebounds, and 5 assists - but more importantly, his competitiveness on both ends of the floor turned this into a real, and watchable, basketball game. When he and Mike Mil-lar hit back-to-back triples with 2 minutes to go to push the Heat out to a 6 point lead, even I was re-engaged. Again, there is no reason KJ even has to be out there - I think he really, truly does just love to play...In his honor (and he's the one who started it): Let's Go!
2) KJ started and played 36 minutes. Who didn't play? Dwyane Wade: out (dislocated finger, non-shooting hand). Mario "Emcee" Chalmers : out (flu). Ronny Turiaf: out (he's always hurt, every year, no matter what team he is on). Chris Bosh: out (something the team tonight termed "leg muscle fatigue"). Whoa, whoa, whoa - Chris Bosh has leg muscles?
3) Play of the game: tie. First, with the clock running down at the end of the first quarter, KJ James drove down the right side of the lane, and then threw an absolute fastball across the paint to a cutting Joel Anthony. Guess what happened? What? No! Of course he didn't catch it! Obviously what happened was the ball went through his hands like someone had greased up a waterslide with Crisco - it actually came shooting out of his hands moving even faster than it had been going in! And, obviously, it sizzled right to Shane Battioke, standing all alone on the perimeter, who somehow surrounded it, quickly wiped all the grease off the ball, and drained a jumper as time expired...Second, when Courtney Lee stole a crosscourt pass, tried to get all the way to the rim with KJ chasing him, and not only did KJ take his layup to the glass and pin it, but then somehow managed to get his other hand up there, catch it, land, maintain his balance before falling out of bounds, and then pass the ball upcourt to a teammate (where it was shortly turned over again, but whatever). Crazy.
4) All offseason everyone thought that Miami was going to sign Sam Dalembert to play center, and then instead signed Shane Battier to backup KJ and Dwyane's backup, Mike Mil-lar. A lot of people criticised the move at the time. Tonight, in a game the Rockets had to win to keep their playoff hopes alive, Dalembert played 9 minutes, scored 0 points, and had 2 rebounds and 2 turnovers. He didn't look to be in particularly good shape, either. For the year, he averages 7 points and 7 rebounds. Hard to say that would have been a huge upgrade. Hard to say Battier was much better, though - he has shot the ball so poorly (a solid 4-8 tonight), that it has tended to offset some of the things he has done well, like defend, and hustle out extra possessions on loose balls and steals (5 steals tonight)...On a related note, left over from Thursday night: when GFOB AH and I were sitting courtside during warmups, we were snapping off pictures like there was no tomorrow - if you were one of the several dozen people to whom I texted a blurry picture of Emcee Chalmers with bright red kicks halfheartedly launching three point floaters up towards the rim, you're welcome. But the best photo of all occurred when Battier, who really worked hard in shootaround and got up a good sweat, was walking directly towards where we were sitting on the sideline. He had his head down, and he was coming over to shoot triples from right in front of us. As he got to about 10 feet away, AH stuck his camera phone out and aimed it. Unfortunately, Battier picked this exact moment to look up directly into the phone jammed in his mug. He looked like he wanted to smile, but he was tired, dripping with sweat, and most of all, it was just a little bit creepy that two grown men were sitting there taking pictures of him walking around on a basketball court like two hours before the game was even going to start. He's a good dude, he tried to smile, but it came out more like a strained grimace, laced with a tinge of aggravation. Basically, like this:
Best part: AH didn't even realize Battier had given him the partial stink-eye, since he was so busy snapping the shot!
5) This dude - Ha!
6) Really got nothing for you here tonight. How about this: my birthday is Tuesday, I turn 100. My dad (my real dad, not Pat Riley), who really is the dopest dude on earth, called me last week and was, like, "I'd like to get you a present, is there anything you would like, like maybe an electronic thing, like do you want a Kindle, or an iPad," and I was like, "No, I would never use those things." And he was like, "Well, can you think about it, and then call me if you think of something," and I was, like, "Okay," and then tonight I was watching the game, and my legs were hurting from jogging this weekend, and I realized I need new running sneakers, so I called him and said that I could use new running sneakers, and he said, "Great! Can you go buy some, and then I'll send you a check!" No joke. The end. Goodnight.
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Two games left. In Boston Tuesday - my birthday! - doubtful that it will be a highly contested affair, I doubt many starters will play. If you need me before then, I'll be turning that Battioke photo into a mural-sized poster. See you Tuesday!
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