Ballin’: LeBron Bests Wade (Barely) in South Beach
NBA March 3rd. 2009, 11:00amCleveland 107, Miami 100: A game worthy of ESPN classic … can they make this happen soon? The Cavs rallied in the 4th behind the high-flying exploits of LeBron (42 points, 6-of-7 three’s) and wingman Mo Williams (17 of his 30 in the fourth) to defeat the One Man Gang this is Dwyane Wade. Until the Cavs forced the ball out of his hands with constant double teams in the fourth, Wade was unstoppable: 41 points, nine assists, seven steals, seven rebounds.
Dallas 87, Oklahoma City 96: Has to register as one of the five biggest surprises of the season – without leading scorer Kevin Durant and leading rebounder Jeff Green, the Thunder stunned the Mavericks. There’s hope on the horizon for these guys if they get Blake Griffin in the draft – rookie Russell Westbrook had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
New Orleans 98, Philly 91: Here come the Hornets, winners of five straight. Did Tyson Chandler’s failed physical light a fire under these guys? David West hit the 30-point plateau for the third time in four games as the Hornets inched closer to that 4th seed in the West.
Atlanta 98, Washington 89: The injury-plagued Wizards lost at home to close within 1.5 games of the worst record in the NBA. Without cheating, can you guess where the Wizards starters went to college? Point guard Mike James, SG Dominic McGuire, SF Antwan Jamison, PF Andray Blatche and C Darius Songalia. Should be three locks.
San Antonio 106, LA Clippers 78: Tim Duncan scored 18 points and collected 10 boards in three quarters of play as the Spurs routed the Clippers. The “where’d they go to college” game is much easier with the Clippers: Baron Davis, Mike Taylor, Al Thornton, Steve Novak and Marcus Camby.
81 Responses to “Ballin’: LeBron Bests Wade (Barely) in South Beach”
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March 3rd, 2009 at 11:01 am
lebron > kobe
/suck it
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:03 am
Wade > Kobe
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:04 am
Kobe < human garbage
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:05 am
Jamison- UNC
Songalia- Wake
Blatche- DUI school
Entertaining game last night between the Heat and Cavs. I dont know how Cavs fans can listen to ML on a nightly basis. L Train lol
Jermaine O’Neal got posterized by Lebron
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:05 am
until…he was stopped by those double teams you mentioned in the previous sentence.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:06 am
human garbage is better than Kobe? There must be some chopped up Jewish people in that pile
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:07 am
Fantastic game, sucks no one got to see it. Irish, you just tune him out, “Ltrain”, “head check”, “right down euclid”.
In a related matter, Beasley sucks, like bad. I know he’s a rookie, but he is completely lost. Griffin reminds me of a less talented Beasley.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:08 am
ML?
and yea, the cavs announcers suck.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:08 am
Does that mean that dead jews are better than Kobe? Agreed.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:09 am
Austin, irish. Even worse.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:10 am
yeah, Austin. my bad
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:12 am
He’s as bad as Durant was last year. Let’s keep in mind most people don’t step in and contribute as a 19 year old.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:16 am
Does that mean that dead jews are better than Kobe? Agreed.
is there a better jew than a dead jew?
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:17 am
the line might have been crossed on that one.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:18 am
Durant averaged 20 points a game his rookie year.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:19 am
Wow – remind me never to spin my dreidel around Irish.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:19 am
No, no. Let him finish. I’m curious to see where this is going.
/grabs popcorn
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:20 am
Bulls made the right decision
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:20 am
the line was crossed a long time ago. Why dont we just call each other by our real names since we all know each other so well
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:20 am
With a good draft, OKC could rival Portland as the new exciting young team to watch.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:20 am
I compare Griffin more to KMart. A physical specimen in college who was able to outrun, out jump, and out muscle everyone on the floor. I think he’ll be solid in the NBA, but not great. Miami should have taken Mayo.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:22 am
But NickP, I was told by the experts that Beasley was the most “nba ready” (just like Griffin will be this year), but I see a guy who isn’t able to create a shot now that he can’t just overpower defenders. Doesn’t rebound that well, not a great defender. Its obviously too early to call him a bust, but he certainly isn’t contributing much at this point.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:23 am
Was waiting on you, clown.
PPG is obviously a terrible measure of performance. Taking a lot of shots is the easy part. Making them is a bit tougher.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:23 am
McGuire is a Fresno boy.
I didn’t know Mike James, so I looked him up…that cat has played for 9 different NBA teams in 8 years, crazy.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:23 am
im down…
hi, im spencer. glad i don’t have to use this silly pseudonym anymore.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:25 am
Beasley’s averaging decent numbers for a rookie. Maybe he’s just a slow learner.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:25 am
the line might have been crossed on that one
the line was crossed when someone called my work Spencer
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:25 am
Beasley and Durant’s numbers were fairly similar on a 36mpg basis. But I wonder how much better Durant would have been had PJ not put him at SG. Ever since he moved to forward, he’s been phenomenal.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:26 am
The real question is, does Griffin smoke as much weed as Beasley does?
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:27 am
He also had a higher rookie TS% than Icon, Hollinger.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:28 am
Re: Beasley. You guys are stretching it with him. He’s obviously been a major disappointment, but 14/5 doesn’t suck. I suspect he’ll be a 21/7 guy by his 3rd year.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:29 am
that’s fucked. sorry to hear that.
id have to say no…griffin looks like he gives a shit about basketball.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:30 am
clown: I know. He also offered less of everything else. Lebron was pretty damn average (little above) his rookie year.
However, Durant was arguably the worst player in the league. He’s not anymore, of course.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:31 am
How dare you.
/Adam Morrison
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:32 am
Irish…seriously? Wtf.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:32 am
Irish, how’d they manage to do that? And why would they call you at work?
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:32 am
That must’ve been hard for you.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:33 am
Maybe if he hadn’t been hurt the entire year…
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:34 am
Missed the entire year due to injury. Very awful when he does play.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:34 am
just steer clear of the personal stuff, guys. these are headaches i dont need.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:36 am
my bad TBL
@jay v and ruck- sorry but this is not the place to talk about it
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:37 am
Damnit. I wish I watched the NBA enough. Someone edit that comment so it’s more topical.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:38 am
And all the fun just got sucked out of the room.
/BSanders
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:43 am
Damn, that is f-d up if true, Irish.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:48 am
It’s far from over, Mike. but let’s move on from this topic.
HOW ABOUT SHAQ VS. SUPERMAN TONIGHT!
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:49 am
Austin Carr is hilarious, what are you guys talking about. “Get that weak stuff outta here..”
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:52 am
These inspiring words should replace the Commenters’ Bill of Rights.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:52 am
I expect the Magic to blow it out early and Shaq to do a lot of sitting on the bench. But he has been invigorated lately, so who knows.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:53 am
Certainly no one ever said that before he did
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:59 am
to find its way onto Espn Classic it will have to bump bull riding, poker, and arliss. tough to do
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:59 am
i liked austin carr more last season when he was a rambling, bumbling marblemouth. now that he has three phrases he learned in a summer class at broadcasting school, and runs them into the ground every night, he’s far more annoying.
at least when he was stammering, he was occassionally funny.
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 pm
arliss is a good show, i don’t care what anyone says.
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Thats the whole point, diesel. Are you retarded or just a d-bag?
OUMike is that the real OU (Ohio) or UO (Oklahoma,Oregon)
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Duder678 – I would never claim to be from Oklahoma or Oregon. OU = Mighty Mighty Bobcats.
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Nice, you go there now? Bong Hill? Where have you lived down there?
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:09 pm
No – I am a graduate. I lived on S. Shafer Street on the West side (right across from the cemetary). Are you a current undergrad or grad?
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:15 pm
OU is a scary, scary place.
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Maybe others weren’t able to stop Wade (barring the double teams), but he certainly stopped himself plenty of times with 8 turnovers.
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:17 pm
I’ve got about a 9 day old comment, in a reply to 10000 BC being the worst movie ever. My nominee is In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, now showing on Stars. I dare anybody to watch it all the way through.
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:20 pm
ou is the shit.
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Alum. OK I lived pretty close to there one year, Station Street Apts.
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Spencer – Agreed.
Cursed – if by “scary, scary place” you mean “drunkenly FANtastic place”, then I agree with you as well.
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Station Street was right behind Stocker. I carried many kegs of beer to the second floor of those apartments when my wife lived there. Good times.
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:26 pm
HOW ABOUT SHAQ VS. SUPERMAN TONIGHT!
Shaq is going down
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:29 pm
O-Done to miss 7-10 more days.
B-U-S-T
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Yeah you set it up real well. THE REAL OU education hard at work?
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Unfortunately, it is definitely beginning to look that way. At this point, I expect him to be nothing more than a 2nd string center that (when healthy) comes in situationally to help defensively.
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I wonder if Oden intentionally hurts himself so he doesn’t have to play. The guy seems so miserable playing the game.
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Nope. The Diesel is going to sweep his former teams 3 games in a row. The Suns will put up 140 on the soft Magic.
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:18 pm
140? Is Nash playing?
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Irish- He is gametime decision right now. He probably will sit out until friday. Which is fine because Barbosa has been playing great and their defense is far improved with Nash out.
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:27 pm
If Big Mouth is in foul trouble, its over for your Suns
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Big mouth is going to have Jr. in foul trouble
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:20 pm
did you read all the garbage Shaq said about Dwight this week?
Orlandosentinel.com has it up
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I think Shaq would destroy Dwight if they were to go head-to-head at the same point in their careers.
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Shaq was a rookie at 23. Dwight is 23 years right now. Did Shaq lead the league in rebounding, blocks, and dunks when he was 23? no. Was he this dominant at 23? It would be close
Shaq was 26 when he made his first NBA Finals appearance. Will Dwight make his first appearance before 26? good chance he will
March 3rd, 2009 at 3:20 pm
I didn’t know there were stats for dunking. If you compare Shaq’s rookie year to Dwight this year thus far, their rebounds are pretty comparable, and Shaq gets the edge in scoring and blocks ppg.
Factor in the fact that it was Shaq’s rookie season and he was still learning the ropes, and this is Dwight’s fifth in the league. I don’t know how close it actually is. Unless Dwight explodes for 30 ppg next season, I’ll go with Shaq. As for Finals appearances, I don’t like using team accomplishments to compare individual players. It’s too circumstantial.
March 3rd, 2009 at 3:22 pm
yep, they keep track of dunks. I respect your opinion
March 3rd, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Irish,
Shaq was 20-21 his Rookie year.
Averaged 23.4/13.9/3.5
D-Ho now 20.9/14.1/2.9
The next two years for Shaq 29.3/13.2/2.8 29.3/11.4/2.4
Surprisingly enough, your argument is helped if you compare them at 23. Well, kinda, since Shaq’s points far outstrip Howard’s and the only significant difference is rebounds.
March 3rd, 2009 at 3:40 pm
20-21 years old that is.
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:16 pm
my bad. I stand corrected about his age