Chalmers...

Well at least the Heat aren't lacking in confidence this week.  After Bosh and his (pretty realistic) assertion that he's a Hall of Famer, Mario Chalmers came out today to say that he's a top 10 point guard in the league.  "In the middle part" of the top 10.  Chalmers came through with some important, big games in the Heats' run to the title last year, but come on.  You reckon you're the 5th or 6th best PG?  Allow me to list (in no particular order) point guards you would take over Chalmers:

• Chris Paul
• Derrick Rose
• Jrue Holiday
• Kyrie Irving
• Rajon Rondo
• Russell Westbrook
• Steph Curry
• Steve Nash
• Ricky Rubio
• Deron Williams
• Ty Lawson
• Eric Bledsoe
• Tony Parker
• Jose Calderon
• Greivis Vasquez
• Damian Lillard
• Eric Gordon

So I think Chalmers safely falls outside of the top 10.  He isn't a bad player, and obviously isn't going to shine on a team like that.  He has a role and he fills it.  I guess it's good that he's confident, but sometimes you need to take a realistic look at things. 

Rematch, round 1

BronBron over KD in the Christmas Day showcase game, which lived up to all the Finals rematch hype.  Miami got out to a quick double-digit lead, which everyone knew wouldn't last.  The teams played a high level of basketball the entire game, providing some great highlights as seen above.  Brons putback is viscious, and KD's pump fake to bank shot is just bonkers.  The game got chippy, as you would expect, with RussRuss getting heated over a tough foul during the midst of his wild layup clinic.  I don't think there was as much to that as Russ made it seem; even small fouls will send you falling down when you're playing at 10,000mph.  It wasn't malicious, Battier got ball on the way up.  He also earned a stupid tech late for complaining about a missed foul call.  But they didn't lose because of him.  Miami (led by lots of surprise Chalmers baskets) stayed in control for the late portions of the game, wrapping things up with a Bron dime to our boy Bosh, while the Thunder missed a bunch of shots in the late goings.  Outside of maybe the Clippers, I don't think there's any doubt these are the best two teams in basketball, led by the best two plays in KD and Bron.  Hopefully there's another rematch in June.

In other notes:

• Boston bushwacked BKNY, complimented by the usual Garnett-Wallace scrum.  I don't know where their rivalry came from but it's great.  Would make a fantastic playoff series.
• Deron Williams, where are you? 
• Lakers over Knicks, with a near-triple double from Nash.  Surprise surprise, they play better with him there.  I'm not really sure what this says about either team, but the Lakers look like they could be rounding into form.  Hopefully not, but they might be. 
• Rockets over Bulls in a game that was over in the first quarter (20-18 from Asik?!).  Didn't watch. 
• Clips with win #13 on the hop.  Magic called them Showtime, and they have the best record in the L.  They are not to be taken lightly.  As I said, probably the only team challenging the Thunder and Heat for the top 2 spots.