MIAMI — Udonis Haslem was flat on his back when he watched Derrick Rose’s potential game-tying floater descend toward the rim. As odd as it sounds, Haslem had no idea that Rose was the one who shot it.

“Once I went down, I didn’t even see what happened,” Haslem said.

Haslem may not have seen who shot the ball, but he did his job: stop Rose from getting to the rim. Rose ended up missing the shot and the Heat survived a close battle against the rival Bulls.

Many will remember the game because LeBron rode his bike to the arena, or that LeBron hurdled a standing NBA player, or that Rose missed two free throws, or that LeBron missed two free throws. Those are all important ingredients to a dramatic and bizarre win for the Heat, but don’t overlook the impact of Haslem’s gutsy defensive play in the final seconds.

With 9.9 seconds remaining in the game and down two points, the Bulls had possession of the ball. It was a sideline out-of-bounds play following a timeout and the Heat knew what was coming. The Bulls had already used the play many times this season, recently to beat the Hawks on a similar final possession earlier this month. The Heat did their homework before the game.

“They’ve won a lot of games with this one trigger and we wanted to make sure that we were prepared for that,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game.

Sunday’s play was slightly different than the ones that Spoelstra and the team studied. In that instance against the Hawks, it was Joakim Noah who dished to Luol Deng from the high-post for the go-ahead layup. But on Sunday, both of those players were on the bench as Deng sat out due to injury and Noah had already fouled out.

The personnel here is important because Carlos Boozer — who took the place of Noah — missed a golden opportunity to hit Rip Hamilton — who took the place of Deng — for an easy bucket after Hamilton cut to the rim. Instead of dumping it to Hamilton, Boozer hurried a pass out to Rose at the top of the key. As you can see, no one was near Hamilton as he cut to the rim.

But the Bulls still had a chance to make a shot — a good chance, actually, since Rose held possession of the ball at the top of the key for a pick-and-roll. The Heat struggled all game to keep Rose from penetrating through the lane throughout the game, but they were able to stop him when it mattered most.

How did they do it?

Before we get to the heady rotation from Haslem, we must first point out that Rose split the pick-and-roll coverage so sharply that it caused Bosh to slip on the floor trying to change direction. At that point, the Heat’s defense looked broken and vulnerable for yet another acrobatic finish by Rose at the rim.

“Once he turns the corner,” Spoelstra said, “All bets are off.”

Usually when Rose sees daylight in these situations, it’s over. But not this time. Haslem met him just beneath the free throw line, allowing Bosh to recover from his fall. Haslem had been shading off of Taj Gibson, who was standing just inside the perimeter.

“That is a veteran warrior who has the awareness, the quickness and the guts to make a read like that,” Spoelstra said of Haslem.

Haslem rotated to wall off the paint and impede Rose’s path. But he didn’t just slow down Rose; he stopped him in his tracks when he’d normally swerve around en route to the rim.

But notice who was wide open in the corner. That was Hamilton again as Wade roamed underneath the rim.

Like, wide open.

If this sounds familiar, there’s a reason. Last season in Chicago, the Heat were burned in a similar late-game situation where Rose kicked it out to Deng in the corner after penetration. Wade roamed too far underneath and Deng hit the game-winner from the corner.

This time, Rose didn’t kick it out to the corner shooter. Instead, he appeared to be thrown out of rhythm by Haslem’s rotation.

“I saw an open lane [for Rose],” Haslem said. “It looked like he was coming down the lane and with him being a superstar, I felt like he’s going to try to make the play to try to win the game.”

Interesting words from Haslem. This is where the macho, hero mentality that consumes our crunch-time conversation might actually be a disadvantage. Was Rose playing predictable basketball? Haslem banked on his intuition that Rose wanted to make the game-winning shot rather than make the game-winning pass. To be sure, Rose has made that pass before, but not on this occasion. Haslem’s feeling proved to be critical, as it allowed him to sag deep in the lane and make the stop.

Wade was right behind Haslem on the play. He, too, assumed Rose was going to penetrate and try to win the game.

“We knew the ball was going to be in his hands,” Wade said. “UD did a great job of stepping up, and making him change his mind on where he wanted to go.”

With Hamilton waiting in the corner and the clock winding down, Rose spun around on his pivot foot after his impact with Haslem, giving both Bosh and LeBron just enough time to contest the shot.

As Haslem crashed to the floor, Rose took his shot without a whistle blown by the referees. Haslem wanted the call, but it didn’t matter.

“Regardless of whether we thought it was a charge or not, it knocked him off his timing so he couldn’t get to the floater and couldn’t get to the rim,” Spoelstra said.

You’ll notice Shane Battier at the top of the key. He was glued to Kyle Korver on the perimeter. Battier couldn’t watch the play because he had his back to the ball. But he did see the play develop in his mind before he stepped out onto the floor; Spoelstra drew it up in the preceding timeout.

As one of the top charge-takers in the game, Battier knows a thing or two about when to take a charge. With the game on the line, do defenders like Haslem ever get that charge call with only a few seconds left?

“Never,” Battier said. “You have to commit an act of violence maybe involving an animal or something deviant for them to call a charge there.”

So if Haslem was never going to get the call, he was wrong to take the charge, right?

“See, that’s the misnomer,” Battier said. “The charge is effective because it puts doubt into the offensive player’s mind. Is the ref going to call it? No, but Rose stuttered and any doubt you create is a win for the defense.”

Of course, Rose’s shot attempt didn’t go in, thanks to the preparation of Spoelstra, the heads-up play from Haslem and of course, some luck. Rose had hit a bunch of those shots earlier in the game, but missed it when he needed it most.

“It’s a great shot,” LeBron said of Rose’s floater. “He just came up short.”

The New York Giants are set for a Super Bowl rematch against the New England Patriots in Superbowl XLVI thanks in part to defensive play maker Jason Pierre-Paul. He’s known for causing havoc on every football snap, but do you know what drives him to play so hard?

In an interview with ESPN he describes what his road to the NFL has been like as the interview focuses on the biggest fan and supporter he has.

His father happens to be that guy but he’s never seen his own son play because he’s blind. Watch his story here.

It’s no secret that the Los Angeles Lakers need some help at point guard, especially on the offensive end, and there’s one former All-Star on the free-agent market from L.A. who might be able to lend a helping hand.

Gilbert Arenas is waiting for a team to pick him up and put him back to work and the Lakers might be that team:

The Los Angeles Lakers have expressed interest in Gilbert Arenas, according to sources close to the situation. The 30-year-old is an unrestricted free agent after being amnestied by the Orlando Magic last month. No signing is imminent, but the Lakers have reached out to the veteran point guard.

League sources say that Arenas would love to join the Lakers. He grew up in Los Angeles and is interested in playing for his hometown team. -Source

Not too long ago, Agent Zero was easily one of the best guards in the league but that gun incident he was involved in when he was playing for the Washington Wizards has thrown his career way off track.

Since then he’s been traded, his role has been reduced from starter to back-up, and most recently he was cut under the new amnesty rule by the Orlando Magic. He’s not what he used to be, but if he can add some outside shooting to the roster, the Lakers should seriously consider giving him a shot.

He won’t have to join the team and be a hero, instead he’ll just be asked to play his role and knock down some shots. If he can do that, he can help Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol a lot, but if not he can keep waiting by the phone for another team to call.

The star among stars was Miami Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall.

He had 6 catches for 176 yards and 4 TDs as he led the AFC to a meaningless victory over the NFC.

The AFC set a Pro Bowl record with the 59 points they put on the scoreboard.

On the other side, Cam Newton played probably his worst game of the season. It was only a matter of time before he looked like a rookie right?

Check out the highlights:

We all know LeBron James has hops out f this world, but he still amazes with plays like this:

The Miami Heat went on to beat Derrick Rose and Chicago Bulls in their first meeting of this season.

Last year, former NFL superstar and NFL legend Lawrence Taylor was hit with six years of probation after soliciting an underage prostitute.

Earlier this week, in an interview on Showtime’s Inside the NFL show, Taylor addressed his 2010 arrest for unknowingly having sex with a 16-year-old prostitute.

Take a look:

We’ve reached Level 7 of Kobe Bryant’s #KobeSystem and in this one it’s Richard Branson who learns a valuable lesson.

So the moral of the video is….

Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. The bottom line in get yourself some Kobe’s to help his bottom line since Vanessa Bryant skipped all steps of the #KobeSystem and went straight to the bank..

After the Orlando Magic got embarrassed by one of the worst teams in the league, Dwight Howard called his teammates out in the media despite his uncertain future with the team.

The Magic had just gotten handled in the second half of their game against the Boston Celtics at home the night before, and that was just three days after the Celtics demolished them in Boston, and the team went out and lost to the New Orleans Hornets by 26.

After the game, Dwight called out the whole team:

ESPN: “I look at guys and they don’t look like they want to play.”

“I told them at halftime, ‘If you don’t want to play, just stay in the locker room, because it don’t make sense for a team who we should beat to just demolish us.’ ”

“If you don’t want to play, stay home. People work too hard. I want to win a championship. I work too hard every night for anybody to not want to go out there and play hard.

Big words coming from a player who might not be there in a few weeks. Where does he get the nerve to call out the team when he’s got one foot out the door already?

It’s clear he wants to win a championship and it’s also clear that he doesn’t think he can do that in Orlando. So as a teammate of his, why would I take heed to what this guy has to say?

Can you still lead a team you’ve already disowned? That’s like taking orders from a captain as he swims to shore so he doesn’t go down with the sinking ship.

While dropping some knowledge about raising your game to the next level in the latest installment of the #KobeSystem, rap icon Kanye West got a bit confused. Not to worry though Kobe Bryant, had it all under control.

The question here is, “Where do you go after you’ve achieved greatness?”

Watch below as Kobe answer that question for Yeezy:

You’re Welcome.

Oscar De La Hoya is still dealing with the after effects of a period of time in his life fueled by drugs. The former boxer is being sued by Angelica Maria Cecora for allegedly assaulting her in a hotel room orgy in March of 2011.

The woman is accusing De La Hoya of not only assault but battery, false imprisonment and emotional distress as well as a result of their sexual encounter.

According to Ms. Cecora, when the boxer tried to put it on her for a third time, he intimidated her when she refused.

She says…

“He should apologize. He came off as a nice, genuine person when I met him, but things got out of control. He took advantage of me in every possible way.” -Source

She’s not bringing up criminal charges because she says the sex was consensual. I say she’s not bringing up charges because there’s not much money in that.

She’s demanding $5 million and an apology for the whole ordeal.

$5 million!? Who does she think she is? His wife?!?

De La Hoya’s lawyer says…

 ”There has never been a more frivolous case. I’m embarrassed to have to argue this case.”

Guilty or not, this incident can’t be helping De La Hoya’s marriage get any stronger. You’ve got to feel for his wife as she continues to deal with the embarrassment of her husband’s actions.