\jeff{krimmel}

I Win My Bet

I was in Las Vegas yesterday and today with my parents, and while we were walking around the MGM Grand, I decided to stop by the sports book. I’ve been to Vegas twice before this weekend, and I hadn’t ever placed a sports bet. I decided yesterday was the day, and I put five dollars on the Mavericks in tonight’s game five of the NBA Finals. The line was the Heat minus two. The Heat won tonight. By one point. I won my bet.

The total payout is nine dollars and fifty five cents. I have to send the ticket the sports book gave me along with a self-addressed stamped enveloped via registered mail to the MGM Grand. Those two postage prices seriously eat into my winnings. Oh well.

And what a game tonight’s game five was. Until tonight, I thought LeBron James was the best young player in the NBA, edging out Dwyane Wade. I could very much appreciate the case the Wade supporters made, but LeBron’s size and his ability to elevate the level of play of his teammates sort of won me over. But Dwyane Wade edged out LeBron in my book tonight.

Maybe LeBron would be doing the same things Dwyane is doing if given the chance, but who knows? Wade is proving that he’s about as clutch a basketball player as they come. Who makes two free throws to win a game of this magnitude? And who makes it look so easy? Add in the confusing Mavericks called (or not called) timeout between his two free throws, and he even survived the “icing the kicker” scenario.

I understand this is probably a bit unfair, but tonight’s goat has to be Josh Howard. He missed a pair of free throws in overtime, and he’s not exactly Shaquille O’Neal at the line. I think one of the commentators mentioned that Howard was a 79% free throw shooter. After that, he calls timeout between Dwyane Wade’s final two free throws, leaving the Mavericks without any timeouts and without the ability to move the ball upcourt after the second made free throw. This whole timeout business may wind up being a misunderstanding on the referee’s part, but Howard was credited with calling the timeout, and combined with the two missed free throws, he really fell apart as the game wound down.

I still don’t think the Heat are going to win this series. I think Dirk Nowitzki is going to explode in one of the last two games, and having Jerry Stackhouse back might push the Mavs to a game six victory. Seeing how mightily the Heat struggled in Dallas in games one and two, I think the Mavs are going to take this series in seven. I will be more than a little surprised if that doesn’t happen.

But no matter how things turn out, I’m going to have four dollars and fifty five cents (minus postage) to keep me company.