1. Heat Use Sixers To Snap Back ... Again
ESPN.com
MIAMI -- The Heat have a rather one-sided relationship going with the 76ers. They seem to use their peers from Philadelphia like an old rag, wiping away their troubles and struggles so they can feel better about themselves.
It's been going like this for two years now, dating back to the Heat getting their first win in the "big three" era after a bad start. Then using the Sixers as a pivot point to start their playoff run. Now relying on them to be this season's ultimate slumpbuster.
The Heat did it again Tuesday, getting over their worst loss of the season by beating the Sixers 99-93. As an added benefit, LeBron James used the game to officially break out of the longest scoring slump he has had in seven years as he put up a season-high 41 points in the victory.
Not only that, the Heat were also afforded the opportunity to rest Dwyane Wade and still claim a victory over a quality opponent. The team said Wade had a sore knee but couldn't really say when the injury happened or the exact issue.
Coach Erik Spoelstra denied that sitting Wade -- who clearly had been battling a case of tired legs -- had anything to do with getting him ready for Wednesday's high-profile game against the Thunder. That was politically correct, but he didn't say what was clear: The Heat apparently felt they had a good chance to beat Philly even without one of their stars.
That gamble turned out to be correct.
Last season the Heat beat the Sixers seven of the eight times they played, including winning four out of five in a first-round playoff series that propelled them to an unexpected blitz to the NBA Finals. This season the Heat are a perfect 4-0 against the Sixers, with the past three wins all coming off troubling losses.
After blowing an 18-point lead and losing in Milwaukee in February, the Heat used the Sixers' own practice court for a key team meeting and won the next day by 20 points. When they played last month, the Heat were coming off losses to the Magic and Bulls but turned it around in Philadelphia, with James hitting a clutch jumper down the stretch for a little extra spice.
Tuesday the Heat were licking their wounds after their worst loss of the season, a 19-point defeat in Boston. James hadn't cracked the 30-point barrier in nine games, his longest such spell since his second season back in 2004-05.
The Sixers, putting up a good fight, were there to give the Heat another well-timed pick-me-up.
"It's interesting, everytime we've faced this team this year, they're coming off a very disappointing loss," Sixers coach Doug Collins said. "We've usually faced them in a very persnickety mood."
James was in a scoring mood. With Wade resting, James had the green light to dominate the ball and he didn't pass it up. He has performed well when Wade has been out this season, a large reason the Heat are now 9-1 when he sits, and he was in attack mode from the first quarter onward.
Then he got a break when Andre Iguodala, one of the most effective perimeter defenders in the league, was lost for the game in the third quarter after Mario Chalmers poked him in the eye. That opened the flood gates for James, who scored 15 points in the fourth to carry the Heat to their 16th straight home victory.
"We were happy to get a win against a very good playoff team," said James, who made 15 of his 25 shots. "I needed to take control a little bit more."
Yet there's more bad news for the Sixers in this "rivalry."
The loss to Boston Sunday plus the events of Tuesday night have helped the Celtics open a lead on Philadelphia for first place in the Atlantic Division There's still three weeks to play but the Heat have done their best, on purpose or not, to make sure they get to play the Sixers in the first round of the playoffs and not the Celtics. A Sixers team they've now won 11 of their last 12 games against.
"That's a really good team; if you're not on our game they can beat you," James said. "Our success against them, I don't know. We just have the blueprint."
NBA Writer Brian Windhorst
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2. Around The Association
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93 | Recap | Box score |
99 |  |
MVP: LeBron James scored a season-high 41 points to break a streak of 10 games without 30 points, James' longest drought since 2004-05. With Dwyane Wade out because of a bruised knee, James was the centerpiece of the offense and got 25 shots, making 15 of them.
Defining moment: Andre Iguodala was poked in the left eye by Mario Chalmers late in the third quarter, forcing him out for the rest of the game. Without Iguodala's defense, James scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
X factor: Shane Battier's line was unimpressive: 1-of-4 shooting, four points, four rebounds. But in drawing the start for Wade, he was versatile on defense by guarding some of Philly's smaller and quicker guards and was very active all over the floor. He had three steals and chased down several loose balls by diving on the floor.
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104 | Recap | Box score |
112 |  |
MVP: I had already written Carmelo Anthony into this spot. But nope. Danny Granger scored 14 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to help the Pacers come back from down 17 to win. Indiana outscored New York 40-17 in the final period.
X factor: Lou Amundson. He tracked down five offensive rebounds in 20 minutes, including two on one key possession late in the fourth quarter that led to an Indiana bucket. His energy and, more surprisingly, his passing sparked small-ball success as Pacers coach Frank Vogel surrounded him with perimeter players throughout crunch time.
Defining moment: As New York continued to collapse, Granger hit three 3-pointers over a four-minute stretch to cut the New York lead to six, then to zero and then put Indiana up three. Up 94-91, the Pacers held their first lead since the second quarter. And it was one they didn't relinquish.
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94 | Recap | Box score |
98 |  |
MVP: Mike Conley (18 points, five rebounds) was big early on, but the Grizzlies turned to O.J. Mayo for every big bucket. Mayo finished 4-for-5 from downtown and delivered a beautiful pass to Marc Gasol for a nice floater to give Memphis the lead midway through the fourth quarter.
X factor: Dante Cunningham provided a nice lift off the bench, finishing 6-for-6 from the field for 12 points (including a couple highlight-worthy dunks), and grabbing five boards in just 21 minutes. Also worth mentioning that Nate Robinson was absolutely on fire, giving the Warriors 18 points in 25 minutes.
That was ... gritty: After struggling on both sides of the ball and trailing for most of the half, the Grizzlies put together a terrific fourth quarter, outscoring the Warriors 28-15 to claim the victory. An impressive effort for a team coming off a road win in Oklahoma City just one night earlier.
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109 | Recap | Box score |
100 |  |
X factor: DeMarcus Cousins bullied the Suns for a career-high 41 points on 16-for-25 shooting and 12 rebounds. DMC scored at will in the post against Marcin Gortat and Robin Lopez all game long.
MVP: Steve Nash showed why he is still an All-Star at age 38 as he took over down the stretch by scoring or assisting on Phoenix's five final baskets. He finished with a cool 18-6-12 line.
That was resilient: The Suns blew a 17-point advantage early in the fourth, but instead of folding and allowing the Kings to puncture their playoff hopes they fought right back and won the game rather easily.
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87 | Recap | Box score |
91 |  |
MVP: Kobe Bryant finshed with 24 points in 35 minutes on 10-for-16 shooting and hit a long go-ahead 3-pointer to round out the win. Pau Gasol and Ramon Sessions put up better numbers, but Kobe gave L.A. the win.
Defining moment: The Lakers led by 17 at one point, but the Nets came back to take a lead in the fourth. Kobe's bouncing 3 with 6.8 seconds left put the Lakers ahead by four and sealed the victory.
That was ... unexpected: I don't think anyone anticipated the Nets would go into L.A. and even put up a fight.
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95 | Recap | Box score |
102 |  |
MVP: Greg Monroe. With Dwight Howard out because of back spasms, Monroe (22 points on 9-of-11 shooting, 11 rebounds and three assists) had his way inside.
X factor: Glen Davis. If it weren't for Davis (31 points, 10 rebounds and three steals), the Magic would have had no chance. Unfortunately for Orlando, he couldn't come close to duplicating Howard's defense.
That was ... misleading: The Magic are much better than the Pistons and probably good enough to beat Detroit on the road more often than not. But with Howard, Ryan Anderson and Jameer Nelson out, Orlando struggled.
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125 | Recap | Box score |
90 |  |
MVP: The three-headed monster of Tony Parker, Patty Mills and Danny Green, who combined to score 58 points on just 34 shots and three free throws. Parker was able to live in the lane all game, and Green and Mills couldn't miss from the outside, which allowed the Spurs to completely torch the helpless Cavalier D despite minimal contributions from Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan.
X factor: Of San Antonio's 125 points, 109 came from inside the paint, outside the 3-point arc, or at the free-throw line -- the highest-efficiency scoring areas in basketball. In other words, the Spurs would have won this game by 19 points if they'd missed every single one of their mid-range jumpers.
That was ... ironic: Green, who the Cavs decided to cut from their awful, awful, awful basketball team last season, is looking like a true NBA ballplayer for the Spurs. He plays smart, he hits open 3s, and he's a do-it-all guy on both ends of the ball. Playing with better teammates in a better system is certainly helping Green, but that's still no excuse for a team as pathetic as the Cavs to have cut a promising 24-year-old player.
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87 | Recap | Box score |
92 |  |
Defining moment: Byron Mullens deserves praise for his terrific game (20 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks), but he airballed a 3 with 11 seconds left that would have tied the game. From there, all the Raps had to do was hit a few free throws to seal the win.
MVP: Tossup between Andrea Bargnani and DeMar DeRozan. DeRozan had 16 of his 20 points in the second half and hit several shots when the Bobcats had momentum that needed silencing. Bargs, meanwhile, led the Raps with 30 points and got crucial buckets late to put the game away.
LVP: Bismack Biyombo had a pretty forgettable night for the Bobcats, managing just five points in 23 minutes. He also had nearly as many turnovers (four) as rebounds (five).
3. Tuesday's Best
LeBron James, Heat: With Dwyane Wade out, LeBron brought the heat, scoring 41 points to lift Miami out of its funk and beat the Sixers. The scoring flurry also snapped a streak of 10 straight games in which James hadn't scored at least 30 points, his longest since 2004-05.
4. Tuesday's Worst
New York Knicks: Up 15 points heading into the final frame, the Knicks were outscored 40-17 and ended up losing by eight in Indy. "It was just unfortunate," Carmelo Anthony said. "We can't have that." Indeed.
5. Head-Turner
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
9. Stat Check
DeMarcus Cousins, who will not turn 22 until August, had 41 points and 12 rebounds against the Suns on Tuesday night. The last NBA player younger than Cousins to match or exceed both of those totals in one game was a then-20-year old Kevin Durant, who had 46 points and 15 rebounds on January 23, 2009, against the Clippers.
Monroe Doctrine
Allen Einstein/Getty Images
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