The AP reports: The NBA’s leading scorer, Wade finished with 35 points on 13-for-19 shooting and the Heat held the Hawks without a field goal for nearly 13 1/2 minutes during one first-half stretch, beating Atlanta 95-79 on Monday night… Daequan Cook scored 16 points and Chalmers added 12 points and six assists for Miami (24-19), which moved a season-best five games over .500. Udonis Haslem had a game-high 13 rebounds. Miami had a season-high 12 blocked shots and allowed the Hawks seven assists — the fewest by any Heat opponent this season. Joe Johnson scored 19 points for Atlanta. Marvin Williams added 17, Josh Smith had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Flip Murray finished with 14 points for the Hawks.
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Heat end slide against Magic, 103-97
The AP reports: Mario Chalmers stripped the ball from Nelson with 8 seconds remaining, ensuring that the Miami Heat—after 10 straight losses to their Sunshine State rivals— would beat the Magic 103-97 on Saturday night. The Heat wasted every bit of the 15-point lead they carried into the final period, yet still found a way to beat Orlando for the first time since Feb. 15, 2006… Dwyane Wade scored 27 points, Chalmers added 20 and Udonis Haslem added 12 points—including two huge baskets down the stretch—for Miami, which finished with four turnovers, an all-time franchise low, to deal Orlando its second straight loss… Dwight Howard had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Orlando before getting ejected with 1.1 seconds remaining. Rashard Lewis scored 21, Hedo Turkoglu scored 18 and Nelson added 16 for the Magic, including the 3-pointer that tied it with a shade under 3 minutes remaining.
Official 2009 All-Star starters
Here are the official starters for the 2009 NBA All-Star game:
East: Dwyane Wade, Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard
West: Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire, Tim Duncan, Yao Ming.
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Celtics win 6th straight, roll past Heat 98-83
The AP reports: Something about playing in Miami brings out the best in Eddie House. The former Heat guard scored 20 points—more than he’d managed in any game this season—in the second quarter, finishing with 25 and the Boston Celtics ran their winning streak to six games by downing the Miami Heat 98-83 on Wednesday night… He was 7-for-11 from 3-point range, Ray Allen was 5-for-6, and the Celtics finished a season-best 15-for-25 from beyond the arc, matching the most 3’s ever allowed by the Heat in their 21 seasons. Allen finished with a game-high 27 points, Kevin Garnett had 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Paul Pierce added 14 points for Boston… Dwyane Wade finished with 25 points, Daequan Cook scored 20 and Michael Beasley added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat.
Alonzo Mourning retires
The Palm Beach Post (Chris Perkins) reports: Alonzo Mourning, perhaps the greatest player in Heat history, announced his retirement Thursday afternoon in a news conference at AmericanAirlines Arena. Mourning, 38, is a likely Hall of Fame selection who spent the majority of his career – roughly 11 full years of his 15 seasons – with Miami. The 6-foot-10 center teamed with guard Tim Hardaway and coach Pat Riley to form the basis of Miami’s success of the late 1990s and early this decade. Mourning, who returned to the NBA after undergoing a kidney transplant in 2003, was a key contributor to the Heat’s only championship season in 2006. Mourning, who will be 39 on Feb. 8, sustained a devastating knee injury on Dec. 19, 2007 in Atlanta, tearing his patella tendon and quadriceps muscle in his right leg. “I spent the past year rehabbing and thinking about my basketball future. after 16 years I truly feel it’s best i retire from the game of basketball,” Mourning said Thursday. “If you’ve got something you love and you’re passionate about it’s hard to let that go.”
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Shaq makes a funny
The Toronto Sun (Terry Koshan) reports: The always quotable Shaquille O’Neal had one of the better post-game lines yesterday. When O’Neal was asked what it was like to hear a louder ovation for another player (Steve Nash), other than himself, O’Neal said: “Never happens.” But a reporter pointed out that Nash had a louder ovation during the warmup than O’Neal did. “They asked my permission,” said O’Neal, who finished with 16 points. O’Neal is getting long in the tooth, but still leaves a lasting impression on opponents.
Heat end long trip with 104-94 win over Thunder
The AP reports: Dwyane Wade’s legs were sore, Udonis Haslem had a bad back and Shawn Marion was too hurt to play. Even at the end of a seven-game, 12-day road trip, the Heat still had enough to pull through. Wade had 32 points and racked up most of his 10 assists while helping thwart Oklahoma City’s fourth-quarter rally as the Heat beat the Thunder 104-94 Sunday night to head home on a positive note… Yakhouba Diawara scored 14 points after starting in place of Marion (groin), and Jamaal Magloire and Mario Chalmers each added 13 points for Miami. Haslem had 11 points and a season-high 15 rebounds. Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 31 points, Jeff Green scored 22 and Russell Westbrook added 14 points and eight rebounds.
Perfect Yao leads Rockets past Heat
The AP reports: Yao Ming wasn’t counting his shots Saturday night, but he knew how easily they were coming. Yao set a Houston record by going 12-for-12 from the field, and finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds in the Rockets’ 93-86 victory over the Miami Heat. Yao’s perfect shooting night eclipsed Joe Meriweather’s 10-for-10 game against Atlanta in 1976. Yao’s only miss came at the free-throw line, where he was 2-for-3… Rafer Alston added a season-high 22 points to help the Rockets improve to 2-1 since Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest were shelved to recover from injuries… Dwyane Wade shook off a bad first half to score 29 points for Miami.
Heat want big-man for Marion
Miami Heat forward Shawn Marion is at the end of his contract, and the team would happily trade him for someone who fits in better. Here’s the Miami Herald (Israel Gutierrez):
So the only lingering question is what the Heat could receive in return for a player whose stock is plummeting and whose most attractive feature is his $17 million expiring contract. The Heat’s goal in moving Marion is to get back a quality big man with a contract that expires in the 2010 offseason. Makes enough sense. Not only would it fill the Heat’s biggest glaring need (Joel Anthony and Jamaal Magloire have filled in admirably, but no one’s convinced they can be the sole answers to the Heat’s height deficiency), but it would set up the Heat brilliantly for a run at the 2010 free agent class. Imagine how satisfying it would be for Pat Riley to steal the Knicks’ thunder by retaining Wade and signing Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire, putting together a duo that would rival any combination New York and its bags of money can purchase.
This season Marion is averaging just 12.1 points with his 9.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.41 steals and 1.06 blocks per game on very good 47.2% shooting, though he’s connecting on just 19.4% of his three-point attempts.
Cook helps struggling Wade as Heat beat Bucks
The AP reports: Reserve Daequan Cook wasted no time redeeming himself. A night after teammates questioned if he’d even played in Miami’s win at Minnesota following an 0-for-3 performance, Cook hit his first six 3-pointers en route to a career-high 24 points in the Heat’s 102-99 victory over Milwaukee on Wednesday night… Wade finished 5-for-20 and had 17 points, contributing by distributing 13 assists to help the Heat improve to 3-2 on a seven-game trip… The Heat went on a 9-0 run to start the second half and had an 84-74 lead with 10:57 to play, but the Bucks, who overcame a 12-point second-half deficit in Washington on Monday night, nearly came back in this one thanks to 25 points by Luke Ridnour and 16 by Michael Redd.