UPDATE: Chris Bosh is expected to play tonight after the birth of his son early this morning.

The series moves to New York tonight with the Heat up 2-0 in the 7 game series. Thus far, the Heat have absolutely dominated the series getting contributions from everyone on the team. LeBron James has been tearing shit up averaging 25.5 ppg, 56% FG, 6 asts, and a paltry 27.5 PER. The bench has stepped up major, with Shane Battier playing suffocating defense on Carmelo Anthony, while also hitting open trey's. Mike Miller is back to form and UD is bringing the intensity. The big news entering the game on the Heat side is that Chris Bosh will not be available for this game. His wife is expected to give birth and Bosh will be with her. And where do I begin with the Knicks? They are a mess right now. Amar'e Stoudemire is out of this game, and presumably the series, with a severely lacerated left hand after smashing it against a fire extinguisher glass case in frustration following Game 2. Melo has had his struggles in this series. In game 1 he was fronted all game and only managed a disgusting 11 points on 3-15 shooting. Game 2 was a little better for him, scoring 30 points (15 in the 1st quarter) on 12-26 shooting, and grabbing 9 rebounds. While the Heat defense has been tremendous on Melo, Mike Woodson hasn't done anything to try to make it more difficult on us. He has just allowed Melo to stand there calling for the ball and then play hero ball once he manages to get the ball. He has not been making cuts, no pin down screens, or using him as the screener in PnR. In game 2 the Knicks had him bring the ball up, but that wasn't very effective. You cannot go one-on-one on LeBron all game long, he will wear you down, and as we saw Melo completely lost his legs by the end of the game. And of course the Knicks are also dealing with the loss of their best perimeter defender Iman Shumpert who blew out his ACL while trying a crossover move, on a non-contact play, and Jeremy Lin who had knee surgery a few weeks ago. MSG is sure to be rocking tonight, but our superstars thrive in this building, with Bron and Wade having some of their best games in this building.

The loss of Amar'e may be a blessing in disguise for the Knicks. He has missed a ton of games in the regular season, and the Knicks performed much better without him. The Knicks went 14-5, scored more points, allowed less points, and Melo's scoring shot up. Melo could be moved to the 4, as he was when STAT missed regular season games, forcing mismatches. Additionally, their defense improves as STAT is a notoriously poor defender. As for our starting lineup, I say it should be: Rio, Wade, Miller/Battier, Bron, and UD. Our 3 point defense will be tested in this game. With Amar'e out the Knicks are very good at spreading the floor with their prolific 3 point shooting. Our defenders are going to have to be disciplined and stay on their mans to avoid getting lit up. Steve Novak is the best 3 pt shooter in the league and JR Smith can certainly get hot at any moment.

Other News: Baron Davis tweaked a back injury and is expected to receive some diminished playing time, which means more Bibby (HAHA)...Tyson Chandler was announced as the DPOY

a lacerated left hand. How did this happen you ask? Well, after a tough loss STAT was understandably upset, so he decided to take his frustrations out on a.....FIRE EXTINGUISHER....encased in GLASS. HAHAHAHAHA, so to add to Shumpert's ACL, Chandler's flu, Lin's knee, and the Heat's dominance, the Knicks lose the only low post threat that the Heat had to worry about. i have a tendency to punch things in frustration, usually softer objects such as a couch, or a wall, but never am i dumb enough to punch glass. The freak injuries in this post season continue to mount, when will the madness stop? And who will be the next victim?

Things I'm watching for:

1) How we continue to guard Melo?

• On Saturday Bron and Shane did a tremendous job shutting down Melo by fronting him. They refused to let him catch the ball, and when he did made his life hell and forced into very difficult shots. That all resulted in Melo shooting 3/15 for 11 points. To be sure, we won't see another anemic performance from him. I expect to try to get himself shots early and often in this game. How will the Heat respond? They know that the Knicks will be gameplanning for the fronting, do we continue with that, or do we come up with a new strategy? I would love to see if LBJ can match him one-on-one straight up, or do we go zone and have 2 guys converge on him. The chess match will be interesting to watch.

2) How is Tyson Chandler feeling?

• Chandler is suffering from the flu, and he absolutely showed it Saturday. The guy that demonized us in the Finals last year, looked like a zombie on the court, putting up a paltry 0 points, 3 rebounds, and 7 turnovers in only 21 minutes. Reports are he is feeling better, but still not 100%. I offer this from Howard Beck of the NY Times:

Tyson said his fever is gone and he's improving, but still not 100%. Frankly, he looked and sounded drained

3) Will the bench show up again tonight?

• Game 1 the bench dropped in 26 points, 17 rebounds, and 6 trey's. Do they put up similar numbers? A popular term normally reserved for Biology class has been floating around the Heat locker room the last few years. The term, Symbiotic Relationship, signifies a mutual benefit for both parties involved. The attackers and shooters thrived off each other in Game 1, a trend we need to see continue in Game 2. The shooters allow room for the attackers to drive the paint by spreading out the defense, and the attackers help the shooters by drawing in the defense for wide open shots. The relationship hinges on the shooters' ability to make their open shots which they were able to do last game, can they continue that trend?

4) What is LBJ gonna do tonight?

• He played like we have all come to expect from him in Game 1, dropping 32 points (10/14 FG, 11/14 FT), 4 rebs, 3 asts, 4 steals. And not to mention the OUTSTANDING shutdown defense of Melo I spoke of earlier. The offense is nice of course, but i love the defense even more. We gotta see more of that and turn Melo into a spectator once again.

Knicks fans are a sad and miserable bunch, let's add to their misery. The AAA is gonna be rocking yet again tonight, and the team is gonna be fired up against their long hated rivals. The Knicks have no shot against the HEAT!!!
Game 2 TONIGHT, ARE YOU READY?!?!


...wanted to write up a little more, but i'm pressed for time...i'll try to check in for the live thread tonight

The end of the season could mean the end of the Boston Celtics as we currently know them. KG and Ray Allen are free agents at the end of the year, Pierce will have a year left on his contract and the team could look to trade him. Trade rumors swirled around Rondo around the trade deadline, and he could possibly be moved. Why is this interesting for the Heat? Ray Allen. According to Marc Stein of Yahoo! Sports, the Heat are expected to make a strong push for the league's all-time best 3pt shooter.

To me this seems a long shot, since he will have to take a huge pay cut and reduced playing time. Although he is not desperate for a ring, he will surely like another one before he hangs it up, and there will be a ton of teams that will request his services, many of whom can offer more money than us. He would be a tremendous guy to have in the locker room, another guy that shuts up and plays the game, he is a tireless worker, first in the gym, last to leave. He brings championship qualities and know how, and the ability to knock down the clutch shot.

Also, there are very few players currently in the league, or all-time, that you would rather have at the free throw line in any situation. No doubt he brings a lot to the table, and would be an outstanding get for us, but is he willing to take a huge pay cut and possibly come off the bench?

If we replace Miller with Ray Ray, i will be all for this move.

What do you guys think?

Mike Miller, after spraining his ankle on Saturday against the Pacers, will miss at least the first two games of the upcoming 3 game road trip, which starts tonight in Orlando and then Chicago tomorrow. Miller missed practice Monday to visit the doctor. He is listed as day-to-day and is dealing with significant swelling in the ankle. The sprain is said to be similar to what Wade experienced earlier in the season, an injury that caused him to missed 8 games. Mike is aiming to come back over the weekend to play the Magic in the AAA on Sunday. What already was going to be a tough stretch for the Heat has been made that much more difficult with the loss of Mike. His versatility is gonna be missed, but the Heat have shown they can pick up the slack when key members of the team are sidelined. Hopefully the trend can continue during this stretch. I expect to see more Battier...and MAYBE James Jones. The injury bug keeps biting Mike since joining the Heat. The Heat finish the road trip on Friday in Philly.

So i just had my draft last night (AUTO) on yahoo, and i was thinking there should be a thread for people to discuss their teams, and just fantasy in general.  If nobody thinks this is a good idea, i'll delete it.  and as for my team, i am pretty satisfied: 

QB: Vick & Bradford 

RB: Chris Johnson, Daniel Thomas, Beanie Wells 

WR: Mike Wallace, Sidney Rice, Julio Jones, Jacoby Ford, Bess 

TE: Gates & Pettigrew 

K: Rackers & Josh Brown

DEF: Miami

Just hoping my QBs stay healthy, and i'll be golden...this league is not PPR, so Bess won't get me as many points as in other leagues.

discuss my team, discuss your team, discuss away 

I know this should probably be a fanshot, but those often get forgotten, so i am just going to make this into a fanpost.  

I am looking for a site that has a comprehensive photo database of the miami heat, from it's first year until it's most recent game.  Does anyone know of a site like this?  I want game action pix of every player to ever step on the court in a Miami Heat uniform, if possible, if not as many pix as possible...i tried googling it, but i'm getting nothing, maybe i need to change my wording...if anyone can help, it would be much appreciated 

Celtics taking this...i predicted them takin it in 6, but i'll take a game 7 win...I fucking hate the Lakers, but Kobe is my favorite player to watch, i got enormous respect for that guy and his ability, and if DW wasn't on the Heat, Kobe would easily be my fave player...don't get that confused with my favorite player though, that would be DWade3...with that said Celtics going to with this game with Shrek and Donkey playing huge...so without further ado, let's get this shit STARTED

As we all know, officiating has been terrible the last few years, not just in football (the American version), but in baseball, basketball, and hockey...In baseball, Umpire Jim Joyce blew a call that cost Detroit Pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game...in basketball the entire NBA Finals, and the rest of the postseason, have been affected by the officiating, with star players on both teams in serious foul trouble a majority of the series...hockey has had its share of poor penalty calls in their postseason tournament...and we all know about the poor officiating in the NFL and college foootball...officiating reared it disgustingly ugly head yet again today, this time on the biggest of stages in the opening match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.  If you haven't seen it yet, Mexico scored the opening goal of the match, only to have it disallowed because the Referee's Assistant called a phantom offside call, that cost Mexico a win and possibly advancing past the Group stage...my question is: why is the officiating so poor worldwide?  Is the world short of great refs? Or is there so much pressure on the refs for them to make the correct call, especially in a championship series, that they fold under that pressure? Maybe the fact that technology has vastly improved and we have the ability to spot an incorrect call mere milliseconds after it happens...

I want to get your thoughts on the topic, and whether or not MLB should expand its use of replay and if they should adapt the use of replay in the World Cup...

Also, what is the worst blown call in the last decade or so...for me, the Jim Joyce call and today's World Cup call are on the top of the list for me...also any of the Ed Hochuli calls the last 2 or 3 yrs lol