So first Wade steals the trophy from the Mavs and now he's robbing Mavs fans of their most anticipated game of the regular season. In case you just woke up from a 15 hour nap, Wade was taken off the court in a wheelchair after hurting his shoulder against the Rockets last night. If you believe the doctors, Wade is doubtful tonight (MiamiHerald say he's out six weeks). Tonight's matchup has definitely lost some of it's flare, but while we won't get Dirk vs Wade, we'll still get Dallas vs. Miami and that's pretty good too.
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The Palm Beach Post has an annoying article about how awesome the Heat are.
Dallas, despite having the best record in the league at 44-9, still has second-class status to many NBA followers. To those people the Mavs, who have beaten Miami in five consecutive regular-season games - including a 99-93 decision on Jan.'21 - will always be a lower-tier team until they win it all.
Bill Walton is apparently one of those people.
"It's going to be a hugely emotional game for Dallas and it's going to be just another night along the road for the Miami Heat,'' Walton said. "If Miami wins it'd be phenomenal, but if they lose they've got the championship rings ... the championship players and it's all right there for the Heat, who I still think is the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.
God I hope Miami misses the playoffs.----------------------
Art Garcia has an article about the finals and the war of words between Dirk, Wade, and Cuban. At the bottom of the article he has some notable trash talk from recent years which is entertaining.
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Mavs rumors are actually heating up as the deadline approaches today. Sefko actually went as far in his article today to say that Mavs fans "shouldn't be surprised if the Mavericks pull off a deal today".
All the rumors involve either a big man, like PJ Brown, coming to Dallas, or Anthony Johnson leaving to multiple teams.
One rumor that I like combines the two and has Anthony Johnson going to the Nuggets for former Mav Eduardo Najera. A straight swap of the two wouldn't be allowed under the CBA because of salary differences but theoretically Dallas could just send some cash along with Johnson to make it work. I'd love to see this happen, but I have my doubts. For one, The Denver Post has run about 5 Najera to Dallas rumors every year since he joined the Nuggets. And secondly, there seems to be a stay-put attitude in the front office of both organizations. Donnie Nelson has said he would "be shocked if anything happens".
Anthony Johnson has also been connected to Detroit, Atlanta, and Cleveland.
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Injury Update: Devean George is on schedule to return in another week. He removed a brace from his knee and did some "stationary shooting" yesterday.
Greg Buckner hurt his nose during practice yesterday - he was able to walk off the court under his own power. He's officially a gametime decision, but he'll play.
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Around the NBA: Marquis Daniels celebrated being indicted for battery and disorderly conduct by having one of his best games of the season -- 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists in a win over the Bucks.
Manu Ginobili single handedly beat the Hawks. He scored for 40 off the bench and at one point scored 24 in a row.
Rumor Rundown