Watch CBS News

Sports Agenda For Tuesday (6/7/11)

Big Story:
The official countdown stands at T-Minus 2 games until the Heat celebrate their second NBA championship in team history.
We'll take a look at the Heat's chances in Game 4, the Marlins continue to stink, and I'll touch on a couple of NFL issues in the agenda.
So, like a LeBron dunk, let's throw down with the agenda.

Firsties!
Before I dive into the Heat, a note about something I mentioned yesterday, Gregg Doyel of sportsline.com.
He got smacked down by LeBron in the postgame press conference and now he's staying on point to slam LeBron for something he perceives as LeBron's lack of big game clutch play.
Sometimes idiots say stupid things and then reinforce it by saying even stupider things.
For example: ask Sarah Palin something about history and she'll say something stupid (read: Paul Revere).
It's the same thing with Doyel's misguided question and column.
So Doyel, revel in the fact that you are now at the level of Sarah Palin. Congratulations man!

Heat: (@ Dallas Mavericks, Game 4 of the NBA Finals, 9:00 p.m., ABC)
The Heat are hoping to take a commanding 3-1 lead with a victory tonight over the Mavericks.
There's not a lot left to say about the game, but here's a few things to watch for…
Look for LeBron to turn up the defensive intensity. He's heard that Jason Terry implied LeBron couldn't do it for 7 games. He's going to be playing on a mission to take this team to the title.
I do think it's funny that a guy who couldn't win it in 2006, got a temporary tattoo of the NBA championship trophy and is now calling out arguably the most dominant player in the game right now. Maybe I should move Terry up to the Firsties category?
I'm interested to see how Chris Bosh comes out. He hit the game winner in Game 3 and after struggling in the first two games, I think the big shot could give him some momentum heading into Game 4. I expect 18-22 points out of him tonight.
I also want to see the defensive adjustments made to try and stop Dwyane Wade. Look, Dallas' defense has no answer for him right now. He's played like a man possessed so far, so they may choose to double-team him.
Course that opens up either LeBron, Bosh, Chalmers or Haslem. That's a conundrum wrapped in an enigma right there.
If I had to put some numbers out for tonight's game, I'd say…Bosh gets 18-22 pts, LeBron goes for 25 and 10, and Wade gets 25-30 pts and around 8 rebounds.
If the Big Three hit 70 points, game over.
One thing on the defensive end I want to see is whether the Heat double-team Dirk. He's going to get his points, but the more shots he's forced to take to get them, the better things will be for the Heat.
Also, watch to see if the refs try to call it more balanced in Game 4 instead of sending Dallas to the free throw line every time a Heat player walks past them.
And if you wanted some lies, damn lies, and statistics…here you go:
According to basketball-reference.com, after the Heat's Game 3 victory and with the Heat leading 2-1 in the Finals, the Heat currently have a 69 percent chance of winning the NBA Championship.
If the Heat manages to pull out to a 3-1 advantage with a Game 4 victory Tuesday night, their likelihood of winning the series jumps to 86 percent. An away team, the Mavericks, only has a 9.6 percent chance of coming back and winning the series.
But, if the Mavericks tie the series up at 2-2 with a victory in Game 4, then all bets are off. Heading into a Game 5 of a series in a 2-3-2 format would leave the away team in the catbird's seat, with a 55 percent chance of winning the series.
Needless to say, the Heat need to treat every game from here on out like it was Game 7 and leave everything on the court.

Marlins: (vs. Atlanta Braves, 7:10 p.m., Fox Sports Florida)
Right as I'm starting to get excited about the Marlins chances, they go and get swept at home by the streaking Milwaukee Brewers. Yikes!
Now, if that's not tough enough, they welcome in the Atlanta Braves for a 3-game series. The Braves have tied the Marlins in the NL East and the Marlins are 0-5 so far in June.
Obviously, they better start winning or they're in deep trouble as the Phillies start to pull away in the division.
Normally, tonight's game would be started by Josh Johnson, but he's still on the DL so the Fish go to Brad Hand who has been torching Double-A batters to a 7-1 record.
Still, the Marlins have starting pitching problems until Johnson is back at full strength. Javier Vazquez continues to get lit up more than Cheech and Chong, and so far, no one has been able to consistently start in Johnson's place. You won't find another J-squared, but a temporary starter is desperately needed.
The Marlins also have to awaken the bats or it's going to be a long, hot summer for the Marlins as they get cooked in the best pitching division in all of baseball.

NFL Quick Hits:
Big talk on sports radio in South Florida has been Plaxico Burress.
Some called saying that the Fins should sign him.
Not. Going. To. Happen.
He's a 34-year-old ex-con who was already on the downside of his career in New York. Yeah, he's 6'6" tall. Big deal. He doesn't have the speed anymore and signing him to win jump balls just isn't going to help. Plus, it would cut down on catches for Davone Bess, which is a very bad thing.
There's also been a buzz about Vince Young coming to the Dolphins.
Not. Going. To. Happen.
Look, the Fins passed up on Ryan Mallett and he is a much better pro quarterback than Vince Young. VY is a headcase and the last thing the Bengals Dolphins need is another head case.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue