LeBron James: A. It was a grand night for the King, crossing the 20,000 point marker as well as topping 5,000 assists for his career, all in the course of leading his team to victory. He dominated both sides of the ball like usual, scoring 25 with 10 assists and eight boards in only 30 minutes of play, and he locked down David Lee on 4-of-13 shooting. It’s a little odd how he talks about “the game” sometimes, so intimately, but hey, he’s been making beautiful music with the basketball for a decade, let him say what he wants.
Dwyane Wade:A-minus. He didn’t do focus too much one thing, but Wade was everywhere. With only 15 points on 12 shots, he was efficient, defensively hounding, and smart with the ball. He was four blocks away from that most neato of feats, the 5×5. He played like a superstar going 80%, which is what we’ve come to expect from this whole team. Perhaps Wade is finding his niche as that free safety-type player (remember that hit on Collison last year in Indy?) where he just kind of controls things as he can. Maybe the athleticism is slipping, but right now he’s just doing everything in all ways, and it helped lead to some dominance in Oakland.
Chris Bosh: B-plus. A nice game for Bosh after having to go to war against the beasts in Utah a few nights ago. There’s no real banger on the Warriors, so he was able to play his game much more comfortably. Like Wade he was efficient, got to some boards, and was off the court in less than 30 minutes. He turned the ball over a couple times and got rebounds yanked out of his hands, something you don’t especially want to see. Maybe he should squeeze more things.
Joel Anthony: B-plus. Another fine game, even in limited minutes, for the Warden. Two blocks, five boards and two assists in 12 minutes while adding energy to the floor, perhaps Joel is finally rounding into his playing ways of a year ago. He was in a good place for this game with Golden State not having a center that can score, a major boon for the size-less Heat. It’s no mistake the Dubs shot 25% from three – with the paint locked down, defense could flourish.
Shane Battier: C-plus. It was Shane’s first game since January 8th, and he was plainly out of sync. He missed all three shots he took, pulled down a couple rebounds and was off the floor after 10 minutes. There’s some young talent on the wings for the Warriors though, and his time on the floor had him doing a great job against them. He’s got to get his legs back under him, but it’s good to have Shane back.