The first game of this year’s NBA Finals ended the same way the final games of the Heat-Bulls series concluded. It was a combination of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade down the stretch along with Miami’s suffocating defense, which left the Dallas Mavericks without air.
The result was a Heat 92-84 win and a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series.
Yes the Miami Heat with James, Wade and Bosh started last summer with a “Hollywood-Like” debut, but the Heat’s true strength as a team happens on the defensive side where they show their “Blue-Collar” abilities.
They do the dirty work of moving their feet and staying in front of scorers. They shift back and forth on passes. They get their hands up and block shots. Once the opposing team misses they go and get the rebound.
Defense is mostly an effort thing and these guys have shown everybody that they want this championship more than everybody else.
Miami can be hot and cold shooting but they always have their defense to fall back on and that’s what has been the key to their success. After all they strangled the Bulls, who were supposed to be the best defensive team in the league.
This series isn’t over but James, Wade and Chris Bosh made a loud statement. They’re hungry for a championship and it’s not going to be an easy job to beat them.
James led the way with 24 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. It was highlighted by a three-pointer while falling back out of bounds at the end of the third quarter, which gave the Heat a four point lead.
Wade worked his magic in the fourth quarter and finished with 22 points, ten rebounds, and six assists. He was able to slice his way through the Mavericks defense any time the Heat needed it.
Bosh scored 19 points and spent quite a bit of time at the foul line. He made nine out of twelve free throws, but was able to hit only five of 18 shots from the field. The power forward did pull down nine rebounds.
Mavericks All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points and went 12 for 12 from the line, but didn’t score nearly enough points to give the Mavs a chance to win. He’s going to need much more help to put Dallas over the top.
Mavs will be lucky too win 2 games after that performance. Miami is flat out fast and quick.
I was skeptical of the Heats role players being able too do enough to help the studs. Now it looks like its not a neccesity given Bron and D-wades ability to take over the games.
I’ll say it again,
The Sixers believe it or not, probably matched up the best with the Heat during these playoffs. They were young,athletic and fast enough to run with them, problem is the Sixers got killed on the boards and their Outside shooting wasn’t consistent enough to spread the Heat’s Defense out of the lanes often enough.
Gcobb, help dirk does not have, listen the mavs are overmatched big time, the heat are the best team in the nba and whats crazy is during the playoffs is when there really gelling and being a cohesive unit. They picked during the playoffs and finals to really come together. What a great time to do it. Yes iam a sixer fan first but i recognize greatness when i see it. They have a great team with superb players at the Sg, sf, and pf positions and solid role players.
Wade is like Jordan. Plain and simple. Wade can take ove a game on both ends of the floor like no one else other than Jordan. Did you see what he did in the fourth quarter? It reminded more of Jordans past performances… Expect a break out performance from my guy Dwade in game 2…
The Bulls so far were the only team that matched up well against the Heat. They won more games then the Sixers. Mavs might prove us wrong.
D-wade couldnt hold MJ’S cigar box. He’s legit at both ends but MJ is the G.O.A.T..Noone should be compared to him….Wade is Wade…one of the best slash scorers of all-time.Excellent defender.
Erock, i didnt say he was better or will be better, i said hes alot like him. He can devastate a game on both ends very very similar to how Jordan did, and thats the honest truth…. In these finals Wade is a mad man. Im probably the bigest Jordan fan in history so im bias in saying hes the greatest ever but, wade does things in these finals that are Jordan like on both ends of the floor…
Wade is more parrallel to Jordan’s game than Lebron is. Which is why I don’t understand why people were/are trying to compare Lebron to Jordan. Lebron isn’t the best player on his team. Dwyane Wade is. I’ve been saying Wade is the second-best player in the league for YEARS. Now with Kobe on the downside of his career and no longer physically able to dominate like he use to, it’s Wade’s turn. The guy has ice in his veins.
If Wade is at the top of his game, Miami is unbeatable. The milky jumper paired with his overall athleticism is hard to stop.
Which makes Lebron the new Scottie Pippen — like I’ve been saying all along.
Lebron’s game is closer to Magic’s by comparison.
Birdo, your actually making some sense with your last post. Wade is much closer to Jordaness then bron, bron is a mix between magic and jordan… but honestly bron is making his own legacy, there hasnt been a player like him in the league before.
Yes kobe has been on the decline for a few yrs now, and evidence of that is in his stats, him trying to take over games but cant anymore. His era is just about over. Now we have wade at 27 28 yrs old and bron at 26, the sky is the limit for them…
Top 10 NBA Superstars
1. Lebron James
2. DWade
3. Dirk
4. Chris Paul
5. DRose
6. Kobe
7. Durant
8. Paul Pierce
9. Dwight Howard
10. Melo
*Subject To Change
Another B.S. list he’ll change it as soon as someone disputes it. Wasn’t Stoudemire in your top 10 in an earlier list. But you asked me why he wasn’t in mine???
Ron, i dont even remember your list, post it so i can trash it lol
Ron, my list makes perfect sense. You dispute kobe not being in the top 5 or 2 for that matter, but ive given sound arguments as to why hes no longer at a top 5 level, plain and simple…
Actually you said you agreed with it but you didn’t like Kobe @ #2.
Here it is:
RonGlover
May 27, 2011 – 6:42 am
NBA’s Top 10
1. Lebron James
2. Kobe Bryant
3. Dwayne Wade
4. Derrick Rose
5. Dirk Nowitzki
6. Kevin Durant
7. Chris Paul
8. Carmelo Anthony
9. Dwight Howard
10. Deron Williams
And your response:
Ron Glover, you hated on the heat yet you have bron at 1? lol. You got a good list other than having kobe at 2. he has fallen off big time, too much wear and tear on the body, remember hes been playing nba ball since he was 17, hes now almost 33.and you have Deron williams at 10? ugh wheres S.T.A.T,id put rondo there before him…
Here is your first list:
Jon Hart
May 26, 2011 – 12:10 am
Lebron James is the best all around player in the nba. i dont even think its close.
My Top 10 NBA Superstars in order
1. Lebron James
2. DWade
3. Dirk
4. DRose
5. Kobe
6. Durant
7. P.Peirce
8. DHoward
9.Melo
10.Amare S.T.A.T
And your second the next day:
Jon Hart
May 27, 2011 – 2:08 am
I had to make a revised Top 10 List adding my dude Chris Paul to the list
1. Lebron James
2. DWade
3. Dirk
4. DRose/ Chris Paul
5. Kobe
6. Durant
7. Paul Pierce
8. Dwight Howard
9. Melo
10.Amare S.T.A.T
* List is subject to change
Your lists are a joke Paul Pierce played 40 minutes against the Heat and scored 1 point but he makes your list???
Ron, my lists have remained intact other than the addition of chris paul, i originally had S.T.A.T at 10 now hes 11th, Chris paul is 4th best in the league hands down…. and yes paul peirce is in the top 10, why shouldnt he be? what hasnt he done to have him not in the top 10?
I said weeks ago before the playoffs even started that the celtics were overmatched and didnt have a chance against the heat, and the heat made them look old and slow… Noone plays well against the heat so for you to pick 1 game peirce didnt play too well is ridiculous
Ron i understand you love kobe and wanna have his children but to still have him that high after his sharp decline is beyond me… you have dirk too low and durant too high…. durant doesnt make his teamates better, hes all about scoring and thats why theyre at home now… your list is so flawed… then you throw deron williams on the list as a top 10 player? who else other than you thinks hes a top 10 player?
Your list is screwed up where you have kobe at 2, from then on its a disaster…
3/19 NOH 35 MIN 9 PTS
3/14 NJN 32 MIN 7 PTS
12/11 CHA 29 MIN 8PTS
12/5 NJN 24 MIN 8 PTS
11/5 CHI 43 MIN 10 PTS
Now if he was THE MAN for the Celtics they would’ve lost every game. Luckily someone other than him showed up on those nights because they won each game.
So why did you say the list was ok when I first posted it. Don’t change your stance now be a man about it. Like I said man you been slobbin James for weeks and you can’t see past that. And Kobe’s decline wasn’t that sharp. In fact I’ll bet right now that he plays let’s say at least 70 games and averages 25 ppg.
Im a huge lebron james fan and a heat fan. So ill say that no one can really be compared to jordan. Infact i read an article that his desire to win was so much that sometimes teamattes would get fustrated with him. Lebron is not that guy. It became clear to me in the clevland playoffs the last year he was there. He didnt have that same passion to do everything his damn self. Lebron is the best overall player in the nba currently. As far as pure shooting as much as i hate the guy you have to give that to kobe. The guy can shoot! That being said go lebron, and there better be some damn football this season!
I hate this we are the world reunion non sense that Miami has in place…….. What happen to role players??????? What happen to Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets days when you had a solid group of guys playing hard game after game and winning championships……. The Portland Trailblazers with Clyde the Glide and Cliff Robinson………. What happen to the Spurs with Tim Duncan and David Robinson with a solid group of guys surrounding them…….. I can respect how the Celtics with the big 3 because they were veterans in the game with years of experience…… These 3 guys D-Wade, Bosh and Lebron just ruined the whole competition era…….. I cant respect them winning it all because its just not a respectible win……. The Lakers did it and failed with a aging Karl Malone, Shaq, Kobe, and Gary Payton……. But they were past their prime Malone and Payton…… We’re talking about guys in their mid 20’s who say that they never had talent around them when Wade had Shaq and won a ring and Lebron had the best record in the East…… Dancing his ass off for 2-3 years……… If you ask me Stern has tarnished the legacy of the NBA in my book…… I can respect the Dwight Howard’s and Chris Paul’s of the world because they want to win it with class……. the Heat big 2 1/2 average on any given night 90 plus points while the rest scores 20 pts…… LOL…… I just dont get it….. Or maybe I’m looking to deep in to this whole ordeal!!!!!!
Good job picking games during the reg season when he scored low, he has a good team around him so avg 25 or more a game isnt necessary for peirce…
Those yrs are over for kobe to avg 25 or more so you will be wrong again Ron!
No disrespect to you Dawkplex…… I remember the Tim Hardaway and Zo days with Glen Rice……. ANd I know you are enjoying whats taking place in Miami today……. But I enjoyed the Pacers vs Knicks games and Bulls vs Knicks and Heat vs Knicks games……. It was real….. Now we have the 3 divas when you smack the ball from their hands they wanna do the best man down diva act you ever want to see and see them wink there eye at the coach….. COM on!!!!!!!! Or Bosh with Boozer waiving his elbows and Bosh went down like a 2 dollar hooker barely touching him????? It’s watered down in my book……. No disrespect to you but like J. Noah said….. “They hollywood as hell”!!!!!!
I like how Lebron left Clev. and said he didnt have the help…….. So I wonder if he said that while playing for his so call friends in Clev…….. Now I see why Daniel Gibson and Mo Williams had a not so welcome beef with him when he returned to Clev……. So if Dallas pulls a rabbit out the hat in this championship series I wonder who will they point the fingers at then…….????? Erick Spolstra perhaps….?????? You seen what they did to Mike Brown In Clev……… but we all witness Lebron quitting in that series against the Celtics!!!!!
They will probably blame the white guys,if the Heat don’t win Jroc757
SG Mike MIller (even though he hasn’t played in a good month or longer)
and of course HC E Spoelstra
Not to change the subject.. Remember those mid 90’s Teams in Charlotte with Zoe,Larry Johnson, Kendall Gill and Del Curry.. Team should have contended for years except they had that douche-bag owner George Shinn who got pissed because the team became more popular than he did and his ego couldn’t handle it so he broke up the team and they have sucked ever since..
LOL@Paulman….. Yea I remember……. they had a squad in the 90’s…… Grand mama days……… Mugsy Boges still walks around here in charlotte…. I’ve seen him a few times downtown…….. But your right they will blame Ilgaskus and Mike Bibby what ever he is but they cant blame Pat “Two Times in the back” Riley……. He looks like he’s connected…… Wouldnt want to mess with him LOL!!!!!
jroc757 Can u repeat the part about Lebron quitting on his team in the Boston series. I said the same thing on a pervious post. I’m glad someone was watching the same series as me.
What’s crazy is the Philly 76ers probably gave the Miami Heat to hardest run for their money… 4 of the 5 Games were winnable by the 76ers, which hasn’t been the case of the Heat vs their other playoff opponents.. C’Mon Football..
You guys sound ridiculous hoping and praying and wishing lebron loses hahaha this is comical…. Wishful thinking guys, the heat will not calapse get over it!
LOL at the hypocrite, Jon Hart….. He talks about Ron wanting to have Kobe’s kids, yet he is all over LeBron’s nuts. You are the only one who thinks LeBron isn’t a quitter and a choker. Well, you and every other LeBron nuthugger. You are a true bandwagon fan…… 76ers fan riding the Heat because of the 3 superstars they have and you “know” they will win this years championship. LMAO, talk about comical.
SportsDumb, your such a idiot, its a shame when there are emotional men that are fans of sports because they talk so wreckless, such a shame. It still doesnt change the fact that lebron is gonna win the title this year and that he and dwade are the two best players in the league… You seems to enjoy talking about mens nuts and stuff, you must be into that stuff huh? To each his own but as for me i ll continue to root for the miami heat to win it all
Heat in 5 if not 4 yesssiiirrrr
LOL, either you don’t know what a hypocrite is, or you don’t mind being one and sounding like an idiot. Not only do you call me emotional, even though you constantly are responding to me for the comments I made about your loverboy LeBron, but you also keep talking about Ron or I being in love with Kobe or whatever it is you say, then try to turn it around on me. Sounds to me that you are getting frustrated by my words. Enjoy your creepy stalker fascination with your loverboy LeBron.
Oh, and lol at you saying I am an idiot and don’t even know proper grammar.
Also, you insinuate that I am gay because I am talking about mens nuts, yet you keep calling LeBron, “Bron Bron” like it is your pet name for him. Talk about gay.
SportsDumb, no actually this is all hilarious for the simple fact that you never know what your talking about, you just hop on the site (like you hop on kobes sack) to disagree with someone… No type of logical arguements whatsoever… keep them comin there comical…
I don’t know why Wade doesn’t get more love? When healthy he is the best all around player in the league. He’s better than Lebron. I think Kobe is still better than Lebron. Lebron handled the whole situation in the beginning of the year like an idiot, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Heat will not lose a game. Dallas’s bench & depth are not good enough, & Dirk is playing with a broken bone. If Terry, & Stojakovic aren’t on there games, they get no offense from the bench. Marion is a over rated stiff. BTW! everybody play nice 🙂
NO ONE IS BETTER THAN JORDAN! Kobe, Lebron, Wade, no one yet. They have quite a few accomplishments & Championships to win before then. Pippen is a jealous, petulant baby. If it wasn’t for Jordan, he would have zero championships. He couldn’t carry a team on his own. All of a sudden he is nut slurping Lebron. Last year he was one of the guys ripping Lebron for quitting in the playoff game. He forgets when he quit in the playoff series when Kukoc missed the winning basket. Or am I delusional. Go away media whore!
Mavs will be lucky to win a game in this series….Dirk is great, but he cant do it alone…
Lebron is better than Dirk and so is Wade… Miami defense is too tough and soon they’ll be holding the trophy..
I love all the hate.. its pathetic to the degree that you simply laugh at it and look to see haters squirm more trying to come up with reasons why the Heat wont win when its obvious they will..
Jon Hart is a perfect example when you give a retard a computer. Hypocritical, can’t think for himself and has horrible grammar. Not to mention that he actually thinks he knows anything about Basketball.
SportsDumb, im still on your mind i see hahaha im suprised you havent mentioned slurping guys nuts like you usually do, seems that thats usually on your mind at this time of night. How do you feel after watching sweaty men run around a court shooting and handling a big round brown ball? You dont have to answer its obvious that it turns you on… go finish imagining that you and kobe are on a desert island butt naked drinkin fruity drinks loser