Thursday, March 7, 2013


The Heat tried to end their winning streak on their own last night.  After leading by 20 points in the third quarter, Miami let the lowly Orlando Magic back into the game, and the Magic had a three-point lead and had possession with 15 seconds left in the contest.   Two free throws by Chris Bosh, a Magic missed shot, a rebound by LeBron James, and an unwanted timeout stopped the action with just over 12 seconds left.  Coach Erik Spoelstra drew up the play, putting the ball in LeBron’s hands.  Isolation play, LeBron drove to the basket among four Magic players, hit the crucial layup with 3 seconds to spare, and the streak is still intact.  Victory for the Heat, 97-96.  Make it a Sweet 16 in a row for the Heat, who will now face the Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow night at 8:00 pm at the AAA.  No rest for the weary, as the very tough Indiana Pacers come to town for a Sunday encounter at 6:00 pm.  Both of those games will be televised by Sun Sports, and the Sunday game will be simulcast nationally by NBA-TV.     

In the rest of the NBA yesterday,

Brooklyn 99        Charlotte 78
Joe Johnson led the way with 22 points, Deron Williams added 20, and Brook Lopez contributed with 16 points.

Cleveland 104    Utah 101
Kyrie Irving scored 11 of his team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter.

Boston 83          Indiana 81
Jeff Green hit the game-winning layup with a half-second remaining on the clock.

Atlanta 107        Philadelphia 96
Jeff Teague had 27 points and 11 assists.  Al Horford added 21 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists in the win.

New York 87      Detroit 87
JR Smith scored nine of his 20 points in the fourth quarter. Raymond Felton led the way with 26 points, as the Knicks were playing without Carmelo Anthony due to a right knee injury.

Memphis 91       Portland 85
23 points and 12 rebounds for Marc Gasol

LA Lakers 108    New Orleans 102
Kobe Bryant and Jodie Meeks combined to score 30 points in the fourth quarter as the Lakers erased an 18-point deficit to start the final quarter.  Bryant ended with 42 points and 12 assists, Dwight Howard had 20 points, 15 rebounds, and four blocked shots.

Minnesota 87    Washington 82
Derrick Williams had 16 points and 8 assists, Ricky Rubio had 15 points and 11 assists.

Dallas 112           Houston 108
Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion scored 22 points each.

San Antonio 101   Chicago 83
The ageless one, Tim Duncan, had 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots.  Many Ginobili added 18 points and nine assists.

Toronto 98  Phoenix 71
DeMar DeRozan and Amir Johnson scored 15 and 14 points respectively to lead the Raptors.

LA Clippers 117   Milwaukee 101
Blake Griffin had his first triple-double of the season - 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists.

Golden State 87  Sacramento 83
Klay Thompson had 20 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 7 seconds left in the game.

TONIGHT IN THE NBA:  

Oklahoma City @ New York   8:00 pm TNT
LA Clippers @ Denver          10:30 pm TNT

In college hoops, the #6 University of Miami Hurricanes lost for the third time in their last four, falling to Georgia Tech at the BankUnited Center, 71-69.  Miami blew a 13-point lead in the second half.  The Canes can still clinch the regular season ACC Conference championship with a win Saturday against Clemson in their regular-season finale at home.  Game time on Saturday at the BankUnited Center is 2:30 pm.  In another upset last night, #5 Georgetown also lost, 67-57 against Villanova. The University of Florida Gators clinched the regular-season SEC Conference title with a 66-40 victory over Vanderbilt.       

The FIU Panthers head to Hot Springs, Arkansas, to take part in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, where they are the #4 seed.  They will play Arkansas-Little Rock, the #5 seed, on Saturday, March 9 at 8:00 pm.   

A lot of conversation and speculation centered around the Miami Dolphins and their options in free agency.  Here’s a coversation with former NFL GM Bill Polian by Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post regarding free agency and wide receivers.


Chris Perkins of the Sun-Sentinel talks about Plan B if the Dolphins aren’t able to sign either Mike Wallace or Greg Jennings. 


The Kansas City Chiefs released OT Eric Winston yesterday.  The Dolphins tried to sign him last year, so he becomes a very real possibility, according to Omar Kelly of the Sun Sentinel:


The golf world’s attention is centered on Doral this weekend.  David Neal of the Miami Herald is covering the tournament:


TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Who won the Cadillac championship at Doral in 2012? Tell you later, alligator.

In college baseball, the University of Miami continues to roll.  The Canes improved to 12-2 so far this season, beating Central Florida last night, 5-0.  Miami hosts Duke this weekend for a three-game series at A-Rod field at Mark Light Stadium.  Meanwhile, FIU got hammered by Stetson, 16-5 up in Deland.  It gets even harder this weekend when perennial powerhouse Rice comes in for a visit.    

In Major League exhibition baseball yesterday, the Cardinals hit five home runs to defeat the Marlins 7-2.  The Fish are in Port St. Lucie today to face the New York Mets.  Game time against the Mets is 1:10 pm.   

In other baseball news, the Yankees’ injuries keep mounting.  Mark Teixeira will be out 8 to 10 weeks with a tendon strain in his right wrist.  Ken Davidoff of the New York Post has this gloom and doom story on the Bombers:


The Atlanta Braves are looking for improvement from 21-year-old catching prospect Christian Betancourt.  This from Dave O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:


Remember this name: Evan Gattis.  This Braves prospect may surprise as early as this season:


Here are all the scores from yesterday’s spring training games.  You can “click” on the box scores and the recap under each individual game’s line score.  


The World Baseball Classic is off and running.  Round 1 games in Pools C & D get under way today, with Italy facing Mexico at 3pm,Venezuela taking on the Dominican Republic at 6:30 pm.  In round 2 in Tokyo, Cuba takes on the Netherlands at 10:00 pm Miami time tonight.

Here is MLB.com’s coverage of the classic:


THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Who won the Cadillac championship at Doral in 2012?

Justin Rose finished at 16-under-par, 272.  Bubba Watson finished one stroke back at 15-under 273, Rory McIlroy finished third at 14-under 274.    

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

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

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