When he met reporters before Sunday night’s game, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was asked if the Orlando Magic are a title contender. “Absolutely,” the coach replied. “There is no doubt about it. Anytime you have an MVP candidate like (Dwight Howard) and then personnel that fits, you’re a contender.” Writers covering both teams took that quote and ran with it, but not in the way you might expect. In Orlando, Spoelstra was taken with a grain of salt. From Josh Robbins of the
Erik Spoesltra of the Miami Heat and Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, whose teams had the longest winning streaks in February, were named Coaches of the Month, the NBA announced Thursday. The Heat are currently riding an eight-game winning streak under Spoelstra, who guided Miami to an 11-2 mark in February and was named Eastern Conference winner. The winning streak included wins at Atlanta, Milwaukee and Indiana on consecutive nights, making Miami the first team to win road games
MIAMI – The Miami Heat have been playing better than ever during the past 10 days. Think about that. Better than ever. Last season the Heat had stretches in which they won 21 of 22 games, and 15 of 18 games. Yet this is the best stretch ever. That’s not me talking, that’s Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. The Heat are on a six-game winning streak over the past 10 days, and five of those wins were blowout victories on the road. Those
First off, we are doing away with the Roman numerals, which only are used in copyright dates and Super Bowls. They can have ’em. Now back to business. Last week’s Bernucca List was first correctly answered by reader Matthew, who said the list was players who were parts of trades involving Shaquille O’Neal. He narrowly edged Sam Millner, preventing him from winning a second straight week. This week’s list is below. Whether you are a reader or a tweeter, send an answer.
Greatness up in the air
MIAMI – Yes, they like to run more than they did a year ago. But when you watch the Miami Heat closely it becomes apparent that one of their biggest improvements from a year ago has been in halfcourt offense. There’s much less confusion and malaise, and much more of a crisply-run, definitive, attacking game. “We’ve put a great emphasis on getting out running and being a fast-break team and getting easy points,” forward LeBron James said. “But we know there are
csprtContainer(); It was a long night for Carmelo Anthony. It began with a visit with George Karl, which ended a prolonged silence with his former coach. It continued with another poor shooting night and loss with the New York Knicks, which is becoming far too common lately. And it ended with accepting the blame for the team’s troubles and remaining defiant, which is his style, on and off the court. Facing the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night for the first time since forcing
MIAMI – Dwyane Wade, sprained ankle and all, had his fun. Now it’s time to rest. Over the weekend, Wade, the Miami Heat’s superstar guard, celebrated his 30th birthday with a party at the Setai Hotel on South Beach. Several teammates were there – LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem among them – and hip-hop artists TI, Common and Rick Ross performed. Wade, whose actual birthday is today, also received a 2012 McLaren MP4-12C automobile, which is valued at about $230,000.