LAst Night's Action: Ho-Ho-Heat

Heat 101, Lakers 85 - Dwane Wade filled the Laker's stockings with 40 pieces of coal, errrr, points, and Kobe was about as useful as Rudolph on a sunny afternoon. In a game hyped by the NBA as a new Christmas tradition and hyped by commentators as a matchup of two top scorers, Miami took control early and never faltered. The Heat have now won three in a row against the Lakers on Christmas day. This victory was without former Laker Shaquille O'Neal (injured), who called former coach Phil Jackson a "Benedict Arnold" in response to Jackson saying he wasn't "a worker."

Maybe none of the Lakers wanted to be workers on Christmas. After the game, Jackson admitted, "I told my coaches at halftime that I thought I would stay in the locker room and watch 'A Christmas Carol' and they could go out and do the rest of this game the way we were playing out there. I did not feel we were right from the opening tap in this game."

Elsewhere - Watching Wade-Kobe highlight videos is always a let down when you know there's plenty of footage of the Greatest Of All Time. He still gives us chills ... MLS soccer jerseys may start looking like the rest of the world ... UCLA is almost a unanimous #1 in hoops.

AP photo by Steve Mitchell