Good morning, LeBron James got crazy hot again
That and much more in Monday’s NBA newsletter.
Good morning. Let’s basketball.
CRAMP UP FOR WHAT: LeBron James is the best player on the planet, and in case you had forgotten that truth he reminded us all Sunday night. King James went bonker, dropping 35 points on 24 shooting possessions to go with 10 rebounds as Miami beat the still-awesome Spurs 98-96. It was San Antonio’s second loss at home this postseason, and first since the opening round. The series is tied up 1-1.
The arena stayed chilly all night long, and LeBron played a team-high 38 minutes. No problem there.
Here’s a darn good Woj column on LeBron. And a darn good Le Batard column on the misogyny embedded in post-Game 1 criticism.
The Spurs’ offense was again brilliant, especially early. The Big Three each scored 18 or more, and S.A. hit 12-16 three-pointers. But in the end, their defense on LeBron failed them. Kawhi Leonard got into foul trouble trying to slow him in the paint. When Pop was forced to put Boris Diaw on James, LeBron turned to his perimeter game. He was unstoppable for a spell.
Gregg Popovich was not nice to Doris Burke when she asked about LeBron’s explosion, but DoBu seemed to laugh it off.
Mario Chalmers nailed Tony Parker with an elbow to the ribs on a drive to the basket. The refs called a flagrant, but Parker missed both free throws.
Three Spurs, one Bosh, one poster. Also: Boshosaurus is my favorite fake dinosaur. Also also, and since ESPN doesn’t have Marv: Tim Duncan WITH AUTHORITY
The most shameless Dwyane Wade flop ever witnessed. Forget the fine, let’s put Wade in the NBA Anti-Flop Program.
AMAZING STATS ALERT! Via B-Windy: the Heat have a road win in every series of The 3 Amigos era, and have won their last 13 games that came after a playoff loss.
Game 3 is Tuesday in Miami (9 ET). We’ll have Paul Flannery’s live report from Game 2 right around 10 ET this morning on SBNation.com/NBA.
TONIGHT! NBA TV will premier THE84DRAFT, a documentary on, uh, the 1984 NBA Draft. 9 p.m. ET. Here’s Lang Whitaker’s review.
UM: If this basketball thing doesn’t work out, Landry Fields has a future as a halftime performer.
OH: Shelly Sterling found a way to remain involved in the Clippers as she’ll co-chair a foundation that owns 10 percent of the club. I wonder if players will object.
CAN’T BE UNSEEN: Word that the Bulls logo flipped upside down looks like a robot reading a book has been around a couple of years now. But James Dator’s Photoshop makes it so that you’ll never be able to look at the Bulls’ logo without seeing said robot reading a book.
THE OTHER BEAUTIFUL GAME: The World Cup begins on Thursday. Time for a crash course preview from the brilliant lads and lasses on SB Nation’s Soccer crew.
Happy Monday. See you next time.
