No real Blaze, just cold Heat...

I'd really been looking forward to the Trailblazers annual visit to Beantown this year, just to see what it would be like for the young, hot team on an extended road trip to meet up with the local squad of seasoned All-Star veterans on the legendary parquet floor. And the game was...well, OK -- fun to watch and always closely contested, but frankly a little disappointing in the 4th quarter, when the two teams basically just played straight-up man-to-man defense and traded baskets down the stretch. Maybe it's too much to ask for a young team in the middle of a long, mid-season road trip to play play-off intensity defense in a game that is ultimately just one of eight-two, but that's what I would have LIKED to have seen.

Last night's game in Miami was better in this regard. The Heat are in a tailspin right now -- a dozen-game losing streak, after the Blazers put another "W" in the books last night -- but both teams seemed to play with a lot more intensity, and as a result the game was a lot more fun to watch. Shaq and Dwayne are still two of the greatest players in the game, but to my mind the Heat are really missing the chemistry of their championship level teams, and especially the intangibles brought by veterans like Gary Payton and Alonzo Mourning. But you know, those legendary All-Stars can't keep it up forever. And Shaq ain't gettin' any younger either.

Once the Blazers learn how to win on the road, they are going to be a force to be reckoned with in this league for a long, long time. As for the Celtics, if you want to catch a glimpse of THEIR future...look at the Heat. Let's just hope for the sake of Danny and Doc that they are able to squeeze in a championship of their own first.