And the best team in the Western Conference is … Ah, you don’t want to read about the Portland Trail Blazers, do you? You’d rather fawn over the Miami Heat for their 3 1/2-hour, triple-overtime victory in Atlanta, or dump on the Dallas Mavericks and those who said two weeks ago that they were the best team in the NBA. Perhaps you’d prefer to postulate over where Dwight Howard will end up (just a thought, but if I’m Rich DeVos, and I’m 85
Highlight Performances: Chris Bosh, MIA– When Bosh first signed with the Heat, most people expected Bosh to be, well, what he has been through the first 8 games this season. He’s averaging 20 points a game, and could easily be averaging much more had he not had such a pedestrian game on the first night of the season. Bosh seems much more comfortable this season, and he stepped up in a big way in Thursday Night’s game, scoring 33 points along
Dwyane Wade is doubtful tonight vs. Indiana
MIAMI – The zone defense is killing the Miami Heat. OK, it’s not really killing the Heat. After all, they won 58 games and went to the NBA Finals last year, and so far they’re 5-1 this year. But you know what I mean. The zone is hurting the Heat badly when applied correctly by good teams. Dallas did it in the Finals last year. Boston did it this year. And on Monday, Atlanta did it well enough to defeat the Heat,
MIAMI — The first thing you notice about Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem is his hair. The trademark braids he wore for his previous eight NBA seasons are gone. Spending two hours a week getting his hair done finally got to be too much. But after you get over that initial shock of seeing Haslem wearing a medium-sized afro, you notice the rebounding, the toughness, the willingness to take charges, to get on the floor after loose balls. You see the art
MIAMI — Midway through the third quarter of the Miami Heat’s 118-85 victory over Orlando on Sunday, second-year center Dexter Pittman got right in Dwight Howard’s face as though he wanted to start something. The result of the altercation was a double foul — one on Pittman, one on Howard — and a measure of respect. But it didn’t answer any questions about the Heat’s toughness in the middle. Miami’s four-headed center — starter Joel Anthony, Pittman, and power forwards Chris Bosh
MIAMI – Take one look at Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh – the Miami Heat’s Big Three – and you can tell they’re more relaxed this year. That’s because the focus of the season is different, it’s more about the Miami Heat than the Big Three. That’s a liberating feeling for all involved. “I feel this year we’re head above heels from where we were last year,” James said. A year ago the Big Three were the talk of the nation.
By Chris Bernucca We all remember last year’s free agency extravapalooza – LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh heating up South Beach, Amar’e Stoudemire making the Knicks relevant, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce making career commitments to their teams and Joe Johnson landing the biggest contract of them all. Next year could be a quality sequel, with a star-studded cast that includes Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Ray Allen, Jason Terry, possibly Jameer Nelson and Gerald Wallace, and oldies but goodies Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Steve