6 Thoughts
1) Wow. I'll say one thing: those Cavaliers came to play. They kept getting down 20, and then fighting back, then getting down 18, then fighting back. Then they fought back so hard that they got all the way over the hump and led by 8 halfway through the fourth quarter. With Miami looking exhausted on their fourth game in five nights, it seemed like these young Cavaliers were going to steal one. Wow. Then Dwyane Wade went bananas, KJ James locked down Kyrie Irving, Cavs coach Byron Scott's rules were not followed, and the Heat won their eleventh in a row. Wow. Mike Miller was in the house. He didn't play, but rules is rules: let it fly! Wow.
2) Or, for the second straight night: WOW! "Way of Wade" went all 2006 in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 points, and making every offensive play down the stretch. Went middle, got knocked to the floor, dropped the ball, wrestled it away from two Cavs and from his side threw a laser to Battier for a big triple with 6 minutes to go to slice the Cavs lead from 7 to 4. Cut off the ball behind the defense and caught a KJ James bullet for a layup to cut the lead to 1 with 3 minutes to go, then got to the rim again moments later to put the Heat back ahead. Then, after the Cavs re-took the lead, he grabbed a Cleveland miss, pushed it quickly up the floor before the defense could get set, and found Battier for another corner triple to give the Heat a 2 point lead with a minute to go, then under 30 seconds, up 2, he ran screen and roll with James at the elbow, turned the corner, thundered down the lane and two-hand tomahawked flushed the Cavs away. Ballgame. It's the fourth game in five nights, he's an aging veteran: this shouldn't be happening, right? He shouldn't still be taking games over down the stretch, right? 24 points, 5 boards, 6 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. There's still a little something left in the tank. Way of Wade - WOW - indeed...And, yes, he did get a WOW into his postgame interview: there's a little left in the marketing tank, too! What the heck are in those Li-Ning sneakers? It's almost like Dwyane is playing better just for marketing purposes!
3) KJ James looked worn down a little tonight. I mean, yes, he did have 3 smashing dunks in the first quarter, and he did have 28 points and 8 assists. But he looked a little slow defensively in some help situations, and did not really make an effort on the glass, let a few rebounds go. Also missed an uncontested bunny right before the Wade tomahawk dunk to win the game. He's human. But you know why he's the MVP? Because the Cavs super point guard Kyrie Irving was shredding the Heat throughout the second half - they couldn't stay in front of him, and he kept breaking them down off the dribble for buckets, or collapsing the defense and finding open shooters. With the Heat down 3 and 3:30 to go, Coach Fun put KJ on Irving. From that point until the end of the game Irving went 0-4, on two long, contested triples; a heavily contested drive; and an 18 foot running off-handed airball throw to beat the shot clock. Lockdown, ballgame. KJ is the best offensive player in basketball: no one creates as many opportunities, in as many ways, as he does. But he also may be the best defensive player in the league - he's certainly the most versatile. The Heat just put him on an All-Star quality, high-level scoring point guard, and at 6'8" 260 (or whatever), he totally shut him down. That's ridiculous (but it's not WOW)...
4) Eric Reid and Tony Fiorentino reported that Cavs coach Byron Scott told them before the game that one of the Cavs defensive rules is that they never leave corner three point shooters open. Ummm, that may be more of a "suggestion" than a "rule," because all the Cavs did all night was leave corner triples, and all triples, open. Battier hit the two huge ones coming down the stretch (one from each corner), and also made 4-7 for the game (and one of the misses was a halfcourt clock heave that almost went in). Walter Ray Allen was 3-3; Emcee Chalmers was 4-5; and even Bosh drilled one (that's 10 for the season -he's got some work to do to get to 50, like I predicted). Heat were 12-19 overall, and they haven't lost a game yet this season when they make at least 10. When their shooters are shooting it well, it's almost always going to be a win, they have too many other ways to score as well, it's going to be too many points to beat them. Credit to the Cavs for almost getting it done.
5) And one way they almost got it done: threes of their own, especially 3 in a row from backup, journeyman wing CJ Miles, who has always had a nice looking stroke. Holy Mike Mil-lar! He scored 11 straight points in 3 possessions late in the third quarter which took the Cavs from down 10 to up 1: three triples, a foul on Chalmers on the third one, and a technical foul on Spo for protesting a no-call on a KJ James drive-and-get-knocked-to-the-ground-on-a-bodycheck that went uncalled on the play preceding the Miles four point play. I don't know why that was the call that got to Spo - apparently he didn't get the memo that all bets are off on any KJ James drive to the bucket...In any case, on the next Cavs possession, like any good shooter feeling it should, Miles came off a screen, caught a pass, and launched a three as he was turning without even bothering to look at the basket, and it rattled around and came thisclose to dropping before bouncing out. Whew! Even on the wrong end of it, it was quite a stretch to watch.
6) Worse parental group: Deadbeat Dads or My Two Dads? Neither, says R.Minutos: "The worst dads are Grateful Deadhead dads. They smell like patchouli oil, smoke pot all day, and eat grilled cheese sandwiches with their shirts off. My Two Dads are at least in shape, smell like a lush green forest, and are impeccable dressers."...Good points, although I'm not sure how in shape Paul Reiser was - I feel like he'd look like a soft, pasty puff of marshmallow with his shirt off. Also, he wears a hairpiece. Nice beard on Greg Evigan, though. These are the things we talk about at Dos Minutos Int'l HQs. The end.
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The next game is Tuesday, in Miami, against Sacramento. The first rule about games against Sacramento: they are always entertaining in one way or another. If you need me before then, I'll be buying some Chinese sneakers - I may still have some game left in these legs after all!
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