6 Thoughts
1) How long was that game? Five hours? Six hours? How many free throws did Miami miss? 35? Only 16? Really? 31-47 from the line? After a slow start in the first half, getting down 15, Miami worked their way back into the game in the third quarter, had several chances to put the game away, and kept missing free throws. KJ James missed 6, and Dwyane Wade and Almario Vernard Chalmers each missed 4. James made only 7 of 20 shots, and missed two fairly easy shots to win the game in regulation. Rajon Rondo had one of the all-time freaky games, throwing in basket after basket like some kind of semi-conscious refugee from Middle Earth. And, yet, somehow, the Heat dug it out at home, and take a 2-0 series lead to Boston. Ohhhh-ohhhhh, that had to hurt, Celtics! Let's GOOOOO!!!
2) Holy mackerel, how did nobody know that Mario "Emcee" Chalmers' real name is Almario Vernard Chalmers? For all the nasty things I've said about the national tv networks broadcasting Heat games over the years, for once they have scooped Sunsports - I've never been happier than when ABC's first half graphic finally revealed his true identity! And Almario Vernard was huuuuge! While Dwyane and KJ were making only 1 of their first 10 shots, and the Celtics were making 16 of their first 24, including 11 in a row to take a 15 point lead in the second quarter, Almario Vernard made 3 triples, including back-to-backers down 15, and scored 17 points in the first half to keep Miami in contact, down 7 at the break. He finished with 22 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds. He also made one of the biggest plays in overtime: with Miami up 2 with a little over a minute to go, Kevin Garnett caught the ball on the block and, with the Heat scrambling, tried to slip a pass to a cutter to the front of the rim, but Almario darted in and stole the ball, setting up the game-winning play (more on that play in #3). Before the game, Great Friend of the Blog Plumber reported that he had just heard Magic Johnson predict that Chalmers would be the key player of Game 2. I knew that boded well for Miami - just as I read Plumber's text, Dwyane Wade was shooting pre-game jumpers and Chalmers happened to wander across the court and inadvertently bump into him, knocking one of his shots awry. That's Almario Vernard Chalmers: razor-sharp, on his game, and fouling people even in pre-game warmups!
3) Play of the game: many, many candidates. There was the sick KJ block of a Paul Pierce layup which ignited an electric Wade three point play as Miami made its third quarter run. There was Chalmers' aforementioned steal. There was Shane Battier's triple from the corner under duress to tie the game at 94 late in regulation. There was a sweet KJ tip-in, and there were three huge Udonis Haslem baskets, including one Wade-drive-and-kick-to-open-UD-on-the-baseline-as-UD's-guy-helps-to-Wade-circa-2008-style! But none were bigger than after Chalmers' steal, when Miami brought the ball down the court up 2 with about a minute to go in overtime, spread the floor, and Wade split a double-team, careened into the lane, and Kevin Garnett tried to help over to him. Garnett (who earlier received a technical foul for swinging an elbow at former college Academic All-American James Jones) is, even at his age, one of the very best defenders in the league, but this time was late to the play, and he knew it. He had no real chance to stop the shot, so recognizing that Miami had missed about 100 free throws in the game, he tried to give a foul on Dwyane. Of course, being Kevin Garnett, the Granddaddy of Doucheball, he went up high, put one hand on Dwyane's elbow, and tried to hyper-extend it backwards, and another hand in his chest to try to shove him to the floor. However, Dwyane, with his douchometer on high alert, sensed what was coming, and met Garnett's assault with a pre-emptive kick to the nether-region area, collapsing Garnett justtt enough to allow Dwyane to flip the ball up and into the basket as the referee called the foul...and Dwyane finally made a free throw! Ballgame! Meet douche-y force with douche-y force!
4) Rajon Rondo was positively unbelievable. He made 16-24 shots, scored 44 points, and had 10 rebounds, and 8 assists. He's a non-shooter who made many. many jumpers, and even knocked down back-to-back deep garbage-time triples in the waning moments. Use 'em all up, Rajon! It was one of the best offensive games I've ever seen a guy play, honestly. Rondo is, at best, a bit of a social deviant - there's at least a 5 percent chance he's the dude down in Miami eating peoples' faces off - but after the game, at his press conference, he stood tall. Asked about a late call that went against him, a drive where he took a blow to the face but got non-called, he said, reflectively, "It's part of the game." And it is. Unless Dwyane or KJ get fouled driving to the basket late in a game - that's totally different, you absolutely have to call those fouls. That's just common sense.
5) For two and a half quarters, it looked like this was the game where not having Chris Bosh was going to murder Miami. Ronny Turiaf started, but was quickly replaced by Joel Anthony. Boston, specifically Kevin Garnett, totally ignored those guys and jammed up the paint, trapped screen-and-rolls, and generally made life difficult for Dwyane and KJ, totally stagnating the Miami offense. In 24 combined minutes, Turiaf and Joel made 1 out of 2 shots. That's not exactly productive (although it is efficient!). For most of the second half, Coach Spo decided to play Udonis Haslem at the center, switch all the screen-and-rolls, and rely on the team's general athleticism to turn the game into a scramble. Haslem helped hold Kevin Garnett to a 6-18 night, even though Garnett was about 4 inches taller than anyone the Heat played in the second half. In addition, UD contributed offensively - the three aforementioned monster baskets - and he finished with 13 points on 6-12, grabbed 11 rebounds (3 more than Garnett in 15 fewer minutes), and even had 3 assists - 2 on beautiful kickouts for triples. Satisfying night for UD - it wasn't always pretty, but it was a classic dogged UD effort.
6) "Rock of Ages?" Tom Cruise as a long-haired, chiseled-ab, hair-metal hobbit? Of course! When can I line up for that movie?...My five favorite hair-metal songs ever: 5) "Every Rose Has it Thorn" by Poison. 4) "Home Sweet Home" by Motley Crue. 3) "Don't Know What You Got Till Its Gone" by Cinderella. 2) "Girl, Don't Go Away Mad, Just Go Away" by Motley Crue. 1) "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele.
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Whew! Only 1 night off, then back at it Friday in Boston. Go up there, try to get one, and then get back here to the land of the face-eaters! If you need me before Friday, I'll be flagrant fouling O.Minutos in the front-yard, KG-style, then walking off the court before the game is over, like Paul Pierce! Have a great day, hair-rockers!
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