1) Whoo-wee! Who turned on the offense? Goodness gracious! This game seemed destined to be a little crazy during the pre-game introductions when most of the Heat team participated in some kind of ritualistic dance centered around some wild tribal bouncing by Chris "Birdman" Anderson during their intro song, the White Stripes "Seven Nation Army." And it was wild, that was a shootout. Dwyane Wade had 24 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, a steal, and 2 blocks (12, 5, and 4 in the 4th quarter)...and it was the worst game of the Big Three! Both Miami and Portland led by double digits...in the first half! Portland shot 53% from the floor...but Miami topped it with 58% from the floor! And Mike Miller wasn't even available (flu)! Zoooo-eeee-mama! Let it fly!
2) KJ James: ridiculous again. Portland tried to body him up with stocky Wes Matthews, and KJ took him to the post and annihilated him. 30 points on 11-15, with 6 boards, 9 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks (more on one of the blocks in a second). He had several flying smash-dunks, one of which had Blazers coach Terry Stotts pleading with the referees for a hanging on the rim technical foul, as KJ swung himself up before dropping to earth. Really, Terry Stotts? That's what we're doing now? Of all the girly complaints...That's 6 straight games of 30 or more for KJ, all on 60%+ from the field. No one's ever done it before, and no one probably ever will again, unless Mike Bibby comes out of retirement (annnd, more on him down in #6)...Also, Chris Bosh was great tonight, it was one of his better games of the year: 32 points on 13-16, with 11 rebounds for CB. Did I mention there wasn't a lot of defense tonight?
3) Play of the game: well, there was one defensive play, and it ended the game. Down 6 with 3 minutes to go, and fighting to stay in it, Portland guard Damian Lillard, the presumptive Rookie of the Year, shook free at the top of the key and drove down the lane. Lillard was spectacular in this game - 33 points on 10-18 - and it looked like he had a free layup to cut the lead to 4. But out of nowhere flashed KJ James, who went up and tomahawk-spiked Lillard's shot off the glass, which sent Dwyane Wade out running the other direction. Wade got into the lane, Eurostepped a Blazer, then suddenly spun and threw a pass back out to a trailing Mario Chalmers: triple, 9 point lead, ballgame! This Lillard, though, holy smokes, does he look good. Plays with a nice controlled pace, has a sweet handle, and a beautiful looking stroke. He's only going to get better. They got him with a draft pick acquired by trading Gerald Wallace to the Nets. Gerald Wallace has since retired - oops, Nets. Wait, what? Oh - Gerald Wallace is still playing! It just seemed like he retired because he was non-existent when the Heat played the Nets three times earlier this season! Sorry, Gerald, I'm not myself today!
4) Scrubbish Blazers backup power forward, the very, very white Luke Babbit, played a mostly forgettable 16 minutes in this one. The only thing he really did of note was to plant himself in the lane defensively and never move, no matter what was going on around him. It was like he had studied game film of Dwight Howard's virtuoso illegal-defense-for-the-ages performance in Miami this past Sunday. During one stretch, every time down the court, Chris Bosh would space out to the wing, and point at Babbit's illegal position down in the paint, but the refs wouldn't call it. Finally, on about the sixth straight possession, a ref did whistle him for it, and Babbit went slightly bezerk - he started pointed at the floor where he was standing, as if to say, "Right here - right here - this is right where Dwight Howard was standing Sunday, and you never called it!" The refs all just kind of shrugged at him - he couldn't have been more blatantly illegal. Dwight Howard, okay, he can be illegal. White Howard? No, we can't allow that...
5) Hey, peeps, Valentine's Day is fast approaching! And if anyone out there has a former spouse who is a constant irritant, or an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend who is an absolute mouth-breather, M.Minutos located just the thing for you recently: Kevin Garnett and Derrick Rose Valentine's Day cards!
These are real Valentine's Day cards! You are making a serious statement by giving someone one of these cards, I mean, you really have to hate someone to give them one of these! For me, the only two dudes I hate enough to give these cards to, are actually these two dudes! I guess it will have to be a hand-made coupon for one day where I do the dishes again for M.Minutos...
6) Okay, this is an actual headline today from the USA Today website:
Cops eject Mike Bibby from son's high school hoops game
What? This is an outrage! How dare you, cops! Apparently, he was criticising the terrible job the referees must have been doing - I know the feeling, that's how I feel every time KJ James goes to the basket and gets hammered with no foul being called. Listen, if the refs are doing such a poor job that Mike Bibby has to try to intervene to help them, I'm pretty sure they are the problem, not Mike Bibby. Here's some video of his dismissal:
I am 100% confident that when all the facts of the case are in, the evidence will show that Mike Bibby was completely in the right, and also that he was a top-5 all-time point guard in the NBA. I mean, we are talking about a guy who almost singlehandedly beat the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs last year, while wearing only one shoe!!!
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Last game before the All-Star break is Thursday in Oklahoma City! Believe that is somewhere in Texas. Dwight Howard. White Howard...Kendrick Perkins - Fight Howard! Thank you - tip your waitresses, especially Terry Stotts! If you need me before Thursday, I'll be having pre-Valentine's Day makeout sessions with M.Minutos! Besitos!
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