fBasketballBlog

It was a good night for Amar'e. (NBA.com)

[Read the full post at DimeMag.com]

Beast of the Night: Amar’e Stoudemire showed that he really wasn’t afraid of the Heat by putting up 24 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals, one block and a three-pointer. He shot 59 percent (10-17) from the field and 75 percent (3-4) from the free-throw line. In the battle of the goggles, Stoudemire won.

Lines for Discussion:
Dwyane Wade: 14-22 FG (64%), 6-14 FT (43%), 34 Pts, 16 Reb, 5 Ast, 1 Stl, 6 TO

LeBron James: 7-24 FG (29%), 10-12 FT (83%), 24 Pts, 11 Reb, 5 Ast, 2 Stl, 2 Blk, 4 TO

Landry Fields: 6-11 FG (55%), 4-4 FT (100%), 3 threes, 19 Pts, 13 Reb, 6 Ast, 2 TO

Tyson Chandler: 5-8 FG (63%), 11-12 FT (92%), 21 Pts, 15 Reb, 1 Blk, 2 TO

Kevin Garnett: 4-9 FG (44%), 2-2 FT (100%), 10 Pts, 9 Reb, 9 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 TO

Waiver-Wire Watch:
Shawne Williams, Jose Juan Barea, Kendrick Perkins, Rudy Fernandez, Dante Cunningham

Injuries:
Mike Bibby (hand): missed Thursday’s practice; monitor his status

Joakim Noah (thumb): the cast will be removed on Monday

Anderson Varejao (ankle): will have a second opinion before deciding whether he should have surgery

Peja Stojakovic (knee): will not play Thursday and Saturday

Richard Hamilton (flu): questionable tonight

Rodney Stuckey (shoulder): making the trip for tonight’s game

Brandon Rush (ankle): will miss two weeks

Chris Bosh (ankle): probably won’t return before Feb. 3

Linas Kleiza (knee): coach Jay Triano said Kleiza is “not close” to returning

Paul Millsap (thumb): will play tonight

Deron Williams (wrist): will have an MRI on his wrist

Raja Bell (neck, shoulder): game-time decision tonight

Kirk Hinrich (elbow): returned to practice Thursday

JaVale McGee (flu): missed Thursday’s practice; check his status

Nicolas Batum (knee): will have an MRI today, was seen walking with crutches Thursday; check his status

O.J. Mayo (suspension): suspended 10 games for using the same banned substance Rashard Lewis did in 2009

For Next Week:
4 games: CHA, CLE, DAL, DEN, IND, LAC, MEM, MIA, MIL, NJ, ORL, POR, UTA, WAS
3 games: ATL, BOS, DET, HOU, LAL, MIN, NO, NY, OKC, PHI, SA, TOR
2 games: CHI, GS, PHO, SAC