Haslem Out Until All-Star Break?

Update below – Haslem may miss remainder of season

ESPN reports

An MRI exam Sunday confirmed that Udonis Haslem indeed has a torn ligament in his left foot, which will rob the Miami Heat of their ever-reliable power forward for at least six weeks and likely much longer.

One source close to the situation told ESPN.com on Sunday night that there are fears Haslem will be sidelined until at least the All-Star break depending on whether he needs surgery.

Haslem suffered the injury Saturday in the third quarter of Miami’s loss at Memphis after he collapsed while defending the Grizzlies’ Zach Randolph in the post. Teammates were told Haslem had a dislocated toe in addition to the torn ligament.

The Heat announced that Haslem will see a specialist Monday before a treatment plan is finalized, but the recovery schedule is certain to drag well into 2011 if surgery is required.

Trade: Jack for Bayless Part Two

ESPN reports

The New Orleans Hornets and Toronto Raptors have agreed on a five-player trade that would send Peja Stojakovic and Jerryd Bayless to the Raptors for Jarrett Jack, David Andersen and Marcus Banks.

The deal was close to being completed Friday night, but had been held up over the amount of cash the Hornets would send to the Raptors in the trade, according to a source with direct knowledge of the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In order for the deal to pass muster under league rules, it actually would be executed as two separate trades to get around a restriction preventing Bayless from being included in a multi-player deal prior to Dec. 23 — two months from the date the Hornets acquired Bayless from Portland.

Strange trade …

Greg Oden, Another Microfracture

The Oregonian reports

The Trail Blazers announced tonight that center Greg Oden will undergo his second microfracture surgery in three years.

Oden will undergo surgery Friday on his left knee, the one which suffered a fractured patella last Dec. 5 in a game against Houston at the Rose Garden. He will miss the remainder of the 2010-11 season. Since being drafted with the first pick of the 2007 NBA draft, Oden has missed 176 games due to injury and has played in 82 games.

The team said in a release tonight that a recent MRI showed damaged cartilage to the surface of his femur, and his current injury is unrelated to the fractured left patella. Oden previously underwent microfracture surgery on his right knee Sept. 13, 2007.

Ah no, that is depressing news. Poor Greg.

Nice Chuck Hayes Praise

Nice praise for Chuck Hayes’ defensive effort on Amare Stoudemire the other night

The Rockets’ lead was gone. The Knicks’ offense was rolling. Amar’e Stoudemire was burning a defense twisted to stop him and opening opportunities all around him.The Rockets had to try something else, never imagining any change could so dramatically change the game.

They put Chuck Hayes on Stoudemire and gave him almost no help. It was as if they turned the lights off and jammed a dagger into the ball.

Game Time: Miami vs Boston

Some notes on the game

Pre-Game Thoughts

Still too early for Miami. They are nowhere near where they are capable of being come the close of the season.

So, too early to read into the result … but there are other smaller issues to discover.

Boston is easily the best team in the NBA at the moment. With Shaq in the lineup, they should win this game comfortably enough.

First Half

#1 — Dwyane Wade has been killing Miami here in the first half. Some terrible decisions offensively and poor defense.

#2 — Eddie House had a nice scoring run with 9 points late in the first quarter but he gave up just as much, if not more, on the other end of the floor. He got caught twice against Pierce an Ray on switches, gave up baskets, gave up dribble penetration from Nate Robinson too easily on another two possessions and made a bad closeout on Nate’s triple to start the second quarter.

2010/11 Miami Heat

The Roster

• PG – Mario Chalmers, Carlos Arroyo, Eddie House
• SG – Dwyane Wade, James Jones, Jerry Stackhouse
• SF – LeBron James, Mike Miller
• PF – Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem, Juwan Howard
• C – Joel Anthony, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Jamaal Magloire, Dexter Pittman

Strengths

• The overall brilliance of the two best players in the NBA in LeBron and Wade. Their top drawer offensive ability in both scoring and playmaking + their elite defensive ability and quality rebounding.
• The all-star play from big man Chris Bosh who should provide high quality complementary scoring, top notch rebounding and solid defense and passing ability. His well-rounded complementary offensive arsenal makes him a great fit alongside Wade and LeBron.

2010/11 Dallas Mavericks

The Roster

• PG – Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Rodrigue Beaubois, JJ Barea
• SG – Dominique Jones, DeShawn Stevenson, Matt Carroll
• SF – Caron Butler, Shawn Marion
• PF – Dirk Nowitzki, Ian Mahinmi, Steve Novak
• C – Tyson Chandler, Brendan Haywood, Alexis Ajinca

Strengths

• The remarkable offensive ability and go-to scoring of Dirk Nowitzki
• A tough one two punch at center with Tyson Chandler and Brendan Haywood who combine to give Dallas a very effective defensive anchor, shot blocking and high quality rebounding throughout the game.