Notes from NBA TV’s NBA Fan Night presented by Sprint – Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Boston Celtics (86) at Miami Heat (93)
Voting is open for next week’s game, via NBA.com, the NBA Facebook page, NBA TV’s Facebook page, Yahoo.com, NBA.com
Fans can select between the following games:
New Orleans Pelicans at Cleveland Cavaliers
Orlando Magic at Detroit Pistons
Boston Celtics at New York Knicks
San Antonio Spurs at Houston Rockets
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AutoTrader.com Pregame Show
Matt Winer, Greg Anthony and Chris Webber
Anthony on Miami’s struggle to win games without Dwyane Wade in the lineup this year: “That speaks to the supporting cast a year ago [compared to today]. When you don’t have Wade out there you’re asking those other guys to do more and at this stage of [Heat guard] Ray Allen’s career, that’s asking a lot.”
Webber on the severity of Wade’s lingering injury: “It worries me as a Heat fan and a basketball fan that Dwyane Wade’s knees might be a problem.”
Anthony on Thunder forward Kevin Durant vs. Heat forward LeBron James: “They play different games. The greatest thing about LeBron James is he is the only player in the history of the NBA that has averaged 30 points in a season when scoring is not what he does best. He’s never going to be a guy that looks to score first because his whole mindset is about making his teammates better.”
Anthony on whether Wade’s health will impact James’ potential free agency this offseason: “It’s all going to be dependent on what they do in the postseason. If they win a championship, it’s a moot point. If they don’t win a championship, that’s where the concern starts. [The Big Three] have been through these bumps in the regular season before, but when you get to the postseason and you don’t get it done, that’s another animal.”
Anthony on the current state of the Boston Celtics: “Of all the teams that are in bad shape right now, the Celtics have the best chance to turn it around. They’re not that far from competing right now in the East.”
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Sprint Halftime Report
Winer, Anthony and Webber
Webber on what the Miami Heat need to do to break their current losing streak: “[To break] a losing streak like they’re on [the Heat] need to come back with passion, get the crowd involved in the game, use ball movement and play defense. They need to do this every night against the teams that are much better [than the Boston Celtics].”
Webber on the improvement of Heat guard Mario Chalmers: “Anyone who has watched Mario knows he’s reliable. When you play around the best players, you pick up the best. He’s getting better watching his teammates play.”
Webber on the Celtics building confidence through losses to top teams: “If they come out, play hard with effort and stay close [against the defending champion Heat] they will find out more about themselves than they could have ever imagined. This is when you build confidence.”
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NBA GameTime presented by Kia
Winer, Anthony and Webber
Anthony on whether or not the Heat found a solution to their problems in their win against the Celtics: “This is the first step because of how they had to win the game. They had to outwork the Celtics down the stretch and figure out a way to conjure up energy. It’s a process. They don’t know how to play hard anymore. Even tonight, they didn’t compete the way you have to compete to have a chance to win [a championship] again.”
Webber on the Miami Heat bench:“You’re going to have to see more energy guys like [Heat center] Chris Andersen come in and keep infusing energy, holding this team afloat until they can get everybody back and play well.”
Webber on Kevin Durant’s recent shooting prowess: “I love it because it is by necessity. [Durant] was a little bit frustrated in the playoffs last year because he had to find people and play a different way. The great thing about great players is you give them a second to adapt…and since last year he has adapted. He’s not doing this just to be pretty. He’s doing it because he can and it’s a necessity [without Russell Westbrook]. He wins games.”
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