NBA 2012: Running thread

If Miami is healthy the postseason is just a battle for second. That may be the case for another five years.

 

I've always said that After three and a half periods of staged melodrama, now it's time to see can win this. They are playing for real now!

 

Nice game by Harden tonight for a short-handed Rockets team. They traded away Patterson, Morris, and Douglas (and Aldrich, but he hardly plays) tonight so those guys weren't available. Harden has gone for 46 pts (14-19), 8 rebounds, and 6 assists and led them back in the 4th to pick up a win against OKC.

 

Beno Udrih = $7.8M (I think $25/3 years but expiring now); WOW!!! The NBA is lucky that there are only 15 players per team otherwise they'd be the greatest stimulus package for the country.

 

Heat and Spurs were devastating last night.

Minus the Showtime aspect, the Heat have the same execution and swagger as those Lakers.

 

The Heat HAVE to hit all their shots, because they're last in the league in rebounding. That's not because they shoot so well, because they're ninth in the league in field-goal defense. That explains why the Pacers, who are second in rebounding, are the only team to beat the Heat twice, and convincingly each time (though they haven't played in Miami yet). I'm not saying the Pacers will beat the Heat in a playoff series, but that Miami's toughest playoff matchup will be against a team with size that can hit the glass from all angles. That won't be the Knicks, next-to-last in rebounding.

 

When LeBron went to Miami, all we heard was that it was a legacy mistake because even if he wins a title it would never be "his" because Wade won one before he got there. All that has happen is the diminishing of Wade's legacy. Who would of thought that LeBron's star would never shine brighter & Wade would turn into a glorified Mo Williams.

 

McCallum's lovefest with Kobe. What else is Bryant supposed to say? "We're done. I'm just going to coast the rest of the way, save my legs, check out the women in the stands."?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/news/20130221/kobe-bryant-dwight-howard-lakers/?sct=hp_wr_a4&eref=sihp

 

If anyone should be suspended longer than the next guy it's Curry. He escalated emotions by trying to dance with Hibbert's waist, which is when Hibbert discarded the little fucker to the floor like used Kleenex before Curry got all hurted and tried to rush up to Hibbert again.

Had that not happened cooler heads probably would have prevailed.

 

It's also more like, David Lee started it. ESPN last night was trying to blow this up like Pacers-Pistons II, but this was more of a shoving match that happened to end up in the first row, not a rush into the stands. As a Pacers looser fanboi, I just hope this newfound aggressive by Hibbert translates into attacking the rack.

Also, there are certain players who stop fights merely by their presence. David West is one of those players.

Indiana, by the way, is emerging as the last, best hope to keep Miami from coming out of the East. The Pacers have won five straight, none by less than 11, and three by more than 30, including a win over the Knicks. They're 10-2 in the last 12, and the two losses were in overtime. Indiana also is 2-0 against Miami, and was the last team to beat the Heat. Paul George has outplayed LeBron James twice, and the Pacers also have the physicality and size that Miami lacks. I'm not going to say the Pacers could beat Miami in seven (for one thing, they haven't played the Heat in Miami yet), but the Knicks are fading, and no one else in the East has the size and defense to slow Miami down.

 

I do not want to see fights but it was good to see the Warriors show some emotion on the court showing that they cared. I don't think Curry was trying to engage Hibbert, just trying to be a peacemaker. Curry is nothing if not intelligent.

 

Lee was suspended for tonight's game and Curry had 54 in a losing effort tonight. On the other side, Chandler was a beast on the boards with 28 rebounds to go along with his 16 points.