Dragic thriving, hoping to stay in Miami amid trade rumors: ESPN reported Friday that the Orlando Magic recently inquired about Dragic but that the Heat rebuffed an offer that was believed to have included center Nikola Vucevic and a future first-round pick. Dragic very much hopes to stay with the Heat long-term. “I feel really good here,” said Dragic, in the second year of a five-year, $85 million contract. “I feel like I’m in the right spot. The city is awesome, the fans are great, the organization is the top organization in the league. My family, they’re feeling amazing, they love the city. Of course I want to stay here." -- The Miami Herald Dragic, Johnson fuel Heat’s victory over Mavericks: “It’s not exactly 2011,” Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said Thursday morning, acknowledging the diminished state of the Heat and Mavericks, six years after the teams met in the NBA Finals. These days, Heat success is measured not in championships but in far more modest accomplishments, such as the two-game winning streak achieved Thursday night with Miami’s 99-95 victory against visiting Dallas. -- The Miami Herald Heat and Mavericks now dealing with the flip side of past successes: Considering the two franchises have combined for four championships and seven Finals appearances in the past 11 years, it was odd to see the Heat and Mavericks enter Thursday’s game a combined 31 games under .500, Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki said. “That's how the league goes,” he said, with Miami entering Thursday at 12-30 and Dallas at 14-27. -- The Miami Herald Heat fan hit by falling door following on-court promotion: A Heat promotion at the end of the first quarter of Thursday's Heat-Dallas Mavericks game went awry, nearly injuring a woman. As part of the promotion for Epic Hotel, a woman opened a door constructed into a heavy edifice. The edifice — which was placed at midcourt of AmericanAirlines Arena — tipped over, grazing the stunned woman’s head. -- The Miami Herald Goran Dragic's 32 fuel Heat over Mavericks 99-95: In a game only the fans of the two teams -- as well as those who hold Goran Dragic in the highest of esteem -- could truly appreciate, the Miami Heat put together their fourth two-game winning streak of the season with a 99-95 victory Thursday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. "Just like an old-school Miami-Dallas game," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the times when the teams meet in the 2006 and 2011 NBA Finals. -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel Hassan Whiteside will have to count on coaches for All-Star berth: The question of whether the Miami Heat will be without an NBA All-Star for the first time since 2004 has been put on hold for a week. As expected, no Heat players were among those announced Thursday as the starters for the Feb. 19 game in New Orleans, with those selections made through a combination of fan, player and media voting. -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel Erik Spoelstra: Heat won't pitch coaches for All-Star selections: If Hassan Whiteside makes his first NBA All-Star Game it will be the result of productivity and not promotion, with coach Erik Spoelstra saying Thursday that the Miami Heat will not pitch their players for selection. "We don't send out stuff to promote," he said before Thursday's game against the Dallas Mavericks at AmericanAirlines Arena. "You either earn it or you don't." -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 99-95 victory over the Dallas Mavericks: Winning streaks are hard to come by in this disappointing season for the Miami Heat. So one as modest as two games is something to celebrate. The Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 99-95, Thursday at AmericanAirlines Arena, giving Miami its fourth two-game winning streak of the season. -- The Palm Beach Post Heat center Hassan Whiteside putting up All-Star numbers, but will coaches vote him in as reserve?: Based on Hassan Whiteside’s stat line, he deserves to be an All-Star. The Heat’s $98 million center entered Thursday’s game against the Mavericks averaging 17.4 points and 14.3 rebounds per game. Since the 1975-76 season, players have finished a season averaging at least 17 points and 14 rebounds per game 19 times. -- The Palm Beach Post Okaro White: Briante Weber knows his NBA opportunity is coming: Okaro White was the D-League player the Heat signed to a 10-day contract this week, but he’s not the only intriguing NBA prospect on the Sioux Falls Skyforce roster. “Briante Weber and Keith Benson. Hands down, they are NBA players,” White said. -- The Palm Beach Post
|