22 and Counting!!!

The Heat’s latest win streak began on February 3^rd, 2013 when they defeated the Toronto Raptors 100- 85. Then the Heat were in a tie with the New York Knicks for first place of the Eastern Conference with only a 4 game difference separating them from the sixth seed. The victory over the Raptors jump started the Heat as they steamrolled through the NBA winning 22 consecutive games.

Victories ranged from some of the NBA’s best teams to some of the worst. Many of the games were quite interesting and each presented a new challenge for the Heat.

Here is a list of the teams Miami defeated during the streak:

1.  @Toronto Raptors 100-85
2. vs. Charlotte Bobcats 94-99
3. vs. Houston Rockets 108-114
4. Los Angeles Clippers 89-111
5. vs. Los Angeles Lakers 97-107
6. Portland Trailblazers 104-117
7. @Oklahoma City Thunder 110-100
8. @Atlanta Hawks 103-90
9. @Chicago Bulls 86-67
10. @Philadelphia 76ers 114-90
11. vs. Cleveland Cavaliers 105-109
12. vs. Sacramento Kings 129-141
13. vs. Memphis Grizzles 91-98
14. @New York Knicks 99-93
15. @Minnesota Timberwolves 97-81
16. vs. Orlando Magic 96-97
17. vs. Philadelphia 76ers 93-102
18. vs. Indiana Pacers 91-105
19. Atlanta Hawks 81-98
20. @ Philadelphia 76ers 98-94
21. @ Milwaukee Bucks 107-94
22. @ Toronto Raptors 108-91

By winning 22 consecutive games the Miami Heat have tied the 2007-2008 Houston Rockets for the second longest win streak in NBA history. They play their conference rival the Boston Celtics Monday, March 18th at 8:00pm on ESPN in hopes of continuing the streak to 23 games won.

Slam Dunk King?

On ESPN Sunday’s NBA Countdown, Magic Johnson announced that he is more than willing to invest up to $1 million in attempt to convince Lebron James to enter the dunk contest.  His million dollar offering was followed by members of the studio crew who also chipped in smaller amounts of money to contribute to the cause.

"Please, LeBron, get in the dunk contest. I'm going to put up a million dollars," Johnson said.  "A million dollars from Magic to LeBron. Please get in the dunk contest. I go every year. I want to see you out there. A million to the winner, ” Johnson pleaded live on national television.

Although I've been stating my case for James to compete in the contest, as you can see in my earlier post Can Lebron James Save the All Star Weekend?  this recent call for action all began after James started throwing down monster dunks in his pregame rituals, including a off-the-backboard tomahawk and a between-the-legs. James mentioned earlier the month that he might stop because people were criticizing him for not doing the dunk contest and then doing these pregame dunks.

 

Before the Miami Heat's game against the New York Knicks on Sunday afternoon, James spoke with ESPN reporter Lisa Salters. Once asked about competing in the Slam Dunk contest, "I think about it every year but I don’t have a response yet," James said.  He also acknowledged being knowledable of Magic Johnson's offer, "Tell him I'll get back to him," James told Salters.

I believe Lebron as well as other all stars in the NBA should compete in the dunk contest because it’ll bring back excitement to the contest. Although if James chooses not to compete in the contest, his legacy will remain the same, but I think it will be fair to the fans if he entered. But the fact that James is now considering it is a positive sign seeing as though he said he’ll never enter the contest in a press conference earlier in the season.

I believe he should reject Johnson’s lucrative offer and compete incentive-free. My dream Slam Dunk Contest would include:

· #6 Lebron James/ Miami Heat
· #0 Russell Westbrook/ Oklahoma City Thunder
· #32 Blake Griffin/ Los Angeles Clippers
· #1 Derrick Rose/ Chicago Bulls
· #2 John Wall/ Washington Wizards
· #31 Terrance Ross/ Toronto Raptors

Although it is unlikely that this group of contestants will never participate together, this will make for the best Slam Dunk Contest EVER. We have to get these stars to compete.