REVENGE GAME
: Miami-Cleveland wasn't a great national TV game, but it was different from what you expected. The Heat had their way with the Cavaliers, building an 18-point halftime lead and not looking back from there. LeBron James looked a step slow against his former team, and Dwyane Wade was phenomenal.
Wade put up 32 points on 13-for-18 shooting in 31 minutes, with five steals. He really doesn't get enough credit for how well he's played this season. It's understandable that fewer people are paying attention to his team now, but he's really been brilliant. Especially as of late.
Goran Dragic chipped in with 20 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Wade could have had the assist of the year if Dragic had finished this layup:
Hassan Whiteside (16 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks) was the best big man on the floor, and he showed off his footwork and touch when matched up with Kendrick Perkins in the first half.
Miami had a whole ton of fun while dealing James a 106-92 loss. Chris Andersen got a little bit too excited at one point:
The Heat are now 30-36, which is identical to the Celtics' and Pacers' records. That's some race at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
BOOOOOO
: When James (26 points on 8-for-19 shooting, four assists, two boards) dunked in the fourth quarter, the Miami crowd let him have it.
MOZZY!
: The best Cavs dunk wasn't even from James. It was from Timofey Mozgov, off a Kyrie Irving pass.
PHOTO OF THE NIGHT: That dunk. 
ALLEY-OOP OF THE NIGHT
: J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert had a much better one when they returned to Madison Square Garden, but this was still pretty cool because one-handed alley-oops are always cool:
GAME OF THE NIGHT: Miami and Cleveland was big, narrative-wise, but there wasn't a better battle than the one between the Mavericks and Thunder. This went down to the final seconds, with both teams looking unstoppable at times. Dallas ended up with a 119-115 win, with Chandler Parsons scoring 31 points on 10-for-14 shooting.
The Thunder led by 15 a few minutes into the second half, and then the Mavs caught fire. They outscored OKC 39-29 in the third quarter, with Dirk Nowitzki scoring 13 points in the period without missing a shot. Rajon Rondo had 11 points and 13 assists, and Tyson Chandler was great defensively even though his stat line wasn't at all impressive.
For Dallas, this follows a 30-point win over the Clippers. The Mavs are fifth in the West, two games behind Houston and half a game ahead of both the Spurs and the Clips. Perhaps we shouldn't write this team off.
Rajon Rondo says Rick Carlisle called him into the coach's office before the game and quizzed him on the offense. Rondo passed the test.
— Earl K. Sneed (@EarlKSneed) March 17, 2015
THIS IS GETTING INTERESTING: The Thunder don't have much room for error as they try to hold onto the eighth spot in the West, especially with Serge Ibaka now out with a knee injury. In a vacuum, losing in Dallas isn't something to get worked up about, but OKC missed a hell of an opportunity here. Russell Westbrook had 24 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and four steals, and those numbers don't even stand out anymore for him. Enes Kanter had 19 points and 13 rebounds; Mitch McGary had 12 and 13 in limited minutes. If the Thunder could have just slowed down the Mavericks a little bit in the third quarter, they would have won. Instead, their lead over the Pelicans is down to just half a game.
MCJECTED: Chandler saw McGary coming a mile away here. You sort of had to feel bad for the rookie.
DUNK OF THE NIGHT: WHOA PARSONS! But I wonder what would have happened if Ibaka was standing in the paint.
SHOT OF THE NIGHT: There are quick releases, and then there's this thing that Anthony Morrow did.
WHAT A WIN FOR WASHINGTON: So, yeah, the Wizards led by as many as 25 points and then let the Blazers come all the way back to make it a one-possession game in the fourth quarter. Oh, and Portland was on a back-to-back. Whatever -- a 105-97 victory over the Blazers is huge for Washington. The first half was the best this team has looked in a long time. The ball was moving, John Wall was rolling and Rasual Butler was dunking.
Wait, what? Rasual Butler was dunking?
Wow, OK. Rasual Butler was dunking.
Wall had 21 points, 11 assists, nine rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Bradley Beal had 23 points and seven assists, shooting 8-for-13 from the field. The Wizards held Portland to 40.4 percent shooting from the field and 8-for-28 from the 3-point line. They have to feel fantastic about this.
BETTER THAN BUTLER?: Which Washington veteran had the more awesome dunk, Butler or Nene?
THE WAR CONTINUES: Less than 24 hours after his altercation with The Raptor, Robin Lopez went after G-Wiz.
You can’t diss @rolopez42 and walk away scot-free. pic.twitter.com/Ti2kqNLLcK
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) March 16, 2015
Twice.
WATCH OUT: Wall got friendly with a bunch of Wizards fans, trying to chase a loose ball late in the fourth quarter. This is some serious air.
Washington is in fifth place, by the way, trailing the Bulls by half a game and the Raptors by one game. Speaking of Toronto ...
LINE OF THE NIGHT -- KYLE LOWRY: It was really weird to see Kyle Lowry in a headband, but he should probably stick with it. The Raptors point guard had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, plus three steals in a 117-98 win in Indiana. This was Toronto at its best -- DeMar DeRozan got to the line 11 times, Lou Williams had 24 points off the bench, Jonas Valanciunas was solid at both ends -- and Lowry was in control the entire time. Nice bounceback game after the loss to the Blazers on Sunday.
SPUN: George Hill totally turned Patrick Patterson around on this spin move.
Paul George enjoyed it.
Hill had 23 points on 15 shots for the Pacers, but didn't get enough help.
BLOWOUT CITY: Toronto-Indiana and Miami-Cleveland weren't the only lopsided games on Monday. Boston led Philadelphia by as many as 27 in a 108-89 win (Tyler Zeller: 26 points, 11-15 FG!). The Nets led by as many as 21 in their 122-106 win over the extremely shorthanded Timberwolves (no Ricky Rubio, no Kevin Garnett, no Nikola Pekovic, no Gary Neal). The Jazz hit 11 3-pointers in a row against the Hornets, utterly dominating them 94-66 (Rodney Hood: 24 points, 9-11 FG, 5-5 3PT).
CLOSE CALLS: The Warriors and Hawks let bad teams hang with them, but did enough at the end to earn wins. Golden State beat the Lakers 108-105, while Atlanta defeated Sacramento 110-103. Ho-hum.
NO CHANCE: I love how Andre Iguodala looks over at Jeremy Lin after the point guard tried and failed to meet him at the rim.
BAZED GOD: Remember when Kent Bazemore couldn't shoot? He and the Hawks' player development staff have done a wonderful job reworking his form.
BOOGIE WOOGIE: DeMarcus Cousins had a 20-13-5-3-2 night against Atalnta, including a ridiculous finish on a secondary break in the third quarter. How is he that big and strong and agile?
I GUESS IT WORKED?: Denver sat Ty Lawson, Danilo Gallinari and Kenneth Faried against Memphis. This was a management decision. If the Nuggets are in tank mode, then the result was fine: they lost 92-81, though it should be noted that they trailed by only two points heading into the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies won despite shooting just 41.3 percent from the field.
