Golden State: 134 Miami: 99 South beach Stroll

Not often I will ever see a game as uncompetive as last nights but the fact is in preparation for the beast of Dwight Howard the Warriors won by 35, light minutes for the starters, and no more injuries. Of course this was helped by a Miami team with only 7 available players and with Dwayne Wade sitting out but anytime this easy of a win happens I'll take it.

Boxscore

Plenty to smile about here

There wasn't too much to complain about tonight apart from the obligingly bad 1st quarter start where Chris Quinn flirted with the idea of being the next Warrior killer but obligingly faded out of the picture. With the horrifying thought of the starters playing too much thanfully after a 32-31 1st quarter lead they jumped to a 63-51 halftime lead and from there the outcome was never in doubt. Jackson and Azubuike hit a lot of uncontested 3's which dropped and it was nice to see Andris back right in time for Orlando.

The most impressive aspect of tonight though was seeing the bench albeit Marco Bellinelli get a lot of PT. Seriously though ahead by 40 points and Marco still sits down. He's not even been demoted down to the D-League so it's quite clear he really is in Nelsons doghouse. Even POB got some burn. If Bellineli isn't geting any PT then is it too early to dub him the Sarunas Jasikevicus of 2007-2008?. Matt Barnes worked closer to the basket on offense and for once ecaped with any technical or flagrant foul. Wright is a slight mystery looking smooth as can be one moment, such as his beautiful turn-around move in the key then looking overmatched when going for Rebounds against Haslem. Still his dunk with 6 minutes left a real coast to coast move was a thing of beauty. The most important merit of it was seeing the bench hopefully earn Nelsons trust by not blowing the large lead they were gifted as well as getting some real game experience.

Harrington hit 5 of these.

I will say this the only Heat player that impressed me tonight was Marcus Banks. At a time when even Marrion started playing halfheartedly his 20 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 9-17 FG. Constantly driving through the lane, showcasing his skills, and giving the depressed Heat fans a show it was fun seeing Miami get some value along the Matrix who had a double double of 17 and 10.

One last props to Pietrus. A guy everyone wanted out at the Trade deadline plus who wasn't contributing at all now is trying to bring the full package he’s contributing on the glass, he’s scoring, and has been willing to play the power forward position and mix it up with the bigs. He might just have that role player position down

Had Golden State beaten the bobcats the Orlando game wouldn't qualify as a neccessary win but with the loss it now becomes neccessary. Denver has found just the right time to get hot and if Nelson figures out how to slow Howard down while still containing the Magic’s potent outside shooters then he can earn an increase in his paycheck. If he doesn't however Orlando might not be so magic