The AP reports: Al Horford had 21 points and a career-high 22 rebounds and Joe Johnson scored 24 points Friday night in helping the Atlanta Hawks to a 91-83 win over the Miami Heat… The Hawks, who had lost three straight and four of five on a recent West Coast trip, also got 14 points from Josh Smith, 13 from Marvin Williams and 12 from Flip Murray. Michael Beasley led Miami with 23 points, 16 in the fourth period, and 21 from Dwyane Wade, who also had 10 assists.
Category: Miami Heat Blog
Heat blog – Miami Heat blog
NBA bans Dwyane Wade’s designer band-aids
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Ira Winderman) reports: The personalized Band-Aid era is over. The slogan-bearing bandages Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade has been wearing beneath his previously injured left eye have been banned by the NBA. “We spoke to them,” NBA spokesman Tim Frank said today. “A player can wear a Band-Aid for healthcare purposes, but it shouldn’t have any name or identifications on it.” … “You can’t wear an identifiable Band-Aid,” Frank said. “We don’t expect it to be an issue, so there will be no need for a penalty.”
Erik Spoelstra plays Tupac at Heat practices
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Dave Hyde) writes: Most days, Erik Spoelstra opens practice with Tupac Shakur rapping in the background, which is the Heat coach’s way of finding someone to “motivate the motivator,” as mentor Pat Riley says. Tupac motivates Spoelstra. “He’s of my time,” he says. It’s an interesting storyline if you freeze it there, the young coach relating to hip-hop players in a manner few NBA coaches do. Early on, Heat players took it to mean their new coach might be one of them, and lobbied for other, newer music. “Then they found out I only liked Tupac,” Spoelstra, 37, says.
Michael Jordan girlfriend
The Chicago Tribune reports on Michael Jordan and his girlfriend: Michael Jordan has taken a 30-year mortgage and is playing house in modest suburban Miami with his reported new paramour, Cuban model Yvette Prieto. According to Miami-Dade County records, Prieto, 30, and Jordan, 46, co-own a three-bedroom home that property-appraisal records list as having three bedrooms and 5,500 square feet. None of the neighbors called by the Palm Beach Post realized that the six-time NBA champion is on the deed of the two-story villa. Said the sexy-voiced Prieto: “I can’t talk about the house just yet. Sorry.”
Udonis Haslem still rocking cornrows
The Miami Herald (Michael Wallace) reports: With Allen Iverson’s recent decision to cut his hair and do away with braids after 12 years, Heat forward Udonis Haslem might have taken over as the NBA’s king of cornrows. Haslem has sported the look for the past eight years, which dates even before he entered the league in 2004. ”I might be the last man standing with them,” Haslem said Tuesday before the Heat faced Iverson’s Pistons. “If I ever do cut them, it won’t be during the season. It’ll be in the summer. I’d have to wait to see how my head is shaped. So if it’s messed up, I have all summer to grow it back.”
Wade’s big night leads Heat past Detroit, 103-91
The AP reports: Not only did Dwyane Wade continue his run of career highs, he sent the Detroit Pistons to a new low. Wade scored 31 points and set a personal best with 16 assists, leading the Miami Heat to a 103-91 win Tuesday night and handing the Pistons their seventh straight loss—Detroit’s longest slide in more than seven years… Daequan Cook scored 16 points, Jermaine O’Neal added 14 and Jamario Moon had 12 for the Heat, who took control with a 22-8 run to close the third quarter. Allen Iverson scored 22 points and Tayshaun Prince added 18 for the Pistons (27-28), who fell under .500 this late in a season for the first time since 2000-01. Antonio McDyess shot 8-for-10 and scored 17 for Detroit.
Magic top Heat 122-99 despite 50 points from D-Wade
The AP reports: Dwight Howard had 32 points and 17 rebounds, and the Magic withstood a career-high 50 points by Dwyane Wade to rout the Miami Heat 122-99 on Sunday… Hedo Turkoglu had 20 points and Rafer Alston added 12 points and nine assists for the Magic, who have won 12 of the past 15 games against their Sunshine State rival… Jermaine O’Neal and Jamario Moon were smothered, combining for just 13 points as the Magic overpowered Miami’s big men to win the rebounding battle 53-28.
J-O’Neal shines, Heat beat 76ers 97-91
The AP reports: Dwyane Wade had 25 points and nine assists, Jermaine O’Neal and Jamario Moon combined to score 10 fourth-quarter points in their second game since arriving from Toronto, and the Heat improved their Eastern Conference postseason positioning by beating the Philadelphia 76ers 97-91 on Saturday… O’Neal had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Moon scored 12 for Miami… Andre Miller had 30 points—the most by a 76ers player since late last season—and nine rebounds, and Louis Williams scored 22 off the bench for Philadelphia, which is on its first three-game slide since December. Andre Iguodala scored 14 and Marreese Speights added 12 for Philadelphia, which was the lone NBA team not to have a 30-point individual scorer this season.
Wolves spoil O’Neal’s debut, beat Heat 111-104
The AP reports: Sebastian Telfair had a career-high 30 points and eight assists, Ryan Gomes added 20 points, and the Minnesota Timberwolves spoiled O’Neal’s debut in Miami by hitting a season-high 14 3-pointers and beating the Heat 111-104 on Wednesday night… Dwyane Wade finished with 37 points and 12 assists for Miami. Udonis Haslem added 17 points for the Heat, and O’Neal—who sustained a right eye injury in the third quarter and missed 13 minutes before returning late—had 13 in his first game since being acquired from Toronto last week… Kevin Love had 16 points and nine rebounds for Minnesota. Foye had 14 points for the Timberwolves, who also got seven points, nine rebounds and nine assists from Mike Miller and 10 rebounds off the bench from Brian Cardinal.
Jermaine O’Neal to wear No.7
The South Florida Sun-Sentinal (Ira Winderman) reports: Jermaine O’Neal will wear No. 7, Shawn Marion’s former number, with Jamario Moon to wear No. 8, which means the Heat will not, after all, be retiring Antoine Walker’s number. (Moon wore No. 33 in Toronto, which soon will be retired in honor of Alonzo Mourning. The late Alec Kessler is the only other Heat player to have worn No. 33.)