Don’t hurt ’em LeBron. We guess all it took for James to deliver a near-perfect performance was the possibility of being swept this year by Milwaukee because he unleashed fury on the Bucks in the second half. The NBA’s MVP at this point tried to tear apart the rims three or four different times, forget if anyone was in his way. To cap the end of the third, LeBron had one dunk where he split a double-team and flushed it (he covered 30 feet with one dribble) faster than a fat man going over a waterfall. That could’ve been expected. What wasn’t was his post game, scoring every…single…time against Carlos Delfino in the post. Fadeaways in his mouth all night. It was a five-point game at the half, and then by the middle of the third it was all over. The Heat eventually went on to win 114-96 as LeBron made 16 of 21 shots for 35 points. Chris Bosh was so excited with LeBron that he decided to interrupt his postgame interview and scream “GOOD S—!” … Despite getting roasted by James, Delfino hit five triples and scored 24 points. He’s one of the league’s sneakiest good players … Chris Kaman felt good enough to put down the fishing poles, hunting rifles and camo, and come drifting out of the swamps to make a big contribution in New Orleans’ 86-80 win over Utah. Okay, it was more about New Orleans recently relenting and taking the big man off the “Can’t play until you’re traded” list (as well as Kaman getting healthy off a swollen ankle). Either way, Kaman was busting heads last night, going for 27 points and 13 rebounds against one of the better front lines in the game. That’s now his third (in three tries) really effective game since the Hornets started giving him minutes again. One more thing: New Orleans should wear their Mardi Gras uniforms permanently … The Warriors’ 102-96 win against the Suns came down to Ekpe Udoh and Jared Dudley. Seriously. Udoh made his shot – a running hook in the lane to put Golden State up five in the finals minute – while Dudley missed his: two open Js on back-to-back possessions. With David Lee also going off (28 points, 12 rebounds) it was a wrap for the Suns … … Keep reading to hear how Dallas nearly collapsed in the final seconds against the Clippers …
Dallas very nearly blew another one. Up five late, Chris Paul canned a wild three and then tipped away an inbounds pass. Blake Griffin came up with it, got it to CP who found Caron Butler (only red hot with 23 points and five threes in his return home to Dallas… he also got his ring last night). But Butler’s trey didn’t have enough arc on it and the Mavs escaped with a huge 96-92 win … Griffin (20 points) had his adventures at the line. Hack-a-Quake started up, and the Clipper announcers finally resorted to grading how well he was missing freebies. The dude started 0-for-7 before finally hitting one, and at one point became so passive, he hesitated on a shot like he was going in for a first kiss and had one of the ugliest turnovers of the year … As for the Mavs, they rode Dirk (22 points) down the stretch. On the biggest exchange of the game, he hit a Holger Geschwindner special and then got away with a next-level hack of Kenyon Martin to get the ball back … Vince Carter turned back the clock with a crazy reverse dunk early in the game. We were actually more surprised when Jason Kidd hit a three to start the game off … ‘Tis the way of things in Charlotte: Sitting at 3-25 now after a 98-89 loss to Philly, the Bobcat fans were unanimously happy last night, content to see their guys play hard, Corey Maggette (22 points) come out of hibernation and Kemba Walker (21 points) giving them a little life for the future. For Philly, Thaddeus Young and Lou Williams combined for 43 points off the bench … Orlando took advantage of a couple of really average games – we know that sounds bad, look at their numbers – from Ricky Rubio (11 points, eight assists) and Kevin Love (19 points, 15 rebounds) to easily beat Minnesota, 102-89 behind six players in double figures. Think Dwight (11 points) still believes he needs help? Yesterday, he was only sixth on the team in scoring, unable to stay on the floor because of foul trouble. But one guy we can’t blame him for wanting to get rid of (even though it’ll never happen since they’re boys) is Big Baby. The Boston outcast went 1-for-10 from the floor and had the crowd so aggravated they were even booing him whenever he checked into the game. We thought, based off the morbid facial looks he had, that he might become the first NBA player to cry both on the bench and on the court. Later on, we found out Davis played despite the sudden death of his biological father on Sunday in Louisiana. Now we feel bad … Jason Richardson has emerged from out of the same hole as Maggette, and after scoring 17 last night, he has hit for at least 14 in six of his last seven games … Midway through the third quarter, Orlando’s color guy, Matt Guokas, went in on Michael Beasley. B-Easy threw a ball away, and J-Rich ended up on the break, catching a foul to ensure there would be no dunk. Guokas said he wasn’t surprised by the bad pass, but more that Beasley passed it all because “generally he shoots it every time he touches it.” … We’re out like Randy Moss comebacks.
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