Random Game Notes: Heat 95, Mavs 92
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Moses Malone was on TSN before the game and he had some great quotes that I wanted to share with my American readers who wouldn’t have had the chance to watch the TSN show. When asked about closing out a series Malone joked with Leo Rautins that, “one thing you gotta’ be is focussed. You gotta’ be ready to play and be mentally tough and understand how to win and get it over with quick. I ain’t one to play 28 games. I will try to play 12 games because I want my summers to start. A lot of these guys like to keep playing. Get it over with!” Later in the interview Malone was asked if Mark Cuban is a distraction and Malone quickly said, “naw, I think Mark Cuban is one of the greatest owners of all-time.”
- During one 20 second stretch in the first quarter Alonzo Mourning he made an exceptional block on a Josh Howard dunk attempt, grabbed an offensive rebounded and then threw down a huge dunk. Another highlight reel came late in the third quarter when Mourning blocked shots on back-to-back possessions and single handedly snuffed out the Dallas Mavericks. Watching Mourning play defense is like David Ortiz bat - while Ortiz only swings for the fences Mourning is only trying to block shots while he’s on the court. Mourning roams the paint like a possessed man and while he picks up some cheap fouls you can’t argue to game changing effect he has when he’s in the game. Mourning finished with five of Miami’s ten blocks. As a Raptors fan is pains me to say this after he forced Toronto to waive him but the way that he’s played in the playoffs has impressed me and I’ve found myself slowly becoming a fan of ‘Zo again.
- Josh Howard plays with a ton of energy but that energy came out as reckless abandon tonight. In the first half Howard was flying around the court picking up cheap fouls, shooting airballs and was arguing with the refs when things didn’t go his way. He picked up his second midway through the second quarter and then picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter. Howard needs to find a way to slow things down a bit so he’s not playing like a ADD kid without his Ritalin.
- Will the real Dirk Nowitzki please stand up? He started out the game on fire with seven points in his first five minutes and finished the first quarter going a sizzling 5-7 from the field for 11 points. Nowitzki was scoring from beyond the arc, with thunderous dunks and with pull-up jumpers and the Mavericks had a firm grasp on the game. Then disaster struck for Mavs fans in the second quarter as Dirk become invisible and only scored two points while attempting just two field goals. In the third quarter he went 1-4 from the field and in the fourth quarter he continued to see double and triple teams and only 0-4. How does your franchise player only get eight second half shot attempts in the biggest game the franchise has ever had?
- After being down 26-12 at one point in the first quarter the Miami Heat went on a 15-4 run to pull to within three points at 30-27.
- Devin Harris has my vote as the quickest player in the NBA. Watching him zoom around the court reminds of a waterbug or Damon Stoudamire back when he played for Toronto. Harris doesn’t have a legit jumper yet so defenders are playing off of him yet he’s still able to burn every Miami defender off the dribble and is able to get to the rim at will. Once Harris gets a solid jumper defenders won’t be able to sag off him and he’ll be virtually unguardable.
- After leading for the majority of the first half Dallas missed their last seven of their last eight shots of the half. Miami was able to capitalize on this with a 13-2 run to lead 49-48 lead. The run was capped by a sick cram by Alonzo Mourning in the grill of DJ Mbenga. Can someone please send me a YouTube.com clip of this dunk?
- Before the game Pat Riley claimed that he only packed one suit, one shirt and one tie. After hearing this sound clip I kept thinking about the George Thorogood tune “1 bourbon, 1 scotch, 1 beer.”
- Here’s some random info I came across today - in the June 19th Sports Illustrated Sagana Diop said that if he wasn’t in the NBA that he would be “in Europe playing soccer. A midfielder.” Can anyone imagine Diop playing soccer? I sure can’t.
- During the half Josh Howard got his right calf wrapped up but it was bugging him so he dropped his pants to his knees during a Shaq free throw to take off the wrap.
- I can’t say enough positive things about Udonis Haslem. Reports from earlier this series say that it’s painful for Haslem whenever he lifts his arms past and he re-injured the shoulder early in the first quarter. Despite having a left shoulder that’s in horrible shape he’s still been battling on the boards, diving for loose balls and making clutch shots despite having a left shoulder that’s in horrible shape. His biggest contribution of the game game with just over a minute to play when he corraled his ninth rebound of the night and tossed in a put-back to give Miami a three point lead.
- Dallas had five turnovers in the first four and a half minutes of the third quarter. At one point in the third quarter Dallas was shooting an atrocious 3 for17 from the field.
- Watching Antoine Walker play is painful and I have no clue how Justin dealt with watching him play as a Celtic. Tonight Walker was 6-17 from the field and went 0-6 from beyond the arc. He made things worse by the awful “shimmy” that he did while laying on the floor in the third quarter.
- Both teams combined to shoot an abysmal 5 for 36 from beyond the arc until James Posey nailed a huge three with four minutes remaining to push Miami’s lead to six.
- I can’t believe how clutch Dwyane Wade is from the charity stripe with the game on the line. In game give he was an assassin late in the game nailing big free throws and tonight he nailed both free throws with 26.2 seconds remaining to push Miami’s lead to three points. Wade then stepped up to the charity stripe with 17.7 seconds left and nailed another two free throws to push Miami’s lead to five points. I’m not going to lie, if I were in that position I would be airballing those shots.
- As soon as I finished writing this Wade stepped up to the line with a chance to ice the game and missed two free throws. Jason Terry brought the ball up the court and had a great look at the basket but it clanked off the iron and Wade won what will probably be the first of many NBA Championships.
- Does anyone else appreciate the irony of the Heat winning four straight games after Dallas writers were calling for a sweep after Dallas won the first two games in this series?
Source
- HoopsAddict.com
Date
Wed 06/21/06, 4:08 am EST
