Thursday, March 21, 2013


The Miami Heat are now just showing off and teasing their opponents.  The Cleveland Cavaliers were having their way with the Heat last night, and Miami trailed by 27 points, 67-40, with just six minutes left in the third quarter.  Of course, you gotta play a full four quarters.  Miami went on a 37-10 run over the next eight and a half minutes to tie the game at 77-77, and had a nine-point lead, 95-86, with 3 minutes left in the game.  Cleveland scored the next seven points to cut the Heat lead to one, 96-95, with 44 seconds left.  LeBron James then sank two free throws with four seconds left to pad the lead and give the Heat their 24th consecutive win, 98-95 over the stubborn Cavaliers, who were playing without Kyrie Irving and Anderson Varejao.  LeBron had another triple double, with 25 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists.  Here’s a stat for you:  Over the last 15 years, teams trailing by 27 or more points in the second half were 5 - 2,013, a winning percentage of .002.  (That is two-tenths of one percent).  Up next for the Heat are the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, here at the AAA.  Tipoff on Friday is 7:30 pm.  On Sunday, Miami welcomes the Charlotte Bobcats to the AAA, game time at 6:00 pm.  The team will again hit the road next week for games at Orlando on Monday, Chicago on Wednesday, and New Orleans on Sunday.  I’ll repeat what I’ve been saying:  The Heat need to stay alert and keep their guard up, because long winning streaks have a tendency to come to an end against teams that you normally wouldn’t and shouldn’t lose to.  

In the rest of the NBA yesterday,

Charlotte 107      Toronto 101
Byron Muellins scored 25 points, Gerald Henderson had 21.

Atlanta 98           Milwaukee 90
Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 27 points and 11 assists.  Al Horford had 25 points, and 15 rebounds.

New York 106     Orlando 94
Carmelo Anthony returned from a three-game absence and finished with 21 points and eight rebounds.

Memphis 90        Oklahoma City 89  (OT)
Marc Gasol’s tip in at the buzzer won the game for the Grizzlies.  Gasol finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds.

New Orleans 87    Boston 86
Anthony Davis tipped in an Eric Gordon miss with 0.3 seconds left

Houston 100        Utah 93
29 points for James Harden, Jeremy Lin had 24 points and 6 assists.

Brooklyn 113      Dallas 96
Brook Lopez was unstoppable, scoring 38 points to go with 11 rebounds.  Deron Williams added 31 points, 26 in the second half.

San Antonio 104 Golden State 93
Tim Duncan led the way with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists.

Washington 88    Phoenix 79
John Wall had 19 points and eight assists

LA Clippers 101   Philadelphia 72
Chris Paul led the Clips with 19 points, nine assists, 6 rebounds, and five steals

TONIGHT IN THE NBA:  

Portland @ Chicago           8:00 pm
Philadelphia @ Denver        9:00 pm
Minnesota @ Sacramento 10:00 pm

We haven’t checked the playoff standings lately, so here goes.  If the NBA playoffs started today, the match-ups would be:

East West

Miami vs Milwaukee San Antonio vs LA Lakers
Indiana vs Boston Oklahoma City vs Houston
New York vs Chicago Memphis vs Golden State
Brooklyn vs Atlanta LA Clippers vs Denver

In college hoops, the NCAA tournament tips off today.  I will post the game results here every day, as well as the games of the day, along with time and TV broadcast location.  You don’t have to go anywhere else.  Tell your friends!  

TODAY’S GAMES:

(14) Valparaiso vs. (3) Michigan State 12:15 pm CBS

(11) Bucknell     vs. (6) Butler 2:40 pm truTV

(9) Wichita State   vs. (8) Pittsburgh 1:40 pm TBS

(13) New Mexico State   vs. (4) Saint Louis 2:10 pm TNT

(11) Saint Mary's   vs. (6) Memphis 2:45 pm CBS

(14) Davidson       vs. (3) Marquette 3:20 pm truTV

(16) Southern U    vs. (1) Gonzaga 4:10 pm TBS

(12) Oregon        vs. (5) Oklahoma State 4:40 pm TNT

(16) North Carolina A&T vs. (1) Louisville      6:50 pm TBS

(13) South Dakota State vs. (4) Michigan      7:15 pm CBS

(11) Belmont vs. (6) Arizona          7:20 pm TNT

(12) California vs. (5) UNLV 7:27 pm truTV

(9) Missouri          vs. (8) Colorado State 9:20 pm TBS
(12) Akron vs. (5) VCU 9:45 pm CBS

(14) Harvard vs. (3) New Mexico 9:50 pm TNT

(13) Montana vs. (4) Syracuse 9:57 pm truTV

Here’s the complete Bracket:


Go ahead, just do it, already.  You know you want to.  Print out the bracket and make your picks, BEFORE the games are played.  Remember:  NO WAGERING, PLEASE.

As I promised, here are my bracket selections for the tournament: 

Sweet Sixteen

Louisville  vs St. Louis 
   
Kansas vs VCU

Michigan State  vs Duke  

Florida  vs   Georgetown

Gonzaga  vs  Ole Miss  
 
Indiana  vs Syracuse

New Mexico  vs  Ohio State

Marquette  vs  Miami

Elite Eight

Louisville  vs Duke  
   
Kansas  vs Florida

Gonzaga  vs Ohio State 
            
Indiana  vs  Miami

Final Four

Louisville  vs Ohio State   
Florida  vs  Miami

National Championship game

Louisville  vs Miami

National Champions

Louisville

In exhibition baseball yesterday, Bryce Harper had two hits and drove in four runs as the Washington Nationals beat the Marlins 7-5.  Marlins starter Wade LeBlanc entered yesterday’s contest without having allowed a run in nine innings this spring.  The streak reached 11, before Washington scored three runs in the third inning, and three more in the 5th.  Giancarlo Stanton drove in a run with a double, Greg Dobbs had a run-scoring single, and catcher Rob Brantly had a two-run double.  The Fish are off today and will be back in action tomorrow at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter against the New York Metropolitans.  Henderson Alvarez will start for the Fish, and his first pitch will be at 7:05 pm.   

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.  


Joe Frisaro, who covers the Marlins for MLB.com, has some Marlins notes to share:


The New York Post says that Derek Jeter could open the season on the disabled list:


Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News talks about the guy that would be replacing Jeter at SS, Eduardo Nuñez:


TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  The Marlins have had two numbers retired, #5 and #42. Who was the last player to wear Jackie Robinson’s #42 for the Marlins before MLB retired the number, and who is the only player to ever wear #5 as a Marlin, a number that was originally retired in honor of former team president, Carl Barger? 

In Dolphins news, as I reported here a few days ago, it looks like the Dolphins will be adding OT Eric Winston.  Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post has done the math for everyone, and gives us the details of where the Fins stand in salary cap money:


Coach Don Shula talks about the Dolphins and the plans for stadium renovations at the Seven-Names Stadium:  


In other NFL news, two more future hall of famers are going to change teams.  Safety Ed Reed has come to terms with the Houston Texans on a new contract, and LB Brian Urlacher refused the “take it or leave it” final contract offer from the Chicago Bears, and he will be taking his talents elsewhere.

A couple of significant rule changes in the NFL.  Team owners passed a player safety rule yesterday barring ball carriers from using the crown of their helmets to make contact with a defender in the open field. The second significant change is that the tuck rule, one of the most criticized in pro football, was eliminated. Now, if a quarterback loses control of the ball before he has fully protected it after opting not to throw, it is a fumble.

In college baseball, FIU and Florida Gulf Coast were rained out in Fort Myers.  The Panthers will be here at home for a three-game weekend series against Western Kentucky.  Meanwhile, the Hurricanes swept their two-game midweek series against Columbia, and will now take on Virginia Tech here at home this weekend in a three-game set.  
  
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 ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  The Marlins have had two numbers retired, #5 and #42. Who was the last player to wear Jackie Robinson’s #42 for the Marlins before MLB retired the number, and who is the only player to ever wear #5 as a Marlin, a number that was originally retired in honor of former team president, Carl Barger? 

Reliever Dennis Cook wore #42 on the 1997 World Championship team and the Marlins decided to “un-retire” the number 5 last season and gave it to Logan Morrison.  

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. 

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