6 Thoughts
1) Honestly? I'm not even that frustrated. When you see at the outset that Joey Crawford is reffing the game, you know that something aberrant is probably going to happen one way or another. You either get through it, or you don't. Right now is not really the time to spend a lot of time complaining about the two tough calls he made that went against Miami right at the end (or the bizarre policy that out of bounds plays are reviewable, but those two calls are not). We have noted them, now let's move on. The reality is that if anyone on Miami gets a defensive rebound or two at any point in the fourth quarter, the Heat probably win the game. They didn't, on the whole Miami got the split in Indiana that they needed, and if the Heat take care of home court, they will win the series. Honestly, look at the bright side: the fact that Joey Crawford refereed tonight's game means he can't be refereeing Thursday's game. I hope. That's not possible, that's against the rules, right? Come on, come on, let's get through it quickly (and also, time to wash the Chalmers shirt)...
2) Man, Miami played poorly, they played with a pretty low level of intensity. They tried to win this game in "normal" mode, with KJ James directing offense from the top, rather than from the block, and by offsetting their pedestrian, at best, rebounding, by out shooting the other team. Didn't work. The Heat shot under 40% from the floor for only the third time all season (39%). Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh made a combined 6-21, and Ray Allen made 4-13. Dwyane was also fairly comatose on defense - lost Lance Stephenson on the huge triple to end the third quarter. Inexcusable defense on that play. Also, Chris and Dwyane only had 6 combined rebounds in 67 minutes. KJ James was more "good" than "great," but he made numerous big plays to keep the Heat in it all night long - he just didn't get enough help from those two to get the Heat over the hump. Dwyane was not crisp - kicked the ball around a lot, missed some layups. Think crisp, Dwyane! Like a freshly cut carrot, or a Triscuit! Crisp!!!
3) You know who was crisp? Mario "Emcee" Chalmers! He never ceases to amaze. He seems to be the one guy who has timed up Hibbert. He's able to penetrate and consistently flip layups and runners over the big guy, or to take it to the rim and draw fouls. There's a lot of big dudes in Alaska, you think Chalmers didn't have to deal with 7'2", slow-talking behemoths up there? Mario scored 20 on 14 shots and didn't turn the ball over for the second straight game. In fact, the Heat only turned it over 6 times - that part was fine. I don't want to say that my Mario Chalmers t-shirt is the only reason for Chalmers' excellent play of late, but it's pretty clearly the biggest factor. Don't blame the shirt for the loss, the shirt can't rebound - it's a shirt, what the hell is wrong with you, of course it can't rebound!...I'd like to see the shirt fight Joey Crawford...
4) None of David West's screens tonight were illegal, and he never lightly pushed anyone after getting a rebound. Oh, and Roy Hibbert got called for a foul every time he contested a play at the rim with both hands up in the air. KJ James could really learn a lot from those two guys...Couldn't resist. Let's move on!
5) Great Friend of the Blog, and vacationing Celtic fan, WebMinutos, writes in to say, "I don't understand how [Indiana Pacers broadcaster] Reggie Miller's ears fit inside those headphones?" Those were not headphones, those were frisbees - Reggie, Steve Kerr, and Marv Albert like to play a quick game of ultimate during halftime. Reggie won tonight's game, but I don't even respect him at all, because he was flopping a lot. Flopping is ruining ultimate frisbee, I probably won't even watch it anymore.
6) My Top Five Favorite Action Movie Stars:
5) Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
4) Vin Diesel
3) Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson (tie)
2) Paul Walker
1) Wolf Jackman. What? Oh. Hugh Jackman.
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Okay, that was a quick one, just have to let it go and get back at it on Thursday. If you need me before then, I will not be watching a Hugh Jackman film. To my knowledge, I have never seen any Hugh Jackman film. If I did, I was not aware that the guy I was watching was Hugh Jackman. Who the hell is Hugh Jackman, and is he as boring as he looks? See you, Thursday!
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