BASKETBALL

In the NBA, it was a pivotal Game 2 between the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls.  Articles everywhere were saying that LeBron and D-Wade were seething after their Game 1 loss to Chicago, and were thirsty for revenge.  And the Bulls knew that if they gave up a loss on their home court, they will have a very tough time winning in Miami.  So, in essence, the Heat couldn’t afford to fall down 0-2, and the Bulls are trying to avoid losing home court advantage in the series.  Oddly, the Bulls came out rather sluggish.  Derrick Rose was having an off-shooting night, and never really got it going at any point during the game.  He finished with a decent 21 points, but well below his average.  The Bulls also struggled to rebound the ball.  Miami wasn’t playing lights-out basketball, but they were doing enough to stay ahead of the Bulls.  And remember, this series contains the NBA’s #1 and #2 defenses, so it’s hard for either team to accomplish anything offensively.  But, in the end, LeBron recovered from his disappointing performance in Game 1 to put up 29 points this time around and eventually topple the Bulls in the 4th quarter.  Now the series heads back to Miami tied at a game a piece.  Miami 85, Chicago 75.

Elsewhere in an update from the Western Conference Finals, Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kendrick Perkins (previously of the Boston Celtics) had some interesting words to share with Mavs center Tyson Chandler.  Perkins publicly said that he didn’t like Chandler, and that he’s a dirty player.  In an exact quote, Perkins stated, “Me and Tyson never got along. I’m serious.  He don’t like me, I don’t like him and that’s pretty much how it’s been. Everybody always looks at me as kind of like a dirty player if you’re on the opposite team, but he’s just as dirty as anybody else.”  These two players got in a tussle in game 1, with a double technical foul being issued.  But, Tyson Chander later responded, “I have nothing against him.  He won a championship with the Boston Celtics, and that’s where I’m trying to take my team. I mean, I’ve got respect for him, what he was able to accomplish. But all the chippy stuff, the after-the-ball stuff, that’s all nonsense and I’m not going to get involved with it.”  Either way, the Mavs’ Dirk Nowitzki looks unstoppable right now, so the Thunder better have a solid game plan put together if they hope to steal a game in Dallas.

Finally, in some more NBA gossip news — an argument over errecting statues.  Los Angeles’ Staples Center, among other major stadiums, puts up statues outside of the greatest athletes to play for any of the hosted franchises (or notable sports figures made famous there).  Currently, they have Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Chick Hearn (the famous Lakers announcer) Wayne Gretzky and Oscar De La Hoya.  But now, Kareen Abdul-Jabbar has publicly stated that he feels he deserves to have the 6th statue outside.  After all, Jabbar did help the Lakers win 5 championships, and won six MVP awards.  Kareen became a household name around the country during the 70s and 80s.  But, most notably, he’s a Los Angeles legend, not only winning for the Lakers, but also dominating for John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins (although under the name Lew Alcinder).  We’ll see how this turns out.