Make that 27 consecutive wins for the Miami Heat, as they took the Magic out of Orlando 108-94. Playing without Dwyane Wade, still out with a sore knee, Miami got 24 points, 11 assists, and 9 rebounds from LeBron James. This game was close, in fact, it was tied at 68-68 with just under 3 minutes left in the third quarter. A LeBron monster dunk propelled the Heat on a 20-2 run, and that was the end of that. This streak is now the second-longest win in US major professional sports history, behind only the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, who sit at 33 consecutive wins. The team is now in Chicago, where they will play the Bulls tomorrow night, then they will head to New Orleans for an encounter with the Hornets Friday night. On Sunday, they will face what will probably be the biggest hurdle on the way to catching the Laker’s 33-game winning streak, when they face the Spurs in San Antonio. Tonight’s game is first, and it tips off at 7:00 pm on Sun Sports and NBA-TV at 7:00 pm. One more time: 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. That being said, if they get past the Spurs next Sunday, I feel they will end up setting a new record for consecutive wins.
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: The Heat’s streak is now the second longest in US professional major pro sports, behind only the LA Lakers 33-game winning streak in 1971-72. Do you know who owns the longest winning streaks in MLB, the NFL, and the NHL? Tell you later, alligator.
In the NBA yesterday,
Indiana 100 Atlanta 94
Gerald Green led six Pacers in double-figures with 19 points. Roy Hibbert scored 17 points and pulled down 13 rebounds.
Washington 107 Memphis 94
John Wall had the game of his life, finishing with 47 points, eight assists, and 7 rebounds.
New Orleans 110 Denver 86
Ryan Anderson led the way with 23 points and nine rebounds as the Hornets put an end to Denver’s 15-game winning streak.
Utah 107 Philadelphia 91
Randy Foye and Gordon Hayward led a balanced Utah attack with 17 and 15 points, respectively.
Golden State 109 LA Lakers 103
Stephen Curry scored 25 points and dished out 10 assists. Kobe Bryant scored 36 in the loss for the Lakers, who have lost three in a row.
TONIGHT IN THE NBA:
New York @ Boston 7:00 pm TNT
Minnesota @ Detroit 7:30 pm
LA Clippers @ Dallas 9:30 pm TNT
In college hoops, the NCAA tournament is down to the sweet sixteen, and the remaining teams include some party crashers: #9 seed Wichita State, #12 seed Oregon, #13 seed LaSalle, and everybody’s Cinderella, #15 Florida Gulf Coast. (BTW - I look for #13 LaSalle to advance to the Elite Eight) The match-ups are as follow:
THURSDAY’S GAMES (March 28):
Southeast Regional
Miami vs Marquette 7:15 pm CBS
Indiana vs Syracuse 9:45 pm CBS
West Regional
Arizona vs Ohio State 7:47 pm TBS
LaSalle vs Wichita State 10:17 pm TBS
FRIDAY’S GAMES (March 29)
Midwest Regional
Louisville vs Oregon 7:15 pm CBS
Duke vs Michigan State 9:45 pm CBS
South Regional
Kansas vs Michigan 7:37 pm TBS
Florida vs Florida Gulf Coast 9:57 pm TBS
Here’s the complete Bracket, so you can see what yours and mine DID NOT look like:
Here are my bracket selections for the tournament, along with where I went wrong. (Look at it on the bright side - Seven out of my picks to be in the Elite Eight teams are still dancing):
Sweet Sixteen
Louisville vs St. Louis Oregon
Duke vs Michigan State
Kansas vs VCU Michigan
Florida vs Georgetown Florida Gulf Coast
Ole Miss LaSalle vs Gonzaga Wichita State
Ohio State vs New Mexico Arizona
Indiana vs Syracuse
Marquette vs Miami
Elite Eight
Louisville vs Duke
Ohio State vs Gonzaga
Kansas vs Florida
Miami vs Indiana
Final Four
Louisville vs Ohio State
Miami vs Florida
National Championship game
Louisville vs Miami
National Champions
Louisville
The NCAA tournament’s first week television ratings are through the roof, reaching their highest ratings in 15 years. More from ESPN.com, who is not carrying any of the games:
Eric Adelson of Yahoo! Sports tries to answer the question, “WHO IS FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY?”
The Palm Beach Post also takes a stab at the answer:
In exhibition baseball, the Detroit Tigers beat the Marlins yesterday, 6-3. Marlins starter Wade LeBlanc got in trouble early, giving up 3 runs in the first inning. He pitched a total of five innings, allowing a total of four runs. Rob Brantly homered for the Marlins, Adeiny Hechavarria had a run-scoring triple. For the Tigers, Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run homer while Alex Avila and Miguel Cabrera drove in runs as well. Today, the Fish take on the Nationals in Jupiter, starting at 1:05 pm. Henderson Alvarez will start for the Marlins, Dan Haren will open on the hill for the Nats.
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 Milwaukee Brewers signed free agent pitcher Kyle Loehse to a 3-year, $33 million deal. All the guy did last year was go 16-3, with a 2.86 ERA. What took everybody so long? Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports is all over it:
The Yankees have traded for outfielder Vernon Wells, pending league approval and a physcal. The New York Post’s George King reports on why this deal makes sense for the Bombers:
In Miami Dolphin news, the Dolphins are offering to repay Miami-Dade County for their share of the costs of rebuilding the Seven Names Stadium, plus millions of dollars in penalties should the team fail to bring major events to South Florida, including four Super Bowls over the next 3 decades. Here’s the complete report in the Miami Herald:
Enough already, let’s make sure we get this deal done!
Tiger Woods is again the #1 golfer in the world. Yahoo! Sports’ Brian Murphy says it is one of Tiger’s greatest accomplishments:
In college baseball, FIU will take on Arkansas State in a three-game series beginning on Friday. Meanwhile, over in Coral Gables, the Hurricanes host Florida Atlantic tomorrow, before heading to Charlottesville to take on the Virginia Cavaliers in a three-game weekend series.
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 Heat’s streak is now the second longest in US professional major pro sports, behind only the LA Lakers 33-game winning streak in 1971-72. Do you know who owns the longest winning streaks in MLB, the NFL, and the NHL?
MLB - the New York Giants won 26 straight games in 1916
NFL - the New England Patriots won 21 consecutive games in 2003 and 2004.
NHL - the Pittsburgh Penguins won 17 games in a row back in 1993. The Pens are on another streak right now, with 12 victories in a row.
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.
