The Miami Heat return to the hardwood tonight, 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,

New York 100 Brooklyn 97

Carmelo Anthony led the way with 45 points.  Jason Kidd shot 6-8 from behind the three-point arc.

Cleveland 100 LA Lakers 94

Make it 8 losses in the last 11 games for the Super Lakers.  Kyrie Irving led Cleveland with 28 points and 11 assists.

Denver 101 Detroit 94

Ty Lawson lit it up with 26 points.

Washington 77 New Orleans 70 

Jordan Crawford scored 26 points to lead the Wizards to their first road win of the year.

LA Clippers 94 Chicago 89

22 points and 10 rebounds for Blake Griffin and the Clips won their seventh straight contest.

TONIGHT IN THE NBA:  

Golden State @ Miami 7:30 pm Sun Sports

Brooklyn @ Toronto 7:00 pm

Atlanta @ Orlando 7:00 pm

Cleveland @ Indiana   7:00 pm

Chicago @ Philadelphia 7:30 pm

LA Clippers @ Charlotte 7:30 pm

Dallas @ Boston 8:00 pm ESPN

Sacramento @ Milwaukee   8:00 pm

Washington @ Houston 8:00 pm

New Orleans @ Oklahoma City 8:00 pm

Denver @ Minnesota           8:00 pm

Memphis @ Phoenix 9:00 pm

San Antonio @ Utah 10:30 pm ESPN

The Miami Dolphins return to practice today in preparation for their Sunday encounter with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are among the worst couple of teams in the NFL.  Former Miami QB Chad Henne is starting for the Jaguars, after replacing starting QB Blaine Gabbert, who is out for the season with an injury.  Game time on Sunday at the Seven-Names Stadium is 1:05 pm.  On Sunday, there will be a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Perfect Season at the stadium.  Most of the players from that undefeated team will be there.  I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT IT HAS BEEN 40 YEARS ALREADY!!!  

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: On Sunday, the Dolphins will be celebrating the 40-year anniversary of the 1972 Perfect Season.  The rest of the questions this week will be devoted to 1972 Dolphins.  Two-Part question today:  (1) QB Bob Griese suffered a broken leg and dislocated ankle in the 5th game of the undefeated season and was replaced by Earl Morrall.  Who was the third-string QB for the Fish in 1972?  (2) The 72 team also brought us the first pair of running backs ever to run for 1,000 yards in the same season.  Who were they? Tell you later, alligator. 

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

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 Yankees and Kevin Youkilis agreed to a one-year, $12 million contract and are very close to announcing a deal with outfielder Ichiro Suzuki.  The deal with Ichiro could be for more than one year, as he is within 394 hits of reaching the 3,000 hit plateau.  The Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, and Arizona Diamondbacks completed a three-team deal yesterday.  The Reds get outfielder Shin-Soo Choo and infielder Jason Donald from the Indians; Cleveland receives outfielder Drew Stubbs from Cincinnati, and pitchers Trevor Bauer, Matt Albers, and Bryan Shaw from Arizona.  The Diamondbacks get reliever Tony Sipp, first baseman Lars Anderson, and SS prospect Didi Gregorious from Cincinnati.      

It still bears repeating:

Dear Santa Claus Jeffrey Loria and minions:  

Please do yourself and the South Florida baseball fans a favor and sell the team as quickly as possible.  

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. 

You will soon have the window of opportunity you need to get out of town and take us all out of our misery.  We’re just going to keep our fingers crossed. 

Today’s article of the day comes from Yahoo! Sports’ Tim Brown, who talks about the challenges ahead for LA Dodgers manager Don Mattingly.  Check it out here:  Dodgers' Don Mattingly embraces pressure after Zack Greinke pickup; 'If we lose, we're failures' 

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:  On Sunday, the Dolphins will be celebrating the 40-year anniversary of the 1972 Perfect Season.  The rest of the questions this week will be devoted to 1972 Dolphins.  Two-Part question today:  (1) QB Bob Griese suffered a broken leg and dislocated ankle in the 5th game of the undefeated season and was replaced by Earl Morrall.  Who was the third-string QB for the Fish in 1972?  (2) The 72 team also brought us the first pair of running backs ever to run for 1,000 yards in the same season.  Who were they?  (1) The third-string QB that season was Jim DelGaizo.  (2) Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris were the first running back tandem to run for 1,000 yards each in the same season.  Csonka finished with 1,117 yards and Morris had exactly 1,000.  Both Csonka and Morris averaged over 5 yards per run, (5.2 and 5.3, respectively). Jim Kiick also contributed greatly that season, rushing for 521 yards and catching 21 passes for 147 yards.           

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.