Another big game for the Miami heat and the Big Three and another close loss. Derrick Rose is making his case to be the MVP of the league by making clutch shots to beat playoff teams. There has been a lot of talk that the Bulls need another scoring option in the form of a starting shooting guard but I am starting to disagree with that. The Bulls play like they are the hungriest team out there and they have a chip on there shoulder. It seems like every game you watch, Noah is energizing the team, Rose is either hitting a pull up jumper or throwin' it down with authority, and Kyle Korver is looking like the sixth man of the year. The beauty of the Bulls is that even when Rose isn't scoring 30, Deng and Boozer and the rest of the supporting cast are picking up the slack. Then we can look to the most important weapon the Bulls have, and that is one of the best defenses in the League. Everyone plays defense, even Boozer is making plays. If you were lucky enough to watch Sunday's game against the Heat, Rose even took on the tall order of guarding Dwayne Wade in the 4th quarter and Deng all but shut down Lebron. The defense is going to be the key component of any playoff run the Bulls will have. It will be players such as Brewer and Bogans who are going to need to step up big and they will need Korver to continue playing smart, veteran basketball.
When it comes to the Heat, they need to figure this train wreck out and fast. Do they have a good record this season, yes. But that doesn't mean they will do well in the playoffs. All the numbers show that they haven't beat the good teams and that they haven't made shots to win games. Lebron has taken a lot of the blame for either, missing, or passing on taking final shots throughout his career and this season may be showing us all why he didn't take more game winning attempts in Cleveland. Wade has been known as a closer prior to this season and most experts that talk on the subject expected Wade to be taking more of the game winning shot attempts. I think Wade needs more of the blame as well. He is supposed to be a leader on this team and he should be telling Eric Spoelstra to get him the ball so he can go win the game. Instead he stands in the corner and watches Lebron use the EXACT same drive two games in a row and they end up losing both games. Spoelstra needs to understand the personnel he on his team. Lebron is a very good player but he doesn't have that killer instinct that we have seen out of the greats like Kobe and Jordan. Dwayne Wade has proven in the past that he wants the ball with the game on the line. Spoelstra needs to give these guys a play to run out of the timeouts so that they can build confidence going into the playoffs. The only stat that Heat fans need to see is: 1-16. That is the Heat shooting with less than ten seconds on the clock and going for the win.P.S. Yes, for those that watched, it was Noah that Lebrick couldn't take off the dribble to win the game.
Lakers 99, Spurs 83
The Spurs went into Sundays showdown against the defending champs riding a high after blowing out the Miami Heat their previous game. This high didn't last long once they got on the court. The Lakers were on a mission and continued their hot second half of the season by going up 34 to 13 in the first quarter. Everything was working and the Spurs could not stop the avalanche of points that the Lakers were pouring on them. This tells us to not overlook the Lakers this post season. There has been a lot of speculation that Kobe is too old and that the Lakers don't have what it takes to win this year but Kobe has one more in him at least. The lakers are getting hot at the right time and are playing great basketball. They got their big man, Bynum, back in the middle and the only center in the game that can stop him when he is on his Dwight Howard. Matt Barnes just came off a knee surgery and Lamar Odom is playing at a high level. Matt Barnes is a name that may be overlooked by many but he is every bit as good (if not better than) Ron Artest for the Lakers. Barnes brings energy to the defensive end, three point shooting to the offense, and he will guard the other teams best player on any given night. Another sleeper the Lakers have is Shannon Brown. Brown is a freakish athlete who can jump out of the gym and drain three balls. Having him this postseason will translate to at least one win.The Spurs suffered a tough loss at the hands of the Lakers, but are still 5 1/2 games ahead of the Mavericks for first place. This game meant more to the Lakers than it did to the Spurs, but none the less, the Spurs must play better. They cannot come out and lay an egg like they did Sunday in the playoffs or they might not make it far enough to play the Lakers. The Spurs are a very versatile team that has many players that the average NBA fan wouldn't know about. The emergence of rookie Gary Neal and George Hill have really helped this team reach that next level. With Ginobili leading the way, the Spurs have a great chance of making it to the finals this season. Possibly the most important news for the Spurs is Tony Parker coming back from injury so fast. Parker injured his calf and was reported to be out 4-6 weeks and all of a sudden on Sunday, he was suited up ready to go on only a couple days rest. If the Spurs let him come back too soon they could be paying for it later in the playoffs.
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