After seeing how the game between the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers turned out, there's no doubt that the people in charge of the NBA's TV schedule screwed things up.LeBron James finished with 42 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, and Dwyane Wade finished with 41, nine assists, seven rebounds, and seven steals (!) as the Cavs used a huge fourth quarter to come from behind to beat the Heat in Miami, 107-100.
The Wade versus LeBron show lived up to the hype, as the top two candidates for league MVP put on a show that will likely be all over SportsCenter, but that few were able to see live thanks to a quirk in the NBA's scheduling.
No matter -- this game was special. Both players did their best to one-up the other, and they were almost even statistically at halftime: LeBron had 19, Wade had 16, and Cleveland led by three at 58-55.
Miami answered in the second half, but couldn't hold their lead down the stretch. The Heat led by as many as 11 points with just over seven minutes to go in the game, but the Cavs ended it on a 27-9 run to win the game and further solidify their standing as the best team in the Eastern Conference.
LeBron had a couple of threes in that crucial fourth quarter stretch, but Mo Williams had 15 late and really was the one that sealed it for the Cavs. He ended up with a monster line of 30 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.
The most help that Dwyane Wade got was a 16 point, eight rebound performance from Jermaine O'Neal. The Cavs will end up going deeper in the playoffs this season, but D. Wade is getting my vote for MVP. He has far less help than say, LeBron James or Kobe Bryant does. And yet, he has his team competing for a four seed and home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-02-2009 @ 11:28PM
jerry ashford said...
When Lebron had numbers and didnt win the MVP the arguement was his team wasn't competitive enough, though they still made playoffs. D Wade has numbers for sure, but, his teamates are not elevated by that and his team just barely has a 500 record. To claim now that he is an MVP candidate appears to seemingly ignore the criteria that has been used for other candidates. Additionally, a team merely making the playoffs should not be a consideration for league MVP....there are teams that will be in the playoffs with possible losing records. Popularity instead of hard data and factual details rules the media and most bloggers
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3-03-2009 @ 12:35AM
steveo said...
That was Mo williams dunking on O'Neal's face with under a minute to go?
Is it that hard for you to give Lebron some credit?
And Stephon Marbury has a better shot at the MVP more than wade does this year, sorry but Dwade isn't doing anything lebron hasn't already been doing for the past 4 years(hint: lebron doesn't have an MVP trophy yet)
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3-03-2009 @ 12:50AM
Mr.G said...
Hi 5 Jerry Ashford.That is exactly right.- Claiming that the Heat's 4th seed ranking is more of an accomplishment than the Cavs 1st seed is just ridiculous.This team is 43-12 for cryin' out loud.According to the media last year,the Cavs were LeBron and a bunch of stiffs.The only player they added was Mo Williams,but now James is suddenly surrounded by a team of All-Stars?Come on Brett,your favoritism is clouding your judgement.
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3-03-2009 @ 2:18AM
Mr.G said...
James teammates - Zydrunas, a 33 yr old C that can't run the floor or play Defense - Ben Wallace,a 33 yr old PF that can't even make a dunk shot or dribble the ball - D.West A 6'3" tweener SG that can't create his own shot and nobody else wanted - Mo Williams A shoot first PG that was considered to be average or slightly above but was a defensive liability. The bench of shoot only Wally Szerb,Varejao the flop artist,Boobie Gibson,and Sasha Pavlovic.Throw in an old geezer and a couple rookies. So Brett,THIS is the team you think has so much talent that LeBron should not win an MVP based upon?You can not be serious.
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3-03-2009 @ 8:41AM
Mike said...
It's your vote, if you want to be wrong that's fine by me. Dwade has no chance of MVP this year. It's Lebron,,,Kobe,,,Shaq. In that order.
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3-03-2009 @ 12:00PM
cantstopdrinkin said...
Lol im sorry but when the knock against Lebrons teams have always been theres not enough talent and he lifts them and now he has them on course to win 60 games and the number one seed in the East while putting up the same (and better in most catagories) numbers as Wade its a no brainer that Lebron deserves it WAY MORE then Wade and its not even an arguement. Any point you make for Wades case can be made for Lebron too but then add 16 more wins.
Wade went to the Finals with a still semi dominant Shaq..... Lebron went with Drew Gooden and Donyell Marshall come on folks Lebron is the better individual player and the better team player this year. He wins in EVERY category (and the one that the critics always used against him as to why he hasnt won the MVP yet - his team didnt have enough wins - right now his team has one 79% of 59 games) and its finally his year to win it and whats best is he deserves it...
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