Miami took on the City of Angels this weekend as the Heat hosted both the Clippers and the Lakers at the AAA.  On Friday, the Clippers had a full team available to them for the first time in a while, but that wasn’t nearly enough, as the Heat trounced the Clips 111-89.  LeBron led the way with 30 points, Dwyane Wade added 20.  Both Chris Bosh and Ray Allen missed Friday’s game due to the flu.  Yesterday afternoon, it was LeBron and D-Wade in charge with 32 and 30 points respectively, as the Heat completed the weekend sweep with a 107-97 win over the Lakers.  Miami still has the best record in the Eastern Conference at 34-14, and are a sparkling 22-3 at home.  The next two games for the Heat are tomorrow night, again at the AAA, against the Portland Trailblazers and then they go to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder on Thursday night, their last game before the all-star game weekend.  Game times this week are 7:30 pm tomorrow night, and 8:00 pm on Thursday.  Tomorrow night’s game will be televised by Sun Sports and NBA-TV, while the Thursday game will be part of the TNT doubleheader, starting at 8:00 pm.  

In the rest of the NBA yesterday:

LA Clippers 102 New York 88

Jamal Crawford scored 27 points, Chris Paul added 25 points and seven assists.

Boston 118 Denver 113  (3-OT)

The Celtics extended their winning streak to seven, all since Rajon Rondo went down with a season-ending knee injury as Paul Pierce put on a show with 27 points, 14 rebounds, and 14 assists.  The Nuggets saw their nine-game winning streak come to an end.

Memphis  105 Minnesota 88

Tayshaun Prince scored a game-high 18 points.  Zach Randolph, Mike Conley, and Austin Daye added 16 points each.

Orlando 110 Portland 104

JJ Redick returned after missing three games and scored 22 points as Orlando won for the first time since January 16, a total of 12 straight losses.

Toronto 102 New Orleans 89

Rudy Gay led the way with 20 points, John Lucas III scored 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter.

San Antonio  111 Brooklyn 86

No Tim Duncan and no Manu Ginobili?  No problem for the Spurs, who won for the 12th time in 13 games.  Tony Parker had 29 points and 11 assists.

Oklahoma City 97 Phoenix 69

Russell Westbrook had 24 points and six assists, Kevin Durant had 18 points and seven rebounds as OkC won their fourth in a row.

Sacramento 117 Houston 111

Isiah Thomas and John Salmons each had 23 points and sis assists, DeMarcus Cousins had 20 points and seven boards.

TONIGHT’S GAMES:  

LA Clippers @ Philadelphia         7:00 pm

Boston @ Charlotte 7:00 pm

Minnesota @ Cleveland 7:00 pm

Brooklyn @ Indiana 7:00 pm

New Orleans @ Detroit 7:30 pm

San Antonio @ Chicago 8:00 pm NBA-TV

Washington @ Milwaukee 8:00 pm

Atlanta @ Dallas           8:30 pm

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  LeBron James is on an incredible run, with five consecutive games of 30 or more points, while shooting a ridiculous 49-65 from the floor, slightly better than 75%.  He became only the third player in NBA history to score 30 or more in 5 consecutive games, while shooting at least 60% from the floor.  Who are the other two?  Tell you later, Alligator.

In college hoops, the University of Miami Hurricanes pummeled the North Carolina Tar Heels into submission on Saturday, winning 87-61 at the BankUnited Center.  The Canes are the first team ever to beat both Duke and North Carolina by more than 25 points in the same season.  Miami will definitely climb in the polls this week, expect to find them in the top five, possibly in the top three. The Canes have a couple of tough road games this week, first up in Tallahassee on Wednesday night against the Florida State Seminoles, and at Clemson on Sunday evening.  Miami is 19-3 and 10-0 in the ACC, and have reeled off 11 consecutive  wins.

FIU fell to North Texas on Saturday night by the score of 77-67.  The Panthers are 13-11, 8-7 in the Sun Belt Conference.  They travel to Troy to take on the Trojans on Thursday, before returning home to take on Western Kentucky at the US Century Bank Arena on Saturday night.  

As pitchers and catchers report to spring training and the 2013 baseball season is upon us, I will be bringing you analysis of all 30 teams over the next three weeks.  Every day, I will break down one team from each league, in alphabetical order.  I’ll begin today with the Atlanta Braves and the Baltimore Orioles. 

ATLANTA BRAVES 94-68 Mgr. Fredi Gonzalez

The Braves finished in second place in the NL East last season and were eliminated in the wild card playoff game by the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Braves will be playing this season without Chipper Jones, who retired after 19 seasons in Atlanta.  They’ve had a very busy offseason, as they went out and signed free agent outfielder BJ Upton, and pulled of a huge trade with Arizona to obtain his brother Justin Upton.  The Upton brothers and Jeyson Heyward form the most athletic outfield in baseball.  Getting Justin from Arizona came at a cost, as the Braves traded IF/OF Martin Prado to the D-Backs.  Other new faces in Atlanta include 3B Chris Johnson, catcher Gerald Laird, and pitcher Jordan Walden.  The Braves are hopeful that catcher Brian McCann returns to his usual form in time for the regular season.  

BALTIMORE ORIOLES 93-69 Mgr. Buck Showalter

To me, the surprise team of 2012, as they finished in second place in the AL East behind the Yankees, and lost in the division series.  The O’s added 1B Travis Ishikawa, infielders Danny Valencia, and Alexi Casilla, RHP Jair Jurrjens, and OF Yamaico Navarro and Trayvon Robinson.  Their most significant move of the offseason was re-signing outfielder Nate McClouth, but they lost 1B Mark Reynolds and P Joe Saunders to free agency.  Can’t wait to see a full season of Manny Machado, who doesn’t turn 21 until July. 

TOMORROW:  The Arizona D-Backs and the Boston Red Sox

In other news around MLB, 

The Cleveland Indians have agreed on a contract with pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, pending a physical.

The Cubs signed OF Scott Hairston to a two-year deal, and designated OF Tony Campana for assignment.

The St. Louis Cardinals signed third baseman David Freese to a one-year, $3.15 million dollar deal, avoiding salary arbitration.

The announced agreement between the Seattle Mariners and Felix Hernandez on a contract extension may have hit a snag, as sources are reporting that there are concerns with Hernandez’ elbow and they are not close to finalizing that extension.

Congratulations to the Miami Herald and the rest of the local sports media for reporting a couple of days ago that a group headed by former Florida governor Jeb Bush was trying to buy the Marlins.  Folks at the Herald should have been paying attention to this blog:  I reported this TWO MONTHS AGO! 

Furthermore, the Herald’s crack staff (Barry Jackson) ended the story saying that “A longtime official in MLB’s offices said MLB always has hoped the Marlins would someday have an owner with deeper pockets than Loria”.  Really, Barry?  Is that all you’ve got?

Here’s what I know:  MLB is continuing its efforts to try and “persuade” the Marlins ownership to sell to Governor Bush and his group.  (Maybe a financial incentive?) We’ve already seen how MLB is willing to punish South Florida as long as Jeffrey Loria owns the team.

Dear Jeffrey Loria and minions:  

You're still here?!?!? What do you mean, you still haven’t sold the team?  What are you waiting for now?  Valentine’s day?  Easter?  Next year’s HOF election?  Haven't you done enough damage already?  Baseball fans in South Florida need a Marlins owner that loves the game of baseball, and doesn’t just love owning a team.  We need an owner that wants to win, not one that just treats it only as a money-making business.

Stay alert out there, Mr. Loria.  Your window of opportunity to get out of town is opening up in just a few days.  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’ve already saved much more than that on the salary dump this season alone.  Of course, you and your minions have already decided not to field a quality major league roster this coming season, hopefully setting up the sale of the team.  (I’m sure MLB is willing to cough up the 5% just to get you out of their hair.) 

We’ll continue to keep our fingers crossed and light a candle in the meantime. 

Here’s the answer to today’s question:  LeBron James is on an incredible run, with five consecutive games of 30 or more points, while shooting a ridiculous 49-65 from the floor, slightly better than 75%.  He became only the third player in NBA history to score 30 or more in 5 consecutive games, while shooting at least 60% from the floor.  Who are the other two?  

LeBron joined Adrian Dantley (1979) and Moses Malone (1982) as the only three players to score at least 30 points and shoot better than 60% in five straight contests.   

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!  

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