// Dwyane Wade came back, but so did the Golden State Warriors. Derrick Rose dueled Ricky Rubio. And Kobe Bryant erupted for 48 points. But they all have to take a momentary backseat to the Washington Wizards, who finally won a game. All it took was an overhaul of their starting lineup, a spark from their previously invisible prized rookie and a visit from the weary Toronto Raptors. The last winless team in the NBA broke through Tuesday night with a 93-78 win
Perkins: Heat 2.0, featuring more depth and youth
MIAMI – That photo to the left shows one of the key new pieces of the Miami Heat. If you don’t recognize him, that’s understandable. Norris Cole is not a household name or face. But he is one of the key reasons why the Miami Heat have the NBA’s best record. At certain points in Miami’s improbable 116-109 triple-overtime victory at Atlanta last week, the
Heat, Thunder Get Help from their Stars
The stars came out on Saturday night. LeBron James was back for the Heat, Kevin Durant was draining another game-winning jumper and Blake Griffin was posterizing Ersan Ilyasova. And down in Atlanta, Josh Smith almost did something that no NBA player has done in more than six years. But more on that later. James sat out Thursday’s triple-overtime win at Atlanta with a sprained ankle, joining Dwyane Wade in the thousand-dollar suit club. While Wade remained sidelined Saturday in New Jersey, James let
Kings pull off stunning comeback; Portland best in West
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
Tonight’s best game: Indiana at Miami
An action-packed night in the NBA is chock full of options with 12 games, but the best game tonight is in Miami at 7:30 EST, as the Pacers take their “talents” and their 4-1 to South Beach. “Talents” is in parenthesis because of the cupcake schedule the Pacers have played. Tonight they finally face a legitimately tough opponent. In a packed 66-game season, it will be the rare game with both teams
Perkins: Zone defense Heat’s Kryptonite
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,
Heat, Thunder Fall from Unbeaten Ranks
// And then there were none. We are less than 10 days into the season, and there are no more unbeaten teams. The last two were the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder, who were picked by three SheridanHoops staffers to meet in the NBA Finals. The Heat took a 5-0 mark into their home showdown with the Atlanta Hawks, who racked up 33 points in the fourth quarter en route to a 100-92 win. It remains to be seen whether the
More on Rubio, Cousins
Ricky Rubio impresses, DeMarcus Cousins gets banished, and the Heat and Thunder stay undefeated. CineSport’s Brian Clark and Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com discuss these story lines. //