1) That was brutal. I don't mean the loss, that's acceptable to a certain degree - third game in four nights on the road against a good team. That's going to happen. I mean the 10:30pm start time. It's 1:30am now and I'm just getting started. Time zones suck. Let's just get through this and go to bed shall we okay good let's go let's get it on let it fly.
2) In all three games Miami has lost this year, they have been absolutely plastered from the three point line. The Clippers made 10-21 tonight, several of them as they were pulling away in the third quarter. Some of this makes sense. Miami plays small, so their wings have to be help-conscious in the paint. In the playoffs, with everyone on maximum hustle, rotations back out to shooters are quicker - you can't expect that 82 games a season. But some of it just seems like bad luck. Chris Paul made two end-of-the-shot-clock triples from a combined 55 feet. Willie Green, a bad shooter to begin with, knocked down two contested threes in a row. Even in the second quarter, Caron Butler, another bad three point shooter (but from the University of Connecticut, and therefore a Dos Minutos fave), made 3 threes - two of those extremely bad, well-defended threes. What the hell? Can someone miss a shot against us, please?
3) The starting backcourt of Dwyane Wade and Almario Vernard Chalmers combined to shoot 4-15 for 11 points, with 9 assists and 8 turnovers. That's not exactly, you know, good. Wade tweaked his ankle in Houston Monday, but seemed to be moving fairly fluidly. He simply had one of those nights where he seemed to shoot the ball while running, rather than coming under control, being balanced, and taking a quality shot. For his part, Mario Chalmers kept falling down - he really spent an impressive amount of time on the deck tonight. Not saying that affected his shooting at all, just noting his lack of balance.
4) Chris Paul and Blake Griffin have to be the least likable pick-and-roll duo on earth. One is a 6 foot tall smirking jackass who delivers an inordinate number of cheap shots during a game, and the other is a 6 foot 9 inch tall smirking jackass who delivers an inordinate number of cheap shots during a game. Not even the most die hard Clipper fan would attempt to make an argument that either one of these guys is even remotely likable. Outside of everyone currently associated with the Celtics organization, and Russell Westbrook, they are probably the two least likable players in the NBA. My favorite play of the night was when Griffin set a high screen for Paul, Paul decided to try to split the double team, but instead smashed straight into Griffin, which knocked the ball loose and sent the Heat on a fastbreak, after which Paul wheeled around and yelled at Griffin, as though Griffin were the one who had just mindlessly dribbled the ball directly into a teammate's hip bone. Tough to choose a side in that argument - there are no winners in that situation. Second favorite play of the night: when Griffin had an uncontested dunk and stuffed himself on the front of the rim. Third favorite play of the night: the final buzzer to end the game.
5) Why Old Dudes Should Not Use Twitter, and Specifically Not Heat Color Commentator Tony Fiorentino, Episode II:
Tony Fiorentino
Ask the NBA
I'm really starting to think that Tony might not understand, you know, jokes.
6) We all been through a lot, but we can still enjoy a light lunch together.
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It's 2 am, I'm going to bed. We have another 10:30 pm start tomorrow in Denver. That's insane. The chances of winning that game are approximately zero percent. I saw a statistic last year for teams playing the second night of a back-to-back in Denver coming from the West Coast the last few seasons - their record is something ridiculously bad, like 6 wins and 290 losses. Can someone with a computer look that up and email that to me? Nights like tonight and tomorrow are when I truly, truly hate the blog...If you need me before tomorrow, I'll be sleeping, waking up angsty, but enjoying a light lunch on the early side of noon. See you tomorrow night, you smirking beauties...
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