1) This has been the most fun stretch of the most enjoyable season in Miami Heat history...but not tonight! Ughhhh, that was terrible! Still, 25 is 25. There isn't much to say about this game, it was a dullfest, and I need to get back down to Ultra, solet'sjustgetthroughthisinahurrylet'sgoletitfly...
2) The Detroit Pistons turned the ball over 22 times, including a season-high 15 steals by Miami. Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole each had 4 - that's 8 steals from the point guard position. Dwyane Wade had 3, but in fairness, I believe that each time he stole the ball, he dribbled downcourt and passed it directly out of bounds. He was fairly awful: finished 7-17 from the floor for 19 points, and had 6 turnovers. He's had a couple of poor games in a row, luckily he can do that...
3) ...because KJ James. Ho hum: boring, atrocious team effort against a bottom-feeder, and still he went 12-15, for 29 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He makes everything better. No matter what is going on in a game, no matter how badly Miami is playing during a part of the game, when you see him on the floor, you're like, "ahhh - we're okay." As great as Dwyane Wade is - he's demonstrated that he's still the second best player in the Eastern Conference - every time KJ is out, you feel uneasy, even when Dwyane has it going. You realize that KJ is spoiling all of us, right? Someday, sometime, he's not gonna be here anymore, and basketball is gonna seem A LOT harder.
4) Chris Bosh: 1-7, 5 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 turnovers in 31 minutes.
Greg Monroe: 10-19, 23 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists in 41 minutes.
Whoopsies!
5) Quite a night for Detroit rookie guard Kim English: 12 minutes, 0-3 from the floor, 6 fouls. Amongst his 6 fouls were two blows to the head of KJ James (the second bizarrely not called a flagrant foul, even though a few minutes earlier the refs had called a flagrant on Mario Chalmers, of all people, for simply running medium-speed into a screen, prompting a Jones Jerebko flop). Also, English crashed into Shane Battier on a three point attempt; and then later, as Battier was making a three, randomly shoved Chris Anderson in the back at the rim, for a four point play. Future is bright for this kid.
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The next game is Sunday against Charlotte. Goodness, please let that game be more interesting than this one. If you need me before then, I'll be hanging out near a certain tree in Bayide. See you Sunday.
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