Post Up: It’s Dwyane’s World

by Holly MacKenzie/@stackmack

That wild, crazy and zany Bulls/Nuggets game? The one where Derrick Rose had ice veins, knocking down free throws to tie before Chauncey Billups won the game for the Nuggets after Brad Miller hit a game-winning shot with 0.3 seconds remaining only to have the shot reviewed and called off after the Bulls celebration at midcourt? Yeah, I didn’t see a glimpse of it because I was liveblogging the Rockets/Mavericks game that didn’t end up being quite so exciting.

Of course the Bulls would lose a heartbreaker like that at home so that they would be coming in to Toronto today to face the Raptors. Fully expect them to come out wanting blood tonight. I’ve got myself a long day lined up in front of me. Whoooo.

The Mavs game I liveblogged? The Rockets came out on fire, scoring 61 points in the first half and leading by as many as 17 before they all but died in the third quarter managing just 13 points as the Mavericks doubled them in the period and ran away with the lead in the fourth. It was a total tale of two halves as Dallas figured out how to slow the game down, rob the Rockets of their running game and dominate things the rest of the way through. Erick Dampier had 14 points and 20 rebounds to go with three blocked shots. Dirk finished with 23 and Jason Terry had 24 off of the bench (fantasy team hive-five!). Carl Landry played his undersized body and oversized heart out, batting for his 19 points in the loss.

In the Heat/Wizards matchup there was a whole lot going on. Gilbert wasn’t supposed to play, then he was, the Wiz led at the half and then Gil finished with 21 points, eight assists and 12 turnovers, grabbing himself the double-double you don’t want. The Wiz lost 90-76, gave up 41 points to Dwyane (I didn’t get to see any of them, tell me, how pretty were they?), and continued to confuse me with their rotation. Why oh why did Caron log 45 minutes of action? 42 for Gil? Still no time for JaVale McGee and less than three minutes for Nick Young. Unfortunately, the Wiz also lost Randy Foye to an ankle sprain.

I think I speak for us all when I say: GET HEALTHY WASHINGTON!

It was an odd game on the Heat side of things. After the strong start, QRich went scoreless for the game, Wade had 41 and Michael Beasley added 15. Jermaine O’Neal had just six points and six boards and after starting the season out with a bunch of double-double performances, Udonis Haslem was also quiet, finishing with four points to go with seven rebounds. Still, the Heat won, thanks to Dwyane Wade’s 29 second half points, which was two more than the entire Washington team’s 27.

With the win the Heat are now 6-1. Not bad, not bad at all. Good for second place in the East, behind Boston’s 7-1 record.

Did you all see Travis Outlaw’s dunk over Rudy Gay? It was a pretty one. The crazy thing is, think about how hyped up we get watching these dunks. imagine being able to do them. Imagine the rush you must get, jump, jump, jumping into the air, OVER your defender and then slamming the ball through the hoop. Crazy.

Speaking of the Portland game…. Hasheem Thabeet has a fractured jaw after a collision with Zach Randolph. Damn. Get well soon, rook!

Anyone else’s heart feel for Kevin Durant when he missed the game-tying three and lifted his jersey up to cover his sad face after the buzzer sounded in Sacramento? He finished with 37 points, 9-for-23 from the floor, inlcuding 1-for-6 from three and 18-for-18 from the line, but he also finished with the loss. Another W for the Kings who improved to 4-4 on the season. .500 mark for the first time since Dec/06!

Okay, I must get myself moving here. I hope to be enjoying a well-fought contest between the Bulls and Raptors this evening. Wherever your day and evening takes you, enjoy it!