The Miami Heat return to the hardwood tonight, here at the AAA, looking to hold serve and take a 2-0 lead in this opening round against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Heat did not play exceptionally well in the first game against the Bucks, but still won by 23 points, 110-87. I look for them to look a little crisper tonight and continue on their quest to a second consecutive championship. Tipoff tonight is at 7:30, and you can watch the game on Sun Sports and on NBA-TV around the country. In the other first round games last night,
Chicago 90 Brooklyn 82 Series tied 1-1
Joaquim Noah saved his best for the fourth quarter, where he scored nine of his 11 points and captured 6 of his 10 rebounds. He is the key to any chance the Bulls may have in this series, notwithstanding their thug-like defense, which held the Nets to 35.4% shooting.
LA Clippers 93 Memphis 91
Chris Paul sank the game-winning shot with 0.1 second left in the game. Paul finished with 24 points and 9 assists, Blake Griffin had 21 points and collected eight rebounds.
TONIGHT
Milwaukee @ Miami 7:30 pm Sun, NBA-TV
Game 2 Heat lead series 1-0
Boston @ New York 8:00 pm TNT
Game 2 Knicks lead series 1-0
Golden State @ Denver 10:30 pm TNT
Game 2 Nuggets lead series 1-0
WEDNESDAY
Houston @ Oklahoma City 7:00 pm TNT
Game 2 Thunder lead series 1-0
Atlanta @ Indiana 7:30 pm NBA-TV
Game 2 Pacers lead series 1-0
LA Lakers @ San Antonio 9:30 pm TNT
Game 2 Spurs lead series 1-0
THURSDAY
Miami @ Milwaukee 7:00 pm TNT
Game 3 (Teams are playing game 2 tonight)
Brooklyn @ Chicago 8:30 pm NBA-TV
Game 3 Series tied 1-1
LA Clippers @ Memphis 9:30 pm TNT
Game 3 Clippers lead series 2-0
Going from the hard court to the diamond, the Marlins game in Minnesota against the Twins was postponed because of SNOW. By the way, who came up with the brilliant idea of building a brand new facility in the Twin Cities without a retractable roof? One of those rare moments when you have to take your hat off to the Marlins management for always insisting that the new stadium here in Miami needed a retractable roof. Rain is expected all day today in Minneapolis, so let’s keep our fingers crossed. If weather permits, they will play a doubleheader today:
Game 1 Ricky Nolasco vs Kevin Correia 2:10 pm
Game 2 Jose Fernandez vs Mike Pelfrey 8:10 pm
The Fish are still bringing up the rear in MLB in runs scored, with a grand total of 43 runs in their first 19 games. I will be posting the “bottom five” rankings in runs scored until the Marlins aren’t on the list. At this point, I am not very optimistic about this list not being a permanent part of this blog.
TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 4-15 43
Dodgers 8-10 54
Cubs 5-13 61
Twins 8-7 63
White Sox 7-12 63
In the rest of MLB yesterday, first in the National League,
Phillies 3 Pirates 2
Jimmy Rollins drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning with a single
Cardinals 3 Nationals 2
Yadier Molina’s RBI single in the sixth inning was the difference. Allen Craig drove in the other two Cardinals’ runs with a double.
Reds 5 Cubs 4 (13 innings)
Cesar Izturis capped a three-run rally in the bottom of the 13th inning with a game-winning RBI single. The hit drove home Jay Bruce, who had doubled to drive in two runs to tie the game.
Brewers 7 Padres 1
The Brewers scored 5 runs in the first inning. Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer and Yunieski Betancourt connected LD with two men on base.
Giants 5 D-Backs 4
Buster Posey tied the game with a two-run homer in the eighth inning, Brandon Belt won it in the ninth with a walk-off, pinch-hit single.
The game between the Braves and Rockies in Denver was postponed due to snow. Weather permitting, they will play the game as part of a day-night doubleheader today.
Over in the American League:
Red Sox 9 A’s 6
Mike Napoli hit a grand slam and finished with 5 RBI. Napoli has driven in 17 runs in his past nine games. Will Middlebrooks also connected long distance in the win, his blast came with two runners aboard.
Orioles 2 Blue Jays 1
Nick Markakis drove in the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning.
Rays 5 Yankees 1
Ryan Roberts went 3-4, including a pair of home runs against CC Sabathia. Matt Moore became the first pitcher in Rays history to win his first four starts of the season. Moore gave up only two hits in his eight innings of work, both of those hits by Robinson Cano. Yunel Escobar connected LD with a man on and Sean Rodriguez had a run-scoring triple. The Yankees have lost 12 out of their last 14 games in Tropicana Field.
Indians 3 White Sox 2
Asdrubal Cabrera hit a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning. Justin Masterson improved to 4-1 this season, while UM product Chris Perez pitched a scoreless ninth inning to notch his third save of the year.
Mariners 7 Astros 1
Felix Hernandez picked up his 100th career win. Kyle Seager and Jesus Montero hit two-run homers in the win.
Rangers 7 Angels 6
AJ Pierzynski hit a solo homer in the ninth inning.
Today’s games, first in the National League:
Braves @ Rockies 3:40 pm (GAME 1)
Mike Minor vs Jeff Francis
Braves @ Rockies 8:40 pm (GAME 2)
Julio Teheran vs Jon Garland
Pirates @ Phillies 7:05 pm
Jeff Locke vs Cole Hamels
Cardinals @ Nationals 7:05 pm
Adam Wainwright vs Ross Detwiler
Cubs @ Reds 7:10 pm
Carlos Villanueva vs Tony Cingrani
Dodgers @ Mets 7:10 pm
Clayton Kershaw vs Jon Niese
Brewers @ Padres 10:10 pm
Yovani Gallardo vs Clayton Richard
D-Backs @ Giants 10:15 pm
Patrick Corbin vs Matt Cain
Over in the American League:
A’s @ Red Sox 6:35 pm
Bartolo Colon vs Alfredo Aceves
Blue Jays @ Orioles 7:05 pm
RA Dickey vs Miguel Gonzalez
Royals @ Tigers 7:08 pm
Wade Davis vs Max Scherzer
Yankees @ Rays 7:10 pm
Phil Hughes vs David Price
Indians @ White Sox 8:10 pm
Zach McAllister vs Jose Quintana
Mariners @ Astros 8:10 pm
Hishawi Iwakuma vs Bud Norris
Rangers @ Angels 10:05 pm
Alexi Ogando vs Jason Vargas
Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:
Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:
Jumping over to the NFL, I will have my MOCK draft in Thursday’s blog. Just as info, in last year’s draft I had 25 of the 32 picks in the first round correct, and I had seven of them right on the money (right pick, right team), including the Dolphins’ pick of Ryan Tannehill with the #8 selection. Not bad for a first round that had 19 trades on draft day (more on that later). My 2013 mock draft is about 80% done, and I can only hope to be as good or better than I was last year, but I am little concerned. Here’s a heads-up: Just like last year, my pick for the Dolphins (this year at #12), is the same as Greg Cote’s in today’s Miami Herald:
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: The Dolphins had the #1 pick in the 2008 draft, only 5 years ago. How many of the nine players selected by the Fins that year are still with the team? Tell you later, alligator.
The St. Louis Rams at #16 and the Minnesota Vikings at #23 are my potential trade partners for Miami. Both of these teams are looking for an impact wide receiver, with the Rams having lost Danny Amendola and Brandon Gibson through free agency and the Vikings having traded Percy Harvin.
Tavon Austin of West Virginia is the guy that both these teams covet. With the New York Jets trading Darrell Revis to Tampa, the Jets now have their #9 pick and the #13 from Tampa. If the Jets keep both picks, and then at #9, they choose a cornerback like Xavier Rhodes of Florida State, Dee Milliner of Alabama, or maybe Desmond Trufant of Washington, the Jets would then be set up to select Austin at #13, a guy they also like. If St. Louis and Minnesota really want Austin, they both have multiple picks in the first round and could package a pick with their second or third round pick for the chance to move up and select the WR they want with Miami’s pick at #12.
Personally, I still like Tyler Eifert the TE from Notre Dame to Miami if they keep the #12 pick. Would they still be able to get him at #16 or #22 (the Rams’ pick) or at #23 or 25 (the Vikings’ selections)? Only the shadow knows for sure. Big decisions could be looming for Fins GM Jeff Ireland, who really needs to get it right this year in the draft. He should just do what I say. ;-)
The debate about the Dolphins and their pick this year reminds me of the Miami Heat’s draft in 2003, when I was adamant that the right pick for them was a relatively unknown senior guard from Marquette University, some guy named Dwyane Wade. I was right.
For the last week or so, it has been reported by various sources, including here on this blog, that the Dolphins and KC Chiefs were talking about a trade for Chiefs OT Branden Albert. I heard over the weekend that the Fins and Albert were in negotiations to finalize a new contract. That may not be so, or is it? I am in complete agreement with Armando Salguero of the Herald:
Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post has a slightly different opinion on Albert, and also likes Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert at #12:
The NFL Draft begins on Thursday at 8:00 pm with the first round. The second and third rounds will be on Friday, the 26th, at 6:00 pm, and rounds 4-7 are on Saturday, the 27th, starting at noon.
According to most of the experts, this year’s draft is weak in the QB position, and many of them don’t see a first-rounder among them. (NOTE: I have one, maybe two QB’s going in the first round in my mock draft.) Peter Schrager of Fox Sports begs to disagree:
In college baseball this weekend, FIU returns home for a weekend series against Louisiana-Lafayette. Meanwhile, over in Coral Gables, the Canes have a Wednesday game this week at home against Florida Atlantic, before heading up to Chestnut Hill, MA to take on Boston College.
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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: The Dolphins had the #1 pick in the 2008 draft, only 5 years ago. How many of the nine players selected by the Fins that year are still with the team?
Unfortunately, the answer is ZERO. ZIP. ZILCH. By the way, only three players from the 2009 draft are still around (Sean Smith, Brian Hartline, and Chris Clemons). Not a very good track record.
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Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.
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