ESPN Wednesday Night

ESPN had two awesome games on last night that both came down to the last minute. The opener was the Heat @ the Wizards and the Heat came out strong and opened up a lead of 19 points but Washington clawed back and by the end of the third quarter, it was a back and forth affair until the buzzer sounded.
Danny, my brother, was not amused by the ball movement or lack thereof displayed by the Wizards. He was like basically the Wizards hold the ball for 15 seconds and then they set a high screen for Arenas then he drives and shoots or passes. No fluidity it seemed. Amazing how a lot of the NBA has become that way where it is dribbling then driving or shooting as the shot clock expires. When the ball moves around crisply, you get open shots for your teammates.
Back to the game, the Wizards had taken the lead at 89-87 with 90 seconds to go. The Heat drove and took the lead and then played solid defense. The Wizards decided to run their isolation offense (see above) with Arenas at the top and he drove and passed for an attempted alley oop that went awry. The Heat were able to get a solid shot and stopped the Wizards and ended up winning 93-89. A tough defeat to watch after they had dug themselves out of the hole they were in early.

As for the second game with Dallas @ New Orleans, it too was a close game. We'll pick it up with 10 seconds left in the 4th quarter. Dallas had the ball and was up by 3. They missed a technical free throw (Byron Scott received it for arguing) and then also missed two regular ones. Peja came down and drilled a trey to send the game to overtime tied at 97. In the overtime, the Hornets took over and won 114-107.
Chris Paul: 39 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals
David West: 25 points, 10 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals
Emeka Okafor: 11 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks
Jason Terry: 35 points
Erick Dampier: 16 points, 14 boards
Dirk Nowitzki: 12 points, 5 rebounds, 6 fouls (fouled out with 3 minutes to go in 4th), 4-15 FG

Needless to say, both were solid games and as for other noteworthy information:
2 of the 3 unbeatens won

• Nuggets (5-0) over the Nets in the Meadowlands 122-94 with Carmelo struggling with his shot
• Boston (6-0) eked out a victory over the T-Wolves in Minnesota 92-90
• Magic (4-1) knocked the Suns (4-1) from the ranks of the unbeaten with a home victory of 122-100

In the Artest-Ariza game (Lakers-Rockets), they played to a dead heat mostly but Kobe was phenomenal knocking in 41 points with an OT victory for the Lakers

So all in all a good night of hoops.