Tune in at 10:30 PM ET as the Heat take on the Lakers. James Herbert will be liveblogging for your enjoyment.
So, this is a major matchup, wouldn't you say?
Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that the Lakers would be 17-21 at this point? Not me, certainly.
The Heat are 25-12, if you were wondering.
It's Dwyane Wade's 31st birthday today, so happy birthday Dwyane.
Lakers starters: Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Earl Clark, Dwight Howard. (Pau Gasol will come off the bench.)
Heat starters: Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Udonis Haslem, Chris Bosh.
First possession, Haslem misses an open jumper from the midrange on the right baseline.
That's the kind of shot he used to be automatic with. Not anymore.
Bryant misses a long three with three seconds on the shot clock.
Heat turn it over, MWP gets a layup on the other end.
James misses a jumper over MWP on the right side. The rebound goes out of bounds, Lakers ball.
There is a buzz in the building, it is obvious on TV.
Howard is fouled by Haslem in the post on the left block.
Lakers turn it over and LeBron scores on the break.
Not just any score, though. Huge soaring alley-oop.
Ball eventually goes out of bounds, still Laker ball.
Howard's pass is deflected out of bounds, 16 on the shot clock.
Point guards trade misses: Nash misses a floater, Chalmers misses a corner three.
Nash turns it over, Bosh gets a steal and James slams it in transition. My goodness.
Two huge dunks for LeBron already.
Clark misses a layup, Haslem can't handle the rebound and it's out of bounds. Laker ball.
Man, that dunk a couple possessions back was gorgeous.
Kobe with a turnover, Wade with a steal and a big dunk of his own.
James steals the inbounds pass from MWP. WOW.
HUGE DUNK from Wade, assist to James.
8:45 left in the first quarter, timeout Lakers.
Lakers: four turnovers, Heat: four dunks. That's all of Miami's offense -- two dunks from Wade, two from James.
This has been seriously crazy.
The pass from James to Wade to set up that dunk was amazing.
This has not been fun for the Lakers, however.
Back from the timeout and the Lakers turn it over again quickly.
MWP drove and lost his dribble, out of bounds.
Chalmers misses a floater, MWP misses a three.
Wade misses a floater of his own.
Bryant and Howard with a couple of nice passes to one another and eventually Howard scores on the inside.
Chalmers gets his layup blocked by Howard.
Howard is fouled on the inside by James, two shots coming up with 7:04 left in the first quarter.
Howard misses the first free throw, Jamison checks in for Clark.
