Wade’s late shot makes Heat 3-0

There are five NBA teams that have played three games in the first four nights of the season.

Two of them (Miami and Oklahoma City) are 3-0. Another, the Boston Celtics, are 0-3. The two others are the Lakers (1-2) and the Warriors (2-1).

Undefeated records for those first two teams should come as no surprise. Pretty much half the staff at SheridanHoops.com predicted they would met in the finals. 

But then we have the third team, the Celtics, who were known to be older and less deep this season, but who were expected to have enough juice to beat a team like the Hornets, one of the league’s bottom dwellers.

But what did they do Wednesday night — a night that saw Dwyane Wade win the game for Miami at Charlotte on a 10-foot bank shot with 29 seconds to go — in their third straight road game, against a team that was missing its best player (Eric Gordon, bruised knee)?

Hold your noses, Celtics Nation, because your team stunk up the joint in New Orleans, losing by 19.

“We’ve let too many people score in our paint in all three games that we’ve played so far,” Boston’s Ray Allen said. “We’re being tested. … Our backs are up against the wall, so we’ve got to come out swinging.”

Think Danny Ainge is ready yet to admit that last year’s trade of Kendrick Perkins was a mistake? Hornets big men Emeka Okafor, Chris Kaman and Carl Landry had six buckets apiece, combining for more field goals that the entire Boston starting lineup. Yes, being without Paul Pierce for a third straight game was a contributing factor. But losing by 19? To that team?

The blog Red’s Army sums it up in their headline and the accompanying photo, and with this text: “It’s terrifying to think we may see more efforts like this one. I’m not prepared to jump to any conclusions about the season, but I’m scared. Jermaine O’Neal (2 points, 1-6 FG, 6 rebounds) is decomposing before our very eyes. He’s incapable of scoring no matter how close he’s to the rim. I’m not kidding when I say Greg Stiemsma (6 blocks, 4 rebounds) should be this team’s starting center. I don’t want to discuss Kevin Garnett (8 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists). It hurts too much. “We looked old tonight …” — Doc Rivers.

No that we’ve gotten past the best photo caption and headline, it’s time for the best and worst statistical lines of the night. The winner in the positive column is LeBron James, whose 32.7 scoring average leads the league after he had 35 points, seven assists and six rebounds in Miami’s 96-95 win at Charlotte (although coach Eric Spoelstra drew up the game winning play for Wade, not James).

The worst belongs to Russell Westbrook, whose 0-for-13 shooting night was overcome by Durant’ 32 points in Oklahoma City’s 98-95 victory over Memphis. Durant missed five of his first six shots but then made nine of 10. He is averaging 31.7 points, one less than James’ 32.7, and Durant (.559)  also has a slight deficit to James (.589) in the field goal percentage category.

From Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman: “Kevin Durant did it again. The difference this time was just the magnitude of his magic. Durant drilled a step-back jumper from the left wing over the outstretched arms of Rudy Gay with 35.4 seconds remaining Wednesday night to lift the Thunder to a 98-95 win over Memphis inside the FedExForum. ” I had to let it fly,” Durant said. “That was a prayer, buddy.” He could have fooled us. It’d be much easier to believe Durant didn’t plan that high-arching, game-clincher if he hadn’t put the Grizzlies away in the same fashion last spring. The reigning two-time scoring champion finished off Memphis in Game 4 from nearly the exact same spot. Instead of Gay, his defender was Shane Battier. Rather than a step-back jumper, Durant hit Battier with a shake-and-bake pull-up. And only 29.3 seconds were left in that triple-overtime thriller. “Kevin’s really improved a lot in how he gets his points,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “He’s thinking the game more, but that just comes with maturity.” Durant scored nine of his game-high 32 points in the final period. He made all three of his shots from the field in the quarter, had two assists and iced the game with a pair of free throws with one second remaining.”

In Charlotte, James was standing in the corner doing nothing on the biggest play of the game.

From Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “It was a somewhat surprising finish, one achieved after a Gerald Henderson 3-pointer with 12.2 seconds to play had put the Bobcats up by one, because it was Wade who was designated as the go-to guy on a night LeBron James led the Heat with 35 points. Wade, who had bruised his left foot and missed the first 10 minutes of the third period, was 4 of 12 from the field before his game-winning play. “When he called it,” Wade said of coach Erik Spoelstra’s instructions, “I was surprised, because LeBron had it going.” Wade, in fact, was about to tell Spoelstra that it should be James’ play, then decided he was up to the moment. Barely, with his left foot throbbing. “I had no lift,” the veteran guard said, “that’s why I shot-putted it.” For most of the night, it appeared the Heat had no lift, falling behind by 16 in the first half, then losing Wade at the start of the third quarter. But there was enough in support to push the record to 3-0, from James’ 35 points, seven assists and six rebounds, to 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting from forward Chris Bosh, to a needed 15-point outing from point guard Mario Chalmers and lockdown defense from Shane Battier in his longest outing of the season. “You’ve got to win some of these games ugly,” Spoelstra said. “We settled down.” The Heat held the Bobcats to 10 third-quarter points to get back into it and then rode the aggression of Bosh and James in the fourth until Wade had his moment. Wade’s moment came after both he and James botched dunks, although James’ attempt should have counted since it bounced off Henderson’s head and back out after clearing the rim. James joked he would appeal to the league for his lost points.”

Next, we turn to the Clippers, who have been chided on this site as not being playoff-worthy (much to the dismay of many readers and tweeps) despite the acquisition of Chris Paul. They surrendered 39 third-quarter points, let San Antonio shoot 56 percent from the field, and were outrebounded 43-30 by a team starting the undersized DeJuan Blair at center.

From Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times: “The 2011-12 Clippers were put through the same torture chamber the Clippers before them have experienced, extending the losing streak in San Antonio to 17 games. The last victory came here on Jan. 31, 2002. The Spurs own a 64-8 margin over the Clippers here and have won 19 of the last 20 games overall.
“This is the start of a process for us,” Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro said. “We’ve got to find a way to get better every day. I keep on talking about that. It’s not going to be easy.” One place the Clippers have to start the process is on defense.
They trailed by as much as 27 points. They allowed the Spurs to make 56.3 percent of their shots, 52.6 percent (10 for 19) on three-pointers. “We haven’t been together for how many days? We’re not making any excuses,” said Chris Paul, one of the new Clippers. “So, yeah, it [defense] can be an issue that can be resolved. That’s what we’ve got to do.” … Unlike the Clippers, the Spurs have been together for a while, something that Chauncey Billups says benefits San Antonio during the 66-game season. “I just think in a season like this, where it was a short camp, a team like that is going to prosper,” Billups, also one of the new Clippers, said after scoring 11 points. “They’ve got all their guys back that have played together. But at the same time, we’re down four at the half and to get beat by 25, that’s not pretty.”

Tonight, we get to see if the defending champion Dallas Mavericks (0-2) can lose by 20 again (they play at Oklahoma City), and we get to see Dwight Howard play against the New Jersey Nets, who will be his future team — unless you ask Tracy McGrady, which is what Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports did: ““I can’t see him coming here,” McGrady told Yahoo! Sports late Tuesday inside the visiting locker room at the Prudential Center. “If it’s just Dwight and D-Will, he’s better off just staying in Orlando. You want to go to a team that’s championship caliber, and just him and D-Will won’t get it done. There’s got to be other pieces around to make it look sweet.” … If Howard goes elsewhere, so does Deron Williams, and, yes, general manager Billy King’s plan would come tumbling down. It’s a bold gamble, the highest risk-reward scenario in memory – the kind that unfolded with Orlando and the Chicago Bulls in the 2000 free-agent market for McGrady, Grant Hill and Tim Duncan. It’s so hard for players to visualize a different day for the Nets, a Brooklyn arena that still is under construction. And so much easier to make a case for the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks and an owner, Mark Cuban, who is fully engaged in the championship chase. After watching the Nets offer no resistance to the Hawks in a 106-70 dismantling Tuesday night, T-Mac’s vision of Howard’s future had been further validated in his own mind. “D-Will is from Dallas,” McGrady said. “You’ve got Dirk Nowitzki there. They’re going to have [cap space] there. That looks sweet. Dirk. D-Will. And then you get Dwight Howard. That’s it, right there.”

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