Lakers, Heat: The Heat Is On!

One thing is for certain, Kobe Bryant is lucky that LeBron James plays in the East and not the West. James has had Bryant's number when it comes to head-to-head matches. I can't exactly explain what happens to Bryant and the Lakers when James comes around, but they fall short the majority of the time and last night was no different.

Los Lakers versus El Heat was a great match up, and kudos to the NBA once again for honoring Spanish Heritage Month. By the first quarters numbers it looked as though the game was going to be a shootout, but things soon settled down and at times got pretty sloppy, causing both teams not to reach the dollar mark.

For the Heat, Dwyane Wade at times during the game looked as though he had never dribbled a basketball in his life, costing the Heat four turnovers on ridiculous amateur errors. But he was not alone, Chris Bosh added four as well. Mike Miller only had one turnover, but his was a fundamental mistake on a two-on-one fast-break with Wade, against a smaller Derrick Fisher, inexcusable. I'm sure Red Auerbach rolled over in his grave after that one and said, “Bounce pass, young fella!”

Wade and James shot selection during the game was questionable to say the least. James at times found it easy to penetrate the Lakers' defense, but after doing so often found himself in less than favorable positions to make a shot, but shot it anyways, leading to many empty trips for the Heat. Wade, basically on the “same” hand for some reason decided to turn almost every outside shot he took into a fade-away shot, even if no one from the opposing team was near him. Needless to say, his outside shooting was not good.

For the Lakers, Paul Gasol's basketball acumen made Chris Bosh look like a fool for much of the game. Bosh however did return the favor a few times, but Gasol for most of the game had his way with Bosh.

Kobe Bryant went to work from outside the arc, hitting four threes, one of them from Orlando with just over two minutes left to play. Other than a pretty and-one shot against Wade, Bryant had a macabre shooting performance, choosing to fade-away unnecessarily too many times like Wade.

The end of the game was interesting as it came down to the wire. With ninety second left Wade made up for one of his turnovers in which Ron Artest peeled him like a potato. Wade returned the favor stripping Kobe like a struggling female pre-med student, ending with an assist on a LeBron slam.

With less than a minute to go Wade went past Kobe with help from LeBron who looked as though he was playing hockey as he barreled into Kobe, sending him a good ten feet across the court. Wade finished the strongly contested lay-up against Gasol, putting the Heat up by four. Kobe missed a long distance three with twenty-four seconds left, ending the chances of a Lakers' win.

Quick Food For Thought:

With less than seven minutes left in the game Kobe was still on the bench. He might have been exhausted, but that definitely hurt the Lakers in the end. Kobe usually enters the game in the fourth quarter around nine minutes, but for some reason tonight was different. His last game against the Celtics, Kobe played the entire fourth quarter, leading to a Lakers' victory. Maybe Kobe cares more about the Celtics than LeBron, since Paul Pierce has one of his rings and LeBron James has none at all.

And could this win be what helps pick the Heat back up?

Mr. Felder