LeBron James scored 27 points, Dwayne Wade added 26, and the Miami Heat defeated the Atlanta Hawks 101-92, improving their record at the AAA to 10-1 so far this season.  Miami shot 58% from the floor as a team, with LeBron and Wade combining to hit 21 of 29 shots.  Chris Bosh added 14 points and collected 10 rebounds.  The Heat will enjoy a day off today, and return to the hardwood tomorrow night, again at the AAA, against the Golden State Warriors.  Tipoff is at 7:30 pm, and you can watch the game on Sun Sports on your cable or satellite system.  In the NBA yesterday,

Philadelphia 104 Detroit 97

Jrue Holliday scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter.

Golden State 104 Charlotte 96

Stephen Curry and David Lee combined for 52 points

San Antonio 134 Houston 126 (ot)

Tony Parker had the first triple-double of his career, finishing with 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists.

Dallas 119 Sacramento 96

OJ Mayo led six Mavericks in double figures with 19 points

Portland 92 Toronto 74

LaMarcus Aldridge led the way with 30 points and 12 rebounds. 

TONIGHT IN THE NBA:  

New York @ Brooklyn 7:00 pm ESPN

LA Lakers @ Cleveland 7:00 pm

Denver @ Detroit 7:30 pm

Washington @ New Orleans 8:00 pm

LA Clippers @ Chicago 9:30 pm ESPN

Last night in the NFL, the anticipated battle between the Houston Texans and the New England Patriots became a one-sided affair from the get-go.  Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes and New England manhandled the Texans 42-14.  The Patriots improved their record to 10-3, while Houston fell to 11-2, with both those losses being blowouts in which they gave up 42 points.  The New England Patriots are the best-coached team in the NFL.  

The Miami Dolphins have now lost five out of their last six games and have fallen last place in the AFC East with a 5-8 record.  The Fins are now assured that they will have their sixth non-winning season in the last seven years, including the last four in a row. They are 29th in the league in total offense, and still do not have a deep threat in their so-called passing game.  While Brian Hartline and Devone Bess have combined for 123 receptions this season, they have only scored one touchdown apiece.  The Fins claimed wide receiver Armon Binns on waivers from the Cincinnati Bengals.  Binns, who is 6’3” and weighs 210 points, had 18 catches for 210 yards and a touchdown this season with the Bengals Miami faces the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at the Seven-Names Stadium.  Game time is 1:05 pm.  

This week’s complete schedule in the NFL,

THURSDAY

Cincinnati @ Philadelphia Phi +3

8:20 pm NFL Network

SUNDAY

Jacksonville @ Miami          Mia -7

1:00 pm CBS Ch. 4

NY Giants @ Atlanta Atl -1

1:00 pm FOX Ch. 7

Green Bay @ Chicago Chi +3

1:00 pm

Washington @ Cleveland No Line Yet

1:00 pm

Minnesota @ St. Louis StL -3

1:00 pm

Tampa Bay @ New Orleans NO -3.5

1:00 pm

Denver @ Baltimore Bal +3

1:00 pm

Indianapolis @ Houston Hou -9.5

1:00 pm

Seattle @ Buffalo (Toronto) Buf + 5.5

4:05 pm

Detroit @ Arizona Ari +5.5

4:05 pm

Carolina @ San Diego SD -3

4:05 pm

Pittsburgh @ Dallas Dal -2

4:25 pm CBS Ch. 4

Kansas City @ Oakland Oak -2.5

4:25 pm

San Francisco @ New England NE -5.5

8:20 pm NBC  Channel 6

MONDAY NIGHT

New York Jets @ Tennessee Ten -1

8:30 pm ESPN

If the playoffs started today,

NFC

Atlanta 11-2  NFC South

San Francisco 9-3-1 NFC West

Green Bay  9-4 NFC North

NY Giants 8-5 NFC East

Chicago 8-5 Wild Card 1

Seattle 8-5 Wild Card 2

In the hunt:  Washington (7-6), Dallas (7-6), Minnesota (7-6)

AFC

Houston 11-2 AFC South

New England 10-3 AFC East

Baltimore 9-4 AFC North

Denver 10-3 AFC West

Indianapolis 9-4 Wild Card 1

Pittsburgh 7-6 Wild Card 2

In the hunt:  Cincinnati (7-6), New York Jets (6-7)  

In baseball, the LA Dodgers and Zack Greinke made it official, reaching agreement on a six-year contract, worth $147 million.  The Yankees are expected to reach agreement in the next couple of days with Kevin Youkilis and Ichiro Suzuki.  I fully believe that the Yankees are not done just yet.  The Texas Rangers are still in on Justin Upton, but could also be reconsidering bringing Josh Hamilton back.     

Dear Santa Claus Jeffrey Loria and minions:  

If you are not going to try and field a competitive team immediately, please do yourself and the South Florida baseball fans a favor and sell the team as quickly as possible.  Unless you make a TRUE EFFORT, no player in his right mind will ever want to play here in the future, you have alienated players on your roster, and most fans will not buy a ticket to a game as long as you are still here.  You are only going to be able to get guys that have nowhere else to go.  Please refrain from feeding us the “look at what Oakland and Baltimore did last year” story.  That comparison does not apply here.  They had young players in their farm systems that were obviously ready to contribute immediately.  Inept management allowed the Marlins farm system to deteriorate to the point of being horrible until the you dismantled the major league roster and traded for these new prospects now.  All of those prospects are still a couple of years away from being ready to contribute at the major league level.  You got a wonderful ballpark built in South Florida.  Sell the team so we can enjoy baseball in Miami again.

I know this may sound repetitious, but the five-year anniversary of the Marlins and Miami-Dade County agreement for the baseball stadium is coming up on February 21, 2013.  After that time, the “penalty” for selling the team is only 5%, a mere pittance, based on a $250 million value of the team.  Just keep your fingers crossed. 

There is hope for the Marlins, and all we have to do is look upstate and check out the Tampa Bay Rays.  The Rays were also under a bumbling, ineffective, and hated owner until he mercifully was replaced by a new owner, a new president, a new general manager, and a great manager that had the Rays in the World Series within 3 years of taking over.  All this, while playing in the worst stadium in the American League, the strongest division in the league, and maintaining one of the lowest payrolls in baseball.

Today’s article of the day comes all the way from Atlanta and Braves beat writer (and former Marlins beat writer) David O’Brien.  O’Brien makes a strong argument for Dale Murphy and the Hall of Fame.  Check it out here:  In last year on HOF ballot, case made for ‘Murph’ 

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: This is a good question as we approach the NFL playoffs. Who are the teams that have never played in a Super Bowl?  Tell you later, alligator. 

The complete bowl schedule in college football:

Saturday, December 15

GILDAN NEW MEXICO BOWL

Nevada vs. Arizona

1:00 pm ESPN

FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL

Toledo vs #22 Utah State

4:30 pm ESPN

Thursday, December 20

SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA BOWL

Brigham Young vs San Diego State

8:00 pm ESPN

Friday, December 21

BEEF O’BRADY BOWL ST. PETERSBURG

Central Florida vs Ball State

7:30 pm ESPN

Saturday, December 22

R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL

East Carolina vs Louisiana-Lafayette

12:00 pm ESPN

MAACO BOWL LAS VEGAS

Washington vs #19 Boise State

3:30 pm ESPN

Monday, December 24

SHERATON HAWAII BOWL

Fresno State vs Southern Methodist

8:00 pm ESPN

Wednesday, December 26

LITTLE CAESARS BOWL

Western Kentucky vs Central Michigan

7:30pm ESPN

Thursday, December 27

MILITARY BOWL-PRESENTED BY NORTHROP GRUMMAN

#24 San Jose State vs Bowling Green

3:00 pm ESPN

BELK BOWL

Cincinnati vs Duke

6:30 pm ESPN

BRIDGEPOINT EDUCATION HOLIDAY BOWL

Baylor vs #17 UCLA

9:45 pm ESPN

Friday, December 28

ADVOCARE V100 INDEPENDENCE BOWL

Ohio vs Louisiana-Monroe

2:00 pm ESPN

RUSSELL ATHLETIC BOWL

Rutgers vs Virginia Tech

5:30 pm ESPN

MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL OF TEXAS

Minnesota vs Texas Tech

9:00 pm ESPN

Saturday, December 29

BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL

Rice vs Air Force

11:45 am ESPN

NEW ERA PINSTRIPE BOWL

West Virginia vs Syracuse

3:15 pm ESPN

KRAFT FIGHT HUNGER BOWL

Navy vs Arizona State

4:00 pm ESPN-2

VALERO ALAMO BOWL

#23 Texas vs #13 Oregon State

6:45 pm ESPN

BUFFALO WILD WINGS BOWL

TCU vs Michigan State

10:15 pm ESPN

Monday, December 31

FRANKLIN AMERICAN MORTGAGE MUSIC CITY BOWL

North Carolina State vs Vanderbilt

12:00 pm ESPN

HYUNDAY SUN BOWL

USC vs Georgia Tech

2:00 pm CBS Ch. 4

AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL

Iowa State vs Tulsa

3:30 pm ESPN

CHICK-FIL-A BOWL

#8 LSU vs #14 Clemson

7:30 pm ESPN

Tuesday, January 1

TAXSLAYER.COM GATOR BOWL

Mississippi State vs #20 Northwestern

12:00 pm ESPN-2

HEART OF DALLAS BOWL

Purdue vs Oklahoma State

12:00 pm ESPN-U

CAPITAL ONE BOWL

#7 Georgia vs #16 Nebraska

1:00 pm ABC Ch. 10

OUTBACK BOWL

#10 South Carolina vs #18 Michigan

1:00 pm ESPN

ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO

Wisconsin vs #6 Stanford

5:00 pm ESPN

DISCOVER ORANGE BOWL

#15 Northern Illinois vs #12 Florida State

8:30 pm ESPN

Wednesday, January 2

ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL

#21 Louisville vs #3 Florida

8:30 pm ESPN

Thursday, January 3

TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL

#4 Oregon vs #5 Kansas State

8:30 pm ESPN

Friday, January 4

AT&T COTTON BOWL

#9 Texas A&M vs #11 Oklahoma

8:00 pm FOX Ch. 7

Saturday, January 5

BBVA COMPASS BOWL

Pittsburgh vs Ole Miss

1:00 pm ESPN

Sunday, January 6

GODADDY.COM BOWL

#25 Kent State vs Arkansas State

9:00 pm ESPN

Monday, January 7

DISCOVER BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

#2 Alabama vs #1 Notre Dame

8:30 pm ESPN

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  This is a good question as we approach the NFL playoffs. Who are the teams that have never played in a Super Bowl?  The Cleveland Browns, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Detroit Lions, and the Houston Texans. Even though they got beat badly last night, the Texans remain a viable contender this season to get to the big game.           

Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” segments (for the Spanish-challenged, “Sports Jam Session”) every day, Monday through Friday, at 9:25 am and 12:15 pm on Radio Esperanza, 1550 AM or on the internet on www.miradioesperanza.com. 

The 9:25 am segment on Radio Esperanza is brought to you by the fine folks at La Lechonera Products.  The inventors of the original mojo criollo way back in 1970, also offer the BEST naranja agria (sour orange marinade) product on the market, along with the latest additions to the family - the SALSA PICANTE (hot sauces, both HOT and EXTRA HOT), SALSA DE ALITAS (Buffalo Wings Sauce) and the truly incredible SALSA PICANTE con AJO (Garlic Pepper Sauce - Sriracha).  Look for all the La Lechonera products at Publix, Winn Dixie, Sedano’s, Presidente, and GFS.  If they don’t have it where you shop, ask nicely the first time, then use whatever means necessary to make sure they start offering the complete line of products.  Go to www.lalechoneraproducts.com and LIKE them on Facebook.  Check out some great recipes!  

IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW WANT TO ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE ON MY RADIO SEGMENTS, PLEASE E-MAIL ME FOR ALL THE DETAILS - jerry@descargadeportiva.com

Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.