Wade may delay the surgery till after the playoffs, and may opt for a continued rehabilitation of his shoulder. But this could be risky, and it might backfire. One bad fall, and Wade’s career may be in jeopardy. I suggest, same as what Lebron James suggested, that Wade sit out the rest of the season, and undergo surgery now.

With Wade coming down, so do the hopes of the Heat repeating as champions. Let it be remembered that the man called “The Flash” single-handedly brought back the team to life in the Finals against Dallas, he, by his lonesome, brought the first ever NBA Championship to the city of Miami. Currently, they are gunning for the eighth and final seed of the East, gutting it out against New Jersey, Orlando and even New York. With Miami struggling this season, and with Wade carrying most of the load, the chances of Miami defending their title are very very slim, so do their chances of carving a backdoor way to the postseason wars. If ever they make it, there is a big possibility that they will face Detroit in the first round, and the Pistons are tough opponents. Their starting five is easily one of the best in the NBA. And without Dwyane, Miami isn’t that dangerous anymore.

I hope Wade makes the right decision. Miami should not risk Wade’s grave injury. The Heat will have to do without their superstar, and salvage every chance of competing well in the playoffs. They still have an outside chance of making it to the top four as they are only down 3.5 games behind the Washington Wizards in the Southeast Division. The other players like Jason Williams, Jason Kapono, James Posey and Shaquille O’Neal must bring their game to the highest level possible to compensate for Dwyane’s loss. They should, or it will be an early summer vacation for them.

Joe Cool is averaging 25.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1 steal and shoots 47.3% from the field in 40.9 minutes, while Rip norms 21.8 points, 3.9 caroms, 3.9 dimes, just 0.8 steal and shoots a lower 46.8% from the field. Detroit may lead the Eastern Conference, but he gets a lot of help from Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Chris Webber and Tayshaun Prince. All these guys are veterans and they’ve got rings. Johnson, meanwhile, has young guns to assist him. Josh Smith, Josh Childress, Shelden Williams, Marvin Williams, Salim Stoudemire and Zaza Pachulia are athletic players, but they still need experience. The Hawks may be in 11th place but they are out of the cellar, the spot that they’ve been for the past seasons.

In a game against Phoenix three nights ago, Johnson scored 17 of his 32 points in the final quarter, and single-handedly beat the Nash-less Suns. Phoenix was dealt their second defeat against an Eastern team, both at home, the other one against Washington. Now, how can you miss a guy like that. Clearly, he is Atlanta’s franchise player. And an established franchise player has to be in Vegas with his fellow stars.

The Mavericks have had two 13-game winning streaks. And my Phoenix Suns had a 15-game winning streak, and they are on their way to their second 15-game spurt, if they win against New York tonight.

If the last two games are of any indication, the Suns blasted both the Minnesotta Timberwolves and the Washington Wizards. The Kevin Garnett-less Wolves fell by as much as 36 before bowing down 102-131. Then the Suns exacted sweet revenge on the Wizards, who halted their previous winning streak, 127-105. No 54 points from Arenas on this one.

The Suns could have easily worked on a 30-game winning roll right now if not for their two close losses. They started at 3-6 and it was uphill after that. They lost to the Wizards in double OT, where they arrived just two hours before a game due to a Denver blizzard. Steve Nash could have easily won the game for them in regulation, but he missed the potential game-winning three pointer. Then, Dirk Nowitzki hit the buzzer-beating jumper over Boris Diaw with 0.1 seconds remaining to lift Dallas to a 101-99 win. Those two games could have easily gone in their favor if not for two crucial shots which went the other way around.
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They have been called many names lately, but what amply fit them are the labels, “Streak Busters” and “Giant Slayers.” Yes, they have been breaking streaks as of late, and not just any four-game winning streaks, but huge ones.

For instance, when the Dallas Mavericks have gained confidence, placing things together, and have bounced back from a horrible 0-5 start. They went on a blistering 13-game tear, and went ahead of the erstwhile league-leaders Utah Jazz. Then they faced Gilbert Arenas and the Washington Wizards. Arenas immediately wore his invisible “superman” jacket, scoring a season-high 60 to put a halt to the Mavericks 13-game fiesta.

Then came the Phoenix Suns, who also rebounded from a disappointing 1-5 opening, then went on to win a franchise-record 15 straight games. But then again, they went face-to-face with Arenas and the Wizards. And with a little help from a snow storm which rendered the Suns unprepared, Arenas put on a magnificent show, pouring in 42, and hitting the big banked three-pointer to give the Wizards the win in overtime, again halting the Suns’ 15-game run.

Phoenix and Dallas were on huge double-digit streaks, and both of them are giant teams. They dueled in a six-game Western Conference Finals postseason war. They are currently the top two teams in the league. Even giants as they are, they still fell prey to the mighty Wizards.

Well, the Wizards aren’t that spectacular really. They just happen to slay giants, but they also lost to struggling teams. In their last five games, the Wizards lost to Milwaukee and Toronto. And one big factor is, as always, Arenas. Arenas is a single-man wrecking army. He can win games for you, and lose them too, all by his lonesome. They lost to the Cavaliers by a single point thrice in last year’s first round. Arenas missed four crucial free-throws at that. Much to every Wizard fan’s disappointment.

But Arenas is carrying the load for the Wizards this year, which will continue to be this season’s dark horse. Their goal is no less than the Eastern Conference Finals! And he has recently been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week. After a poor 0-7 start, the Wizards are fifth in the East at 19-14, and second in the Southeast, just behind Orlando’s 21-14. They have won seven of their last ten games. Arenas is averaging 30.6 points and shooting 39.3% from rainbow country, (hitting at least 2 an outing).

If Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison will join Arenas in the offensive fray, and Brendan Haywood, Darius Songaila and Etan Thomas will hold their own in the paint, the Wizards will be one of the big surprises this season. Perhaps, even the biggest surprise, especially in the postseason.

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Gilbert Arenas played his second-best game this season (after pouring 60 in Los Angeles), scorching the Suns with 54 points on 21-of-37 from the field and 6-of-12 from the three-point region, including a banked a three-pointer with 30.7 seconds left in overtime to break a tie, and eventually led the Wizards to a 144-139 victory over the formerly streaking Suns in Phoenix!

Caron Butler also had a big game, scattering 10 of his 34 points in overtime.

Phoenix had to rally from 15-points down late in the third quarter to knot the count after regulation. Steve Nash matched his career-high of 42 points, including seven made threes, and added 12 assists to lead the Suns. Shawn Marion added 28 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

Obviously, being snowed-in in Denver for the past two nights did not help the Suns. They were in a bus for three hours before embarking on a plane to American West Arena. They arrived just two hours before tip-off, and were not able to prepare and freshen up. Their “smelling not at their best” clearly affected their game, and Arenas did not cooperate in the Suns cause as he was smoking hot right from the start. (pic courtesy of yahoonba.com)

But the biggest story is seeing a glimpse of what Italian forward Andrea Bargnani, this year’s number one pick over-all, can do. Regarded as the next Dirk Nowitzki, Bargnani shot all two of his three-pointers, and hit 3-of-6 field goals, to score eight points in his first ever NBA-game. The former Beneton Treviso forward has been compared to Nowitzki for their same style of play. Also standing at 7-feet, he can put the ball on the floor and hit the outside shot with consistency. He averaged 11.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 21.7 minutes at the Italian league last season. He also shot a high 57.8 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from beyond the arc. However, he was plagued with five fouls in the game, which limited his minutes to just thirteen.

Washington appeared to have the game wrapped-up in the early goings after leading 28-14 at the end of the first quarter. But reserve guard Fred Jones came-off the bench, who scattered 17 points, and sparked Toronto to a 35-16 scoring spree in the second quarter. The Raptors led 49-44 at halftime.

Chris Bosh added 14 points for Toronto. Newly-acquired center Rasho Nesterovic was a non-factor. He didn’t score a single point, had only three rebounds and no shot blocks in just 13 minutes.

Gilbert Arenas paced Washington with 29 points. (pics courtesy of nba.com)