NBA – Blazers stun the Heat for their 7th straight win on the road

The Portland Trail Blazers are really working their way into clinching an NBA Playoffs berth. After this impressive run on the road the Blazers have left behind some of the strongest teams in the east coast, in what could easily be described as a late-season revival. Before this 7-game streak, the Trail Blazers had only won 7 of its 23 games played away from home. So yes, Portland is showing us its fiercest side and with this 105-96 win at South Beach the squad just gave another boost to the spiral downfall of the Miami Heat.

We have to be clear with this: things are once again getting ugly for the Miami Heat. First, head coach Erik Spoelstra said that some of his players had been shredding tears in the locker room after the team suffered a big loss against the Chicago Bulls. That even sparked up the rivalry between the Heat and the LA Lakers, when head coach Phil Jackson said in an interview that the NBA was for the big boys, and if there was going to be any crying, it shouldn’t be done in the locker room but in the toilet, where no one could see you.

Yes, it was a bit of a low-punch coming from Jackson and the Lakers, but they sort of had it coming. One way or another, this is also some sort of psychological blow against the Heat, who will face the Lakers on a heart-stopping game on Thursday.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points and Gerald Wallace scored 22, with 9 boards and 2 steals, bringing in his best game since he joined the Blazers last month. The Heat went on to put one heck of an effort via Dwight Wade, who scored 38 points, 6 boards, 5 assists and 2 blocks but the Blazers kept their cool and managed to survive the game. Wallace and company sent Miami to its fifth straight loss overall and sixth in eight games since the All-Star break.

LeBron James finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for the Miami Heat, who keeps braking records, although this are not some to be too proud of breaking. For starters consider that the Heat are the 12th team in NBA history to have a 12-game winning streak followed by a five-game losing streak in the same season. And they could even keep on climbing on that infamous list as Miami will have to face the NBA defending Champions, the LA Lakers on Thursday.

The Blazers’ bench outscored Miami’s 41-8. Yes, know the Miami Heat fans are the one’s crying after the game. Yes, the Heat is got Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, but they had to build a team from scraps after they invested three fourths of their budget on these three guys. On the other hand, we have to be clear about Portland’s bench: Wallace and Roy are not exactly ordinary bench players, having a combined 749 starts in 902 career appearances.

But still, Miami’s bench has been struggling of late anyway, and they are really going to have to bring on their A-game if they hope to turn this rout the other way around with a big win (a very needed win) against the Lakers Thursday night. Yes, we are aware of the fact that the Heat could lose all of its pending games and still make it to the Playoffs. But let’s get real with this: such an entrance into the Playoffs would be an utter disappointment. 

Menorah heads straight to Champion Hurdle

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Big Buck's will go straight for World Hurdle - Nicholls

Big Buck's: will follow the same route Paul Nicholls mapped out last year

  PICTURE: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)  Big Buck's heads straight for Festival - Nicholls
 By Racing Post staff 1:14PM 4 JAN2011 BIG BUCK'S, the odds-on favourite for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle, will sidestep a bid for the Betfair Cleeve Hurdle and head straight to the Cheltenham Festival, trainer Paul Nicholls has revealed.

RELATED LINKS World Hurdle betting Free bets  Nicholls on Tuesday said that he had opted to give the two-time World Hurdle winner a break before his attempt at a third consecutive win in the Grade 1 staying hurdle championship, for which he is a 4-7 shot.

 

The move reflects the campaign Nicholls mapped out for Big Buck's last year, who followed his win in the Long Walk Hurdle in December with victories at Cheltenham in March and Aintree in April.

The trainer said: "Andy

NBA – Boston Celtics take 10th straight win against Charlotte Bobcats

The Boston Celtics manhandled the Charlotte Bobcats as Ray Allen and Glen Davis both scored 16 points towards a 93-62 rout of Michael Jordan’s Bobcats. Oh, if you didn’t get a chance to see it, Jordan was just a bit shy of furious. And truth be said, Jordan had reasons to be so upset. The Celtics held the Bobcats to 62 points. That’s a tie for the second-fewest points scored in the franchise history, and it is a record breaker for games played at home.

The Celtics are looking strong. As a matter of fact, they are my personal favorite team to win the Championship. I do realize that this is a veteran team, that three of its starting five can’t play for 40 minutes, because let’s face it, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett are not getting younger. But the team is working well. Rajon Rondo is arguably the best point-guard in the NBA, and despite his young and restless game and his inextricable poker-face, he is as committed to the team as any coach could wish. The bench is strong. That’s a plus. And then, either Glen Davis or a renewed Shaquille O’Neal are there to provide the muscle and the power under the rim whenever the team needs it.

At the beginning of the season there where three favorite teams to win the 2010-2011 NBA Championship. After the summer break, and LeBron James made the one-hour-long televised decision to move to Miami  Heat, the odds shifted and for the first time in a while, the Miami Heat where the favorite team in the odds to win the NBA Championship. The LA Lakers and the Boston Celtics then followed the Heat closely in the ML price.

As the season unfold, it seemed as if the Miami Heat was more hype then talent, losing twice to division rival the Boston Celtics and certainly struggling to find a way to get the new Big Three, LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade all playing in the same tempo, and ultimately as a team. As a result the Heat lost three games in a row and had to receive a warning call before they got their act together and have now linked 9 consecutive wins for a 18-8 record so far this season.

The Lakers kept on been the dominant force on the Pacific Coast, and and at 17-7 they are currently the No. 1 team in the Pacific. The Lakers had a brilliant start, linking a series of wins before the team hit a 4 game slump, falling to the Utah Jazz, the Indiana Pacers, the Memphis Grizzlies and the Houston Rockets.

My main concern with the Celtics is their performance down the stretch. I would rather see the team struggling a bit right now, and perhaps having head coach Doc Rivers giving the Big Three a bit more of rest. At least the players are well aware of the situation. They are not here to bring in great winning streaks but rather been utterly brilliant in the postseason and working their way pass the playoffs and into the NBA Finals. This is the Celtics last chance, at least with this squad, to bring in another ring. They have what it takes. Boston fans probably hope that they can keep this rhythm once April is over and the Playoffs kick in.

O'Brien: Fame fine and heading straight for Arc

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