Dwyane Wade: A-plus. I hate to describe something as “vintage” but that’s what this was. Straight out of 2009-10, Wade led in scoring, piled on other stats with five boards and seven assists, and took over the second half. He was 7-of-8 in the third quarter, which one could make a living doing,  I guess. You have to wonder if all the  “Wade has lost it” talk is driving him, but he’s looking as good as ever. Plus, his jumper has never been better

Chris Bosh: B. It was an unremarkable double-double for CB1, though he was only 6-of-12 from the line (meaning he got 13 shots rather than the seven showing on the stat sheet) he got boards and played defense. Granted, the Raptors are bereft of talent around the basket right now, so this should have been a big night for him, but with how Wade was shooting, you can’t be mad. It’s plain Bosh has moved on from the Toronto era, other guys would have been driven to destroy their old team because that’s how basketball works. Maybe it’s just his nature. Still, it was a fine game.

Ray Allen: A-minus. Ray-Ray made buckets, like he was brought to do. Allen was 7-of-10 from the floor with 18 points, made the big three in overtime, and grabbed his cursory two boards. Somehow he had a negative six +/-, but whatever. Come off the bench, make the big three, don’t worry too much about defense. I’m pretty sure that’s what the contract he has says. Mr. Riley likes to keep it simple.

Heat dirty work: B. The Heat nearly doubled the Raptors up on the boards, 53-28, Shane Battier gave a strong 26 minutes, and the Raptors leading scorer was forced to shoot 18 to score 20. Plus, Norris Cole showed some fire and caught a technical. Want me to shine up those four-point plays? Well, Miami was putting in the effort and sending runners out to the three point line, a bit too much effort and vigor was expended is all. It’s that scrappiness that will drive the Heat to the title with that lack of size they get to experience, so it’s nice to see during a January game against a bad team. Fun game, all in all.

Dwyane Wade: A. He and James dominated the first quarter, and Wade kept it up all night. Other than a strange three-pointer that can be chalked up to heat checking, he had great shot selection (nothing better than a dunk) did a great job on Kobe (3-for-16 in the first three quarters) and didn’t take no guff. Just when you think he might have started to slow, he goes and tomahawk dunks from damn near the free throw line. It’s nice to see.

Chris Bosh:B. Kind of a weird night for Chris, only seven points on 3-of-10 shooting,six boards and six steals. Strong defensive effort is one way to read it, and after all he did a good job along with Joel Anthony of keeping Dwight Howard quiet. Pau Gasol played well against Chris though, but Pau is really good and really tall. I’ve come to the conclusion Bosh won’t ever live up to box score expectations, but he was alright this night.

Joel Anthony: B. Another great outing for Anthony, he worked hard agaist Dwight Howard, sacrificed his body to slow the Laker attack down and he even scored a point! Considering his assignment, he did well, more than you could hope for.

Mario Chalmers: C-minus.  Bit of an ugly game, he played solid defense on old man Nash, but Nash is old, and he still shot 50%. Rio turned the ball over once with three assists, along with the four fouls not a grand time. No, you can’t expect him to score 34 points every night, but 1-for-7 is just not any good.

Heat Team Defense: B-plus. It was active for a rare exciting time, did a great job in the paint considering who was hanging out there, and kept Kobe Bryant quiet for long enough. The Lakers shot 10-of-22 from three though, and that’s with Joel Anthony bringing a paint presence. The rotations look sound though, and Rashard Lewis actually gave a hand for a bit. Shane Battier is being mixed in comfortably and slowly, and their paint defense is improving. All in all, not bad. Not perfect, but not bad.