Three Good

• Vlad Radmanovic: A scant twenty seconds into the game, Vlad Rad was on the board with a three pointer, a potential omen of breaking out of a funk deeper than anything James Brown ever brewed at his peak of his powers.  Said omen was not only confirmed, but beyond the ways we've often come to expect (or even settle for) when it comes to Half Pipe.  As one figures from a guy who's made his bones as a shooter, the guy's aim was pure. 6-10 from the field (including a quartet from downtown) for 18 points needed equally for the sake of Vlad's team and his confidence.  But he also found success in ways not often associated with his career. Seven boards, a pair coming on the offensive glass.  Two steals.  And the biggest surprise of all, several spots of fairly good defense, whether challenging jumpers or a highlight-worthy moment blocking Chris Quinn's trey attempt from the corner. 
  
  Vlad's transition from "starter" to "DNP-CD" to "injury-pressed bench player" to "injury-pressed starter" has been anything but smooth, a period where Radmanovic has admittedly been frustrated with his situation and unhappy with his play.  It's been while since he's performed at the level we saw during the first six or seven games.  I asked Vlad if he felt tonight was arguably his best game of the season.  He took a modest outlook, choosing instead to focus on his three turnovers and a defensive lapse that allowed a late Daequan Cook three.  But all in all, he was happy with his time on the court.  Him and everybody else, I would imagine.
  
• Andrew Bynum: To say the least, Miami isn't equipped with interior players capable of handling a seven footer of Drew's skill set.  To say the least, the Lakers recognized that and made the Heat pay. Bynum tied his season-high mark with 24 points, along the way reducing overmatched center Joel Anthony into a mere spectator (the starting pivot didn't even play nine full minutes) and taking advantage of the time spent with tough but undersized Udonis Haslem on his back.  Aware that he could bust out a full bag of tricks, Drew put the ball on the floor, in the air- that mid-range shot looks more comfortable by the game- and generally dazzled on the offensive end.  His six boards didn't exactly set the world on fire, but he managed to pick his spots along those lines.  With 18.5 seconds to go, he snagged a Kobe Bryant miss for a putback, giving his team a 104-102 lead.  They never trailed again.
• Kobe Bryant's D on Dwyane Wade:  Like we mentioned in the video, this wasn't a game that'll threaten "81" as Kobe's offensive time capsule moment.  But on the other side of the ball, dude more than made his presence known guarding D-Wade.  And by "guarding," I mean "making the dude bust ass to get his."  Feverishly working to deny Wade the ball, Kobe would often stay with #3 all over the court until the end of possessions like an evil shadow.  Even when Sir Charles' co-pitchman found success, it was rarely without an awful lot of sweat expended.  Take, for example, a second half sequence where Wade eventually reached the rim for a layup, but only after needing to shake Kobe twice.  27 points, but on a not terribly economical 22 attempts, with only ten falling.  Even more impressively, Flash only took seven tries at the stripe, indicative of Kobe's ability to find success without fouling.   All in all, Wade went 5-17 with Kobe on the floor and 4-5 with him on the bench.  That's a pretty remarkable discrepancy. 
  
  Phil Jackson talked after the game about the long rest he gave Kobe in the fourth quarter, concerned over (and admiring) his star's zealous effort while guarding his counterpart A-Lister.  "I hesitated to play Kobe too many minutes because he was working really hard defensively.  I held on as long as possible before putting him back in the fourth so he could finish the game."  For his part, Kobe treated this duty as another day at the office.  "Part of my responsibilties to this team is to try to do whatever it takes on any given night to ensure victory for out ball club," said Kobe. "That includes chasing him around."  A pretty matter of fact way of describing a pretty difficult task.  Thankfully, Kobe was up for it. 

AK

Three Bad: Not to be a softie, but it's a tough night to fill all three holes.  Yes, the defense wasn't outstanding, but as I've written over the last week, it's hard for LA to play like a cohesive unit on that end given all the changes in the rotation.  For the time being, success for the opposition should be taken with a grain of salt.  And as we mentioned in the vid at the top, just about everyone figured out how to contribute in one form or another. So with that in mind...

• Trevor Ariza: He hasn't been here much, if at all, this year, but Sunday night just wasn't his.  1-4 from the floor for two points, leaving him one short of his turnover total.  He played a season low 14 minutes, and probably would like to forget each one of them.  Everyone has off nights, and Ariza's does more to reinforce how well he's played this season than anything else.
• Kobe's Mug: It took 24 a few extra minutes to get out of the locker room, because he was busy getting stitches- four in total- over his right eye thanks to a head-to-head collision with Wade as the Flash tried to drive for what could have been a game tying shot with about 10 seconds left.  Nothing serious, but there was definitely a little puffiness, and plenty of thread.  You can get a good look in the video below. 
• Pregame Meal: "Make your own Reuben!" is a better idea in theory than in practice. 

BK

AUDIO

VIDEO: Kobe, Part I, on defending Wade, pumping up LA's defense:

Kobe, Part II, on how he got the cut over his eye, and more on playing against Wade:

Vlad Radmanovic, on a big bounce back game: