Tickets have already been selling for Monday’s game 1 at the American Airlines Arena. The Celtics have just hours to get ready.

Boston will have a chance to show if it do in the playoffs what it did in the regular season, when it beat the Heat 3  to 1.

The last of those meetings was in the final game of the season and came on a night where LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all sat out for Miami, while Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen got the evening off for Boston.

The lineups will look more normal Monday, though Bosh will remain sidelined because of a strained lower abdominal muscle.

“Let’s do it,” Garnett said Saturday night, just before leaving the floor after Boston’s win.

It’ll be a quick turnaround for Boston, with Game 1 in Miami starting about 46 hours after Game 7 against the 76ers ended. The Heat finished off their East semifinal series against Indiana on Thursday night, took Friday off and held a light practice Saturday — focusing on themselves and not starting to work in details either the Celtics or the 76ers.

“We’ll be well-prepared,” Heat forward LeBron James said Saturday, before Boston and Philadelphia settled their series. “Our coaching staff will put us in position to win ballgames.”

The Heat ousted the Celtics in last year’s East semifinals, doing so in five games. Boston topped Miami in five games in the opening round of the 2010 playoffs, the last series the Heat played before obtaining James and Bosh to play alongside Wade.

James also faced Boston in the 2010 playoffs, the end of that series marking his final time in a Cleveland uniform before deciding to join the Heat. He was planning to watch the Boston-Philadelphia game at home Saturday night, then get into his usual game-preparation mode Sunday.

“There’s enough time for us to get ready,” Wade said.

Having only one day to get ready would make it seem like both sides would be signing up for a cram session, but it’s not like there’s going to be any real secrets on either side. James, for example, has already played the Celtics 48 times in his career, the last 44 of those coming since Doc Rivers took over as Boston’s coach.

“I mean, I’ve played Boston enough with Doc Rivers at the helm and those guys, they don’t change,” James said. “They shouldn’t change. They’ve been successful. They won’t change.”

The Heat erased a 2-1 deficit in their series with the Pacers, eventually winning in six games with James and Wade combining for 197 points in Miami’s final three victories.

Miami clearly hopes some of that momentum carries over to Monday night.

“The most important thing is us playing to our identity,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We improved the last three games. We were able to play our type of game, to defend and rebound. We did a much better job of that the last three games, and then played at a pace that was more appropriate for us. We were able to score more points that way, but more important get the type of actions that we like.”

That was the extent of his celebrating after the Miami Heat ousted the Indiana Pacers.

A return to the Eastern Conference finals — no small achievement by any measure — is nice, though it’s far from the oft-stated goal for the reigning NBA MVP and the Heat. They’ll host Game 1 of the East title series on Monday night against either Philadelphia or Boston, both of those teams having been ousted from last year’s playoffs by Miami in five games.

“You can’t just show up, no matter who you’re playing against,” James said Saturday, when the Heat resumed practice after taking one day off to rest up and recover from a grind against Indiana. “We have to prepare the same way we’ve done the first two rounds — and even prepare ourselves even more. As the rounds go, the competition grows, so we look forward to the challenge.”

The way James sees it, there’s not a lot of reason for celebration yet. After all, he’s not wearing the letters VIII across his upper teeth.

Over the past couple seasons, James has worn mouthguards with fangs, others with the Heat logo, and some with no adornments whatsoever. For these playoffs, he’s broken out something new: A mouthguard embossed “XVI.”

It doesn’t take much to decipher what those Roman numerals are supposed to signify. It’s 16, the number of wins that the Heat would need to capture the NBA championship. Miami has the first eight of those out of the way, but in this all-or-nothing season for the Heat, that’s far from enough to satisfy anyone. Beating New York brought one or two quick moments of excitement, as did topping Indiana, but neither provided the ultimate moment.

“The first year in Cleveland, when we beat Washington in that first-round series, it was an achievement for not only myself and my teammates but for our franchise, which hadn’t been to the playoffs in a long time,” James said. “Those days are over. My aspiration is to go win a championship now. So those days are over.”

They’ve been over for a while, of course. And as if anyone needed any reminder of the goal, James started wearing the “XVI” mouthguard. The idea came from Mike Mancias, a trainer who has worked with James for years, first in Cleveland and for the past two seasons with the Heat.

“We always look for inspiration throughout the playoffs and throughout the season to just kind of get me going,” James said. “He knows that I’m a big Gladiator fan, of course Maximus, the Roman numerals, all that stuff. So that’s where the inspiration came from. Sometimes I say I want something, sometimes Mike surprises me with a lot of it. I like that. I like the inspiration.”

Of course, the main source of inspiration remains the championship trophy.

Saturday was essentially a tuneup day for the Heat, given that they couldn’t exactly plan for an opponent because Game 7 of the Celtics-76ers series was still hours from tip-off.

Miami practiced again without All-Star forward Chris Bosh, who remains sidelined indefinitely because of a lower abdominal strain that kept him out of the final five games of the Indiana series. Bosh has been able to resume some light conditioning work, but his return to the court hardly sounds imminent.

“For me, it’s my responsibility right now to prepare this team without him,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “If and when it gets to a point where he starts to emerge into the picture, we would gladly deal with that, because we’re a more dangerous offensive team, a more dangerous defensive team when he’s in the mix. But for our mental state of health, I love you Chris, but our preparation is without him.”

Without Bosh, James and Dwyane Wade predictably were asked to do more, and responded.

Wade scored 99 points in the final three games of the Pacers series — all Miami wins — while James scored 98 points in those games. James finished the six games against the Pacers with 65 rebounds, his most ever in a postseason series, topping the 60 he grabbed in a seven-game matchup with Detroit in 2006. And Spoelstra isn’t shy about suggesting that the Heat need Wade and James to stay at that level to keep winning, saying Saturday what happened in the last three games against Indiana “has to be the norm.”

Wade and James indicated they welcomed that.

“You prepare to go out there and try to play at a high level,” James said. “Does it always happen that way? It doesn’t. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in for you. We’re not just shooting all layups. We’re also making jumpers and floaters and things of that nature. He said the right thing. He said the right thing to just keep us on our toes and let us know we can’t have a relaxed moment.”

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

It was a tape-measure homer off a pitch from San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum. The ball got closer and closer to the animated statue, and then, suddenly, popped it on the site, the first homer to hit the million dollar home run celebration machine.

The Giants could only watch as the animated sculpture sprung into motion.

“That thing is crazy,” left fielder Melky Cabrera said through an interpreter. “You never expect to see it, especially at a ballpark. It’s pretty sweet.”

The home run was the 10th this month for Stanton, and his 11th of the season. The estimated distance was 409 feet.

Stanton broke a section of the left-field scoreboard with a long home run Monday. He has five homers this month in the Marlins’ new ballpark, despite the vast dimensions in the outfield.

“He’s a good hitter,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “There’s not a park that’s going hold him, I don’t care what they say about this park.”

Stu Jackson, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations announced Friday that Spoelstra has been fined $25,000, “for critical public comments about how the Miami/Indiana playoff series was being officiated.”

The league did not specifically say they fined Spoelstra for the comments about the fouls, but the timing makes it likely.

“The league does not have a problem with hard fouls on our two main guys,” Coach Spoelstra said. “In nine games now, there’s been over a dozen hard fouls to the face, some of the tomahawk variety, some have drawn blood. They don’t have a problem with so don’t have a problem with it. We’ll focus on what we can control.”

Haslem fouled Indiana Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough hard in Game 5 after Hansbrough had a flagrant foul against Miami’s Dwyane Wade. While Haslem’s flagrant foul was upped and he was suspended, Hansbrough will be allowed to play in pivotal Game 6 Thursday night.

“I mean, Hansbrough, it’s not the first time he’s gone after one of our players this year,” Heat forward LeBron James said. “We have two guys suspended and basically they have no one suspended.”

Pacers president Larry Bird seemed to indicate the Pacers would play even harder and more physical when he said after Game 5 the team was soft. Still, LeBron and Wade have said that attempts to get into their heads with hard or flagrant fouls aren’t working.

Still, as ESPN.com reported, the NBA has assigned a veteran crew of referees to Game 6 and all of them have reputations for being more than willing to throw a player out of a game in a heartbeat.

While Spoelstra’s words may cost him a bit, it could be part of his plan to try and finally get the officials on the Heat’s side. The Heat will need a lot of help because even though Haslem and Pittman are out, they can’t dress extra players to fill those spots; so two players will be inactive in Game 6 and two spots will be open.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Miami Herald contributed to this report.)

Coghlan, who has shuttled between the Marlins and the minors since winning the NL Rookie of the Year award in 2009, was batting .104 when he hit his first home run since last June 11.

San Francisco’s Melky Cabrera, who came into the game leading the majors with 67 hits, pulled his third homer of the season just inside the right field foul pole. He also tripled, but struck out against Steve Cishek with a runner at second to end the game.

Giancarlo Stanton became the first player to hit the Marlins’ home run sculpture when he connected against Lincecum (2-5).

The Giants’ right-hander gave up six runs in 5 2-3 innings, which hiked his ERA to 6.41. He’s 0-3 in his past five starts.

The Marlins improved to 17-7 this month, best in the majors, and broke the franchise record for victories in May.

Struggling Miami closer Heath Bell entered the game to start the ninth with a 7-4 lead but got only one out and blew a save for the fifth time in 12 chances. Cishek came on with runners at second and third and one out, and after Brandon Crawford hit a sacrifice fly to make it 7-6, Cabrera was called out on a 3-2 pitch.

Cishek earned his first save in three chances. Dan Jennings (1-0) pitched a perfect sixth for his first major league win hours after being recalled from Triple-A New Orleans.

The Giants outhit Miami 14-7 but went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

Miami starter Josh Johnson gave up nine hits and three runs in five innings. He remained winless in six career starts against San Francisco.

The Giants’ Omar Infante went 0 for 4 with an RBI groundout on the anniversary of his season-ending leg injury suffered in a home-plate collision against the Marlins last year.

Lincecum took a 3-1 lead into the sixth but failed to make it through the inning. Omar Infante led off with a double and scored on a single by Stanton. After the Marlins loaded the bases, John Buck’s sacrifice fly tied the game.

Coghlan then pulled an 0-1 pitch over the fence, pounding his chest with his fist as the ball landed in the right field seats. That ended Lincecum’s night.

Despite his struggles, Lincecum hadn’t given up a homer in 50 1-3 innings until Stanton connected in the fourth inning. The ball landed in the base of the sculpture for the Marlins’ first run. Center fielder Angel Pagan ran out of room near the 418-foot sign and could only watch as the animated sculpture sprung into motion.

The home run was the 10th this month for Stanton, and his 11th of the season. It was the first of his career from the cleanup spot, where he began the season before being dropped in the order when he started slowly.

The Giants scored in the first when Pagan singled and later came home on a double play. They went up 2-0 in the second on singles by Gregor Blanco, Crawford and Pagan.

It all started earlier this week, when UM was among three schools mentioned by TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte as trying to get into the Big XII Conference. The other two schools, Florida State and Clemson have openly flirted with joining the Big XII Conference.

Friday, UM’s Twitter feed said “The Miami Hurricanes are committed to the ACC.” The school also issued a statement from University of Miami athletic director Shawn Eichorst who said the school is committed to the ACC and “we have not engaged in any formal or informal discussions with any other conferences.”

We are so fortunate at Miami. Our University, under past and present visionary leadership and with an 87-year history of achievement, is strong in our foundation and in our beliefs. It allows us to stay steady when there are stormy seas, and that core strength holds us together today more than ever.

The full statement can be seen below.

UM had never been mentioned in the chaos that erupted a few years ago when the Big Ten Conference first broached adding another member school. Since then, multiple schools have left other conferences and found new homes in conferences that aren’t necessarily geographical fits.

The schools that have changed conferences include:

• Nebraska University to Big Ten
• University of Missouri to SEC
• Texas A&M University to SEC
• Colorado University to Pac-12
• University of Utah to Pac-12
• University of Pittsburgh to ACC
• Syracuse University to ACC
• University of Central Florida to Big East
• University of Houston to Big East
• University of Memphis to Big East
• Southern Methodist University to Big East
• Temple University to Big East
• Boise State University to Big East
• Navy to Big East
• San Diego State to Big East
• Florida International to Conference USA
• University of North Carolina-Charlotte to Conference USA
• Louisiana Tech University to Conference USA
• University of North Texas to Conference USA
• Old Dominion to Conference USA
• University of Texas at San Antonio to Conference USA
• Texas Christian University to Big XII
• West Virginia University to Big XII

UM’s Full Statement of Support to the Atlantic Coast Conference

“We are so fortunate at Miami. Our University, under past and present visionary leadership and with an 87-year history of achievement, is strong in our foundation and in our beliefs. It allows us to stay steady when there are stormy seas, and that core strength holds us together today more than ever.

Since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004, the University of Miami has worked hard to measure up to the high academic and athletic standards set by our peers and we could not be more proud than to call the ACC our home. We are confident in our progress and in our accomplishments, yet there is still much work to be done. We are committed to the ACC and to doing our part to continue the tradition of excellence across the board. In that regard, we have not engaged in any formal or informal discussions with any other conferences.

The additions of the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University, as well as the new exclusive television partnership with ESPN, signal the very strength and nationwide appeal of the ACC. Fans will be able to watch more ACC sports and more ACC games in more ways than ever before with the most powerful brand in sports behind us. This is an exciting time to be a part of the ACC and we are honored and humbled to be among its members.”

Miami Beach police said Smith was arrested on a bench warrant for not having a valid driver’s license.

Sgt. Bobby Hernandez said the 26-year-old was stopped Thursday night on Washington Avenue in South Beach. A routine search revealed the bench warrant and he was arrested.

Details were not immediately available on what led police to stop Smith about 8:30 p.m. but police have stepped up patrols on the beach as part of its strict enforcement and crowd control measures for Urban Beach weekend.

Hernandez said Smith was taken to the Miami-Dade County jail, where officials said he bonded out early Friday.

No attorney for was listed on jail records for Smith, whose legal name is Earl Joseph Smith.

Smith has played seven years in the NBA and spent part of last season in China before eventually signing with the Knicks.

For his career, Smith average 12.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. He scored 12 points against the Miami Heat in the Knicks’ final playoff game.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Kaddu was drafted with the 155th overall pick out of the University of Oregon. Kaddu has prototypical size for a 4-3 linebacker at 6’3”, 240 pounds.

He was a two-year starter as a member of the Ducks and pulled down 108 tackles, 10 sacks, and 20 tackles for loss over his career.

Kaddu will likely be fighting for backup playing time at linebacker as the starting linebackers for the Fins look set with Kevin Burnett, Karlos Dansby, Koa Misi, and Cameron Wake.

If Miami stay in a three linebacker formation, Wake will shift down to defensive end.

According to the Miami Herald, Emilio Bonifacio will have surgery on his injured thumb and miss the next 4-6 weeks of action. Bonifacio was originally placed on the 15-day disabled list, but will now be out until July.

The Marlins are losing outfielders at an alarming rate. Besides Bonifacio, the Marlins also placed outfielder Austin Kearns on the disabled list due to a strained hamstring.

Before the injury, Bonifacio was leading the majors in stolen bases with 20 out of 21 attempts, despite only hitting .268 on the season.

Regardless of who the Heat play, tickets went on sale Friday morning for the first two games of the series, which will be held at the AmericanAirlines Arena.

• Click here to buy tickets.

Because the Heat are the highest seed left in the Eastern Conference, they will have home court advantage until the NBA Finals.

The NBA released the schedule for the Eastern Conference Finals and Game 1 will be Monday at 8:30 p.m. Game 2 will take place at the AAA on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.

Then the Heat hit the road to either Boston or Philadelphia for Games 3 & 4. Game 3 will be held at 8:30 p.m. next Friday and Game 4 will be tipoff at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 3.

If Game 5 is necessary, it will be held at the AAA on Tuesday, June 5. Game 6 would be contested on the road on Thursday, June 7 and if a Game 7 is necessary, it will be Saturday, June 9.

Just days after LeBron lit up the Pacers for 40 points in Game 4, Wade one upped him in Game 6 by dropping 41 points and grabbing 10 rebounds against Indiana. Wade’s trouble started after Game 2 when his knee was drained. He played his worst playoff game in Game 3 and then exploded for the rest of the series.

But the story of the series was not as much about the Heat’s offense as it was the Heat’s completely stifling defense. Pacers power forward David West couldn’t get going throughout the series while he was being harassed by Shane Battier and saw double-teams.

Miami’s athletic advantage showed throughout as Joel Anthony and other players closed passing lanes before the Pacers big men could even see them. Despite having a massive size advantage in the middle with West and center Roy Hibbert, the duo couldn’t do anything against the Heat after Game 3.

In the final game, West and Hibbert shot well, but managed only 36 points and 13 rebounds. For comparison purposes, Wade and James scored 69 points and pulled down 16 rebounds while dishing out 10 assists and committing just six turnovers between them.

Over the course of the series, the Heat held the Pacers to nearly 10 points less than they averaged in the regular season and also cut their shooting percentage, rebounds, and assists levels from the regular season averages.

Still, Wade and James couldn’t do it alone, at least for a full game. In Games 4 and 5 Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers stepped up with big games to help out and in Game 5, Chalmers and Mike Miller combined for 27 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Joel Anthony, who will never be mistaken for a scorer, helped by contributing key points throughout the series when LeBron or Wade would drive into the lane and draw the Pacers’ big men.

When the Heat needed it most, the entire team followed the lead of Wade and James. Miami shot 53.9 percent in Game 6 and was 80 percent from the free throw line, a place that had been trouble for Miami in the first two rounds.

For the series, Miami shot 46 percent from the field, but Indiana’s defense frustrated the Heat in Game 3 and part of Game 4. Miami averaged 4 points less per game and 5 assists less per game than they did during the regular season. Additionally, Miami only managed to shoot 29 percent from behind the arc.

LeBron averaged 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists per game in the series. Wade contributed 26.2 points and five rebounds per game. The Heat’s next leading scorer was Mario Chalmers who averaged just a little less than 11 points per game.

Up next for the Heat will be the winner of Saturday night’s Game 7 between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics. Miami has dominated Philadelphia this season, but struggled mightily against the Celtics.

If Miami can get to the NBA Finals, it will face the winner of the Western Conference Finals between San Antonio and Oklahoma City.

Vogelsong (3-2) allowed three runs in 6 1-3 innings, which hiked his ERA to 2.50. The Giants had 22 runs in his previous seven starts.

The Giants came into the game leading the majors in stranded runners, but went 7 for 17 with runners in scoring position. Their run total and 15 hits were both season highs. Angel Pagan had four RBIs, while Cabrera raised his average to .362.

Giancarlo Stanton drove in three runs and hit another tape-measure home run for the Marlins. They began the night with the best record in the majors since May 1, but lost their second in a row.

Anibal Sanchez (2-3) gave up five runs in 5 1-3 innings, his shortest and worst outing this year. He had allowed a total of three runs in his four previous starts against the Giants.

A long, humbling night for the Marlins included a botched rundown, a throwing error, two wild pitches, 11 men left on base and one pratfall. First baseman Logan Morrison ducked and landed with an awkward flop to avoid being hit in the head by a throw home from right fielder Stanton.

The bizarre moment left both players laughing.

The game was tied at 1 when the Giants wiggled out of a rundown and went on to score four runs in the sixth. Gregor Blanco tripled and was briefly hung up on a grounder back to Sanchez, but he scrambled safely back to third when catcher Brett Hayes held the ball too long.

After a walk loaded the bases, Pagan hit a two-run double, another run scored on a wild pitch and Brandon Belt blooped an RBI single over a drawn-in infield to put the Giants up 5-1 and end Sanchez’s night.

The Marlins sometimes celebrate big hits by making a “lo viste” sign — a sideways V over one eye — and a grinning Pagan borrowed the gesture after he singled home a run in the fourth inning. Houston pitcher Wilton Lopez mocked the gesture when his team played the Marlins earlier this season.

Consecutive two-run doubles by Brandon Crawford and Cabrera in the eighth put the Giants ahead 12-3.

Stanton became the first player to homer into the beer garden beyond the 427-foot sign in left-center field some 50 feet above the playing field. It was his 10th homer this season and gave Miami a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

On Monday, a grand slam by Stanton knocked out a cluster of scoreboard lights. He had a shot at his third grand slam of the season in the fifth but fouled out to end the inning.

San Francisco’s victory came at the start of a four-game series. Miami swept three games in San Francisco early this month.

(© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Miami wrapped up the best-of-7 series and will face either Boston or Philadelphia in the next round starting Monday. Nothing less than an NBA title will make for a satisfying summer in South Beach.

Two series down, two to go.

The Heat rallied from an early 11-point deficit, riding the hot hand of Wade in the opening half. He scored 26 points by the break, tying Tim Hardaway’s 16-year-old franchise record for most playoff points in the first two quarters. James hit consecutive baskets with just over a minute remaining to close it out.

(© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Game 6 has the Heat looking to eliminate the Pacers without two starting caliber power forwards; against a Pacers team looking to stave off elimination and force a Game 7 Saturday night at the AmericanAirlines Arena.

The series has been extremely physical from both sides. Tyler Hansbrough has been flagged for a flagrant two foul in the series. Heat power forward Udonis Haslem has been suspended for Game 6 after a flagrant foul in retaliation against Hansbrough in Game 5.

But lost in the physicality of the play has been the other-worldly performance of Heat forward LeBron James and the re-emergence of Heat guard Dwyane Wade as his true running mate.

LeBron is averaging just over 30 points and just less than 12 rebounds per game. James is also contributing six assists per game and has shot 50 percent from the field against the Indiana Pacers.

Wade had arguably the worst playoff game of his career in Game 3 when he managed just five points and he was arguing with Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra. Since then, Wade has regained his footing and electrified the Heat’s offense alongside James.

Wade is averaging 23.2 points, four rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game in the Eastern Conference Semifinal series.

The series started off rough after star power forward Chris Bosh suffered a lower abdominal injury in Game 1 when he was fouled by Pacers center Roy Hibbert. In Bosh’s absence, Shane Battier has covered Pacers power forward David West and essentially shut him down for the most part in the series.

But, with Haslem out, Battier will be called on even more to defend West and help gain an edge on rebounding in Game 6. The Heat could also use another big game out of Mario Chalmers, who contributed 11 rebounds and 8 points in Game 5.

The Pacers came into the series ready to play physical and attack the Heat’s perceived weakness without a true big man on the roster. Things looked bleak after the Heat went down 2-1 after Game 3. But when Wade found his game, everything has started to click.

The Heat may have taken the upstart Pacers too lightly to start the series, but the respect has definitely been earned by the Pacers.

In some way, if the Heat can move on to the Eastern Conference Finals and Bosh can return to the lineup, the Pacers series, even if it goes to Game 7, may have been the best thing that could have happened to Miami.

The Heat look to eliminate the Pacers in Game 6 starting at 8 p.m. Thursday.

The NBA announced Thursday LeBron Jones was the top vote-getter for the 1st Team All-NBA team for 2012. The award comes after LeBron has already won the NBA MVP award and was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive team.

Joining LeBron on the first team were: Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, and Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul, according to Yahoo! Sports.

The second team consisted of: Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love, Lakers center Andrew Bynum, Clippers forward Blake Griffin, and Thunder guard Russell Westbrook.

LeBron’s running mate, Heat guard Dwyane Wade was selected to the third team All-NBA team. His squad includes: New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, Knicks center Tyson Chandler, and Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, according to Yahoo!

Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin said Wednesday that fans hoping for a quick decision on a starter will have to be patient.

“Hopefully, as we move through the OTAs and a portion of training camp and the preseason, we can get a good feel as to who has the best leadership quality and who’s the best fit for the team moving forward,” Philbin told ESPN, via profootballtalk.com.

So when will Philbin have a good idea of the starter?

“You’d love to have it done by after the second preseason game. Your third preseason game is when your first unit is going to get the vast majority of the snaps in terms of their preseason allocation. If it’s clear earlier, we’ll make a decision at that point in time, but I’d say by the third preseason game we’d like to have a unit established,” Philbin said.

The competition will be between Garrard, Tannehill, and last year’s starter Matt Moore. Garrard has the most starts and is a veteran presence the team could use, but he was completely out of football last year and has been injury prone.

Tannehill is the quarterback of the future and has a gun for an arm and great mobility, which is key in a West Coast offense. He knows nearly the entire playbook, but he’s having to adjust to the speed of the NFL, which can take even the best quarterbacks several months to learn.

Moore finished last season strong, leading the Dolphins to six wins along the way. He’s a journeyman quarterback who rallied a Dolphins team last year that was on the verge of completely collapsing when he became the starter.

Tannehill’s biggest adjustment will not only be to the speed of the NFL, but also the complexity of the NFL defenses. Tannehill played in the wide open Big XII throughout his college career, but now he will have to read complex coverages and go completely through his progressions.

Most believe Tannehill will not start, at least at the beginning of the season. If the Fins struggle, Tannehill will likely get the call at some point during the season to get his feet wet in preparation for being the full-time starter next season.

“The league does not have a problem with hard fouls on our two main guys,” Coach Spoelstra said. “In nine games now, there’s been over a dozen hard fouls to the face, some of the tomahawk variety, some have drawn blood. They don’t have a problem with so don’t have a problem with it. We’ll focus on what we can control.”

Haslem fouled Indiana Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough hard in Game 5 after Hansbrough had a flagrant foul against Miami’s Dwyane Wade. While Haslem’s flagrant foul was upped and he was suspended, Hansbrough will be allowed to play in pivotal Game 6 Thursday night.

“I mean, Hansbrough, it’s not the first time he’s gone after one of our players this year,” Heat forward LeBron James said. “We have two guys suspended and basically they have no one suspended.”

Pacers president Larry Bird seemed to indicate the Pacers would play even harder and more physical when he said after Game 5 the team was soft. Still, LeBron and Wade have said that attempts to get into their heads with hard or flagrant fouls aren’t working.

Still, as ESPN.com reported, the NBA has assigned a veteran crew of referees to Game 6 and all of them have reputations for being more than willing to throw a player out of a game in a heartbeat.

While Spoelstra’s words may cost him a bit, it could be part of his plan to try and finally get the officials on the Heat’s side. The Heat will need a lot of help because even though Haslem and Pittman are out, they can’t dress extra players to fill those spots; so two players will be inactive in Game 6 and two spots will be open.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Miami Herald contributed to this report.)

Even so, Troy Tulowitzki rated their 8-4 victory Wednesday over the Miami Marlins as significant.

“It’s just a big win for us,” he said. “It might sound stupid, but it was real big.”

Tulowitzki homered and drove in four runs to help Alex White earn his first victory this year, and the Rockies snapped a six-game losing streak.

White (1-3) had lost six consecutive starts since September. He gave up four runs in six innings.

The Rockies had lost 16 of 20 games in May. When they fell behind 3-0 in the second inning against Carlos Zambrano, they were on the verge of being swept for the second series in a row.

“If we go into an off day with two sweeps in a row, it’s tough to take,” Tulowitzki said. “Heads start to spin a little bit — ‘Jeez, this is going real bad.’ At least we look at our last game as a win. Is it where we want to be? No, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.”

The Rockies’ comeback came after they blew early leads of 4-0 and 3-0 in the first two games of the series.

“This game is crazy,” Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen said. “I love baseball. Pretty nice, huh? We’re up by three with Carlos on the mound, I’ve got a smile on my face.”

The Rockies’ 3-4 hitters led the rally. Carlos Gonzalez had two hits and two RBIs. Tulowitzki doubled home a run in the fourth and hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the fifth off Zambrano (2-3).

Tulowitzki hiked his average to a still-modest .268.

“I told him the stranger that’s hitting behind me is starting to look like Troy Tulowitzki,” Gonzalez said. “That’s what everybody’s been waiting for. I’m not even worried about him because I know he’s going to get hot and going to take care of us.”

Jose Reyes had two RBI singles for the Marlins. They managed only one baserunner in the final 5 1-3 innings, and Rafael Betancourt pitched a perfect ninth.

“This is the first time in several days when I had the chance to use the bullpen the way I wanted to,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said.

Zambrano allowed just five hits but seven runs in five innings. He walked three, and each led to a run.

“I didn’t have my best stuff,” he said. “The Rockies came in with a six-game losing streak. They were hungry today, and I was the bite.”

The result snapped a three-game winning streak for the Marlins, who began the night with the best record in the majors since May 1.

The Rockies trailed 4-3 before scoring four runs off Zambrano in the fifth. Ramon Hernandez led off with a walk, and consecutive singles by Marco Scutaro and Gonzalez scored the tying run.

Tulowitzki followed with his sixth homer for a 7-4 lead. With that one pitch, Zambrano gave up as many runs as he had allowed in his previous four starts combined.

Gonzalez hit a two-out RBI triple in the seventh.

“We’re going to score runs when those two guys in the middle of the order start putting things together,” Tracy said. “Then we have the opportunity of putting points on the board — some serious points on the board.”

Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton began the night with a career average of .349 against Colorado, but he went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. Hanley Ramirez went 0 for 2 with runners in scoring position and is batting .208 in those situations this year.

White gave up eight hits but only one walk. He improved his career road ERA to 6.80 in eight starts.

“I can’t beat myself,” he said. “I can’t put guys on base. That’s how I get in trouble. I had to trust my stuff and get it in the strike zone.”

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Haslem was suspended for Game 6 of the Miami-Indiana Eastern Conference semifinal series, a matchup where emotions boiled over in a runaway Heat victory on Tuesday night. The NBA also said Miami reserve center Dexter Pittman will miss three games in response to his flagrant foul against Indiana backup guard Lance Stephenson in the final seconds of Game 5.

Indiana’s Tyler Hansbrough was not suspended, although the league upgraded his foul against Miami’s Dwyane Wade to a flagrant-2 on Wednesday — which, if called that way during Game 5, would have brought an automatic ejection. Hansbrough struck Wade in the head, opening a cut over his right eye. Moments later, Haslem committed a flagrant foul against Hansbrough, clearly in response to the play against Wade.

So while Haslem sits Thursday, Hansbrough may play.

“It’s very disappointing, obviously,” Miami forward Shane Battier said Wednesday night. “But we’re a resilient group. … The verdict process is a mystery to players, and so we don’t get caught up in it. We can’t control it. We know the NBA’s going to do what they feel they need to do and we need to live with the consequences. So it’s really out of our hands, not worth getting riled up. We’re going to put together an effort that will make Udonis and Dexter proud.”

The Heat lead the series 3-2, after a 115-83 win Tuesday night in a game that had the three flagrant fouls on the court, accusations of dirty play afterward and finally with Pacers team president Larry Bird telling The Indianapolis Star that his team was “soft” in Game 5.

“I agree with his assessment. We did play soft,” Indiana’s Danny Granger said Wednesday. “We got smacked around. We got beat up, we got bullied, and we really didn’t respond well.”

Countered Miami’s LeBron James, the NBA’s reigning MVP: “He’s just trying to amp them up. That’s all. That’s all it is. He knows his team isn’t soft. But with them, with their backs against the wall at this point, he knows what he’s doing. He’s not the executive of the year for no reason.”

Pittman logged only six minutes in the playoffs anyway, his presence in the postseason barely noticed until he laid out Stephenson — who made at least one choke sign toward James earlier in the series — with a forearm to the chin and shoulder areas.

“Hard fouls are part of the playoffs,” Indiana coach Frank Vogel said Wednesday. “Fouls to the head have no place in this game, not by us, not by Miami, not by any other team in any other series. With all the concussion research that’s been going on over the last few years it’s a very serious matter and it just doesn’t have any place in the game.”

Wade sounded somewhat amused that Granger — who’s been whistled for three technicals in the series — was one of the Pacers suggesting Haslem and Pittman should be suspended. Wade and Granger have had words during the series.

“We’re not in here crying about the fouls,” Wade said. “They fouled us. … We’re moving on to Game 6. We’re not going to worry about what happened in Game 5. For us, it’s about moving forward.”

The Pacers may move forward without Granger, who sprained his left ankle in Game 5.

Granger was in flip-flops when Wednesday’s practice ended, saying he was on painkillers and anti-inflammatory medication. Stephenson, who had X-rays taken to rule out any fractures to his collarbone or shoulder areas, did not practice.

“In my mind, I’m going to play,” Granger said. “Elimination game, I have to play.”

Vogel sounded concerned, but optimistic.

“Very much hoping he’ll be available tomorrow,” Vogel said. “He’s a gamer. I’m thinking he’ll play. But his ankle’s pretty bad, so we’ll see.”

Vogel called Miami floppers before the series started, and it’s been gritty throughout. The teams combined to shoot 66 free throws in Game 1, and there have been a combined nine technicals and flagrants called in the four games since. Tension also increased after cameras caught Stephenson making a choke sign during Indiana’s Game 3 victory, and Juwan Howard confronting him about his antics before Game 4.

“It’s been a physical series, started by them,” Wade said.

And James said he doesn’t expect things to cool down when the Pacers try to save their season in Game 6.

“I always feel like in a playoff series or certain regular-season games that a team may be trying to go for me,” James said. “It’s happened. I’m not saying guys are playing dirty, but certain guys say, ‘You know, if you hard-foul LeBron, get him off the ball, he’ll stop being aggressive and things like that.’ I know when it’s happening and I see when it’s about to happen. I’m always in protect mode. I’ve been hard-fouled a lot.”

James said one of those situations happened in Game 5. Indiana forward David West — who left Tuesday’s game with what the team called a sprained knee, though he insisted Wednesday he was not hurt — took exception to a play where he was knocked backward, saying a Heat player fell into his knee. On that play, replays showed West was boxed out by Battier, but it appeared no one hit West in the knee area.

Not long afterward, West fouled James, who said he saw it coming.

“He was the one on the floor and I was the one still standing,” James said. “So I started laughing at that. But he tried to get me.”

West said on Wednesday that if Indiana wants to force a Game 7 in Miami, it simply needs to play better on both ends than it did on Tuesday night.

“You’ve just got to stand your ground. I think that’s the biggest thing,” West said. “It was unfortunate, the play at the end of the game on Lance. But we’ve just got to deal with it, man up, handle it — like I said, the best way you can, within the rules.”

(© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

During the game, Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough committed a flagrant foul against Heat star Dwyane Wade. A few minutes later, the Heat’s Udonis Haslem committed a flagrant foul against Hansbrough.

The worst foul of the night was by the Heat’s Dexter Pittman who threw a forearm into the chest and throat of Lance Stephenson. Of all the hard fouls, Pittman is the most likely to receive a suspension for his foul.

The Pacers agreed with Bird’s observation that they played soft in Game 5.

“I agree with his assessment. We did play soft,” said Pacers forward Danny Granger. “We got smacked around. We got beat up, we got bullied, and we really didn’t respond well.”

Granger continued, “I think he just called out what everyone else saw. We played a soft game. We didn’t play with the playoff intensity that we needed to win.”

Granger himself didn’t finish Game 5 after leaving with a sprained ankle in the third quarter. He joined power forward David West on the sideline, who also suffered a sprained knee. The Pacers hope both will be available Thursday night in Game 6.

For the Heat, they believed that Bird’s comments were just a way to try and spark the Pacers as they return home to Indianapolis for Game 6 against the Heat.

“He’s just trying to amp them up. That’s all. That’s all it is,” said Heat star LeBron James. “He knows his team isn’t soft. But with them, with their backs against the wall at this point, he knows what he’s doing. He’s not the executive of the year for no reason.”

The series started out on a sour note when Pacers coach Frank Vogel called the Heat “floppers,” meaning they try to sell fouls that may not necessarily be a foul. Granger has been whistled for three technical fouls and Stephenson made a choking gesture towards LeBron earlier in the series.

Granger spent part of Tuesday saying both Haslem and Pittman should be suspended for their fouls. It was a point D-Wade found almost amusing.

“We’re not in here crying about the fouls,” Wade said. “They fouled us. We’re moving on to Game 6. We’re not going to worry about what happened in Game 5. For us, it’s about moving forward.”

Losing Pittman wouldn’t be a big blow to the Heat. On the other hand, losing Haslem for one or two games could be the difference between the Heat moving on or going home. Haslem has just recently discovered his jump shot again and is filling the gap left by the absence of Chris Bosh.

As for Bosh, the Heat haven’t given any indication that he will be able to return for the current series, or an additional series, should the Heat advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Still, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said all of the talking about fouls and flopping was irrelevant to the task at hand.

“All the chatter and all the stuff, it’ll still end up being decided between the lines,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And it’ll be decided by the rules of the game.”

Both teams are traveling to Indiana Wednesday in preparation for Game 6 in Indianapolis Thursday night. If the series goes to a seventh game, it will be held in the AmericanAirlines Arena on Saturday night at 8 p.m.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

According to the Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds, LeBron received the most votes for the NBA’s All-Defensive first-team. LeBron, who was named the NBA’s MVP last week, was selected for the first-team by NBA coaches.

Joining LeBron on the NBA’s first-team All-Defensive team were forward Serge Ibaka, guard Chris Paul, guard Tony Allen, and center Dwight Howard, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.

In media voting for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, LeBron finished fourth.

During a morning speech on the campus of Texas Tech University, Del Conte said that the once left for dead Big XII Conference “now has schools like Florida State, Clemson, and Miami trying to get in,” according to redraidersports.com.

Del Conte also appeared on a sports talk radio show later and said, “Let’s not rush into anything. We know expansion has to happen. It may not be for a while. We are in the catbird seat right now,” according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

While Florida State’s interest in the Big XII has been public knowledge, Del Conte’s words were the first official confirmation on the record that FSU had looked to get into the Big XII. But the addition of Miami may catch Hurricanes fans off guard.

When FSU and UM entered the Atlantic Coast Conference, the ACC was looking to boost its football reputation and at the time FSU and UM were two key programs.

But as both programs began to decline, so did the ACC’s importance on the national college football scene. It was evident for several years and the rest of the league, outside of Virginia Tech, never raised its level of play to FSU and UM’s reputation.

Since the schools joined the ACC, FSU remains the only team from the conference to play for the national championship in the BCS era.

FSU officials have denied any interest in the Big XII, but the chairman of the board and former players have said the school should very much listen to what the Big XII has to offer.

From the Big XII’s point of view, adding FSU and UM would be a coup that could seriously undercut the reigning college football powerhouse conference, the SEC. The Big XII would have a geographic footprint that could secure Florida television revenue and the fertile Florida recruiting grounds for Big XII schools.

For FSU and UM, they would join a conference that is considered one of the power conferences in the country and routinely a top football and men’s basketball conference. Plus, both schools would get more national exposure through television deals and get access to Texas recruiting.

Many FSU fans have made no secret that they are ready to leave the ACC behind. Clemson has long been joined to FSU in any expansion talk. But, if Del Conte is accurate, losing Florida State, Clemson and Miami would be a death blow in football to the ACC.

The ACC would then have to seriously consider raiding the Big East Conference again for teams to try to secure a spot as a power conference.

The Big XII, which was left for dead twice in the past few years, has now become the big dog on the block in college football that everyone seems to want. Whether any schools successfully convince the Big XII to expand is another ballgame.

The Big XII currently has 10 members including West Virginia and TCU. With a college football final four coming in just a year, the conference has no real need to expand and may actually be better off without having to stage a championship game.

But, as with everything else in the college realignment dance, it’s all about money.

While LeBron James and Dwyane Wade got their points, 30 and 28 respectively; the Heat’s victory was a total team effort. Shane Battier and Udonis Haslem both went for double digits in points and Mario Chalmers pulled down 11 key defensive rebounds.

Much of the focus after Game 4’s other-worldly performance by Wade and LeBron was on the Heat’s offense. But in Game 5, it was all about a swarming team defense that kept the Pacers from ever getting into a smooth offensive flow.

In Game 5, the Heat held Indiana to just 33.7 percent shooting, including just 28.6 percent from behind the three-point line. Plus, while the Pacers have a seven-footer under the basket; the Heat pulled down every rebound that came near them Tuesday night.

Miami outrebounded Indiana by a 49-35 margin, but it was on the defensive glass where the contrast was most evident. Miami had 42 defensive rebounds by the time the game ended, while Indiana managed to pull down just 22 defensive rebounds.

The defensive rebounding was key for the Heat because it immediately opened up the team’s unstoppable fast break offense led by Wade and James. For the game, the Heat outscored the Pacers 22-2 in fastbreak points.

But, for all the good the Heat did in Game 5, it was two plays that could come back to haunt the Heat in Game 6 in Indianapolis.

Heat power forward Udonis Haslem, who has just recently found his shot for the Heat, was hit with a flagrant 1 foul after a hard foul on Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough. Haslem didn’t hit Hansbrough in the face, just barely, but it was a very hard foul after Hansbrough flagrantly fouled Wade earlier in the game.

Another Heat player is pretty much guaranteed to be out. Dexter Pittman threw a tough forearm into the chest of Lance Stephenson that reeked of payback for Stephenson making a “choke” gesture toward LeBron James in Game 3.

Losing Pittman won’t impact the Heat, but if Haslem is lost for Game 6, it will further limit the rotation that worked so well in Game 4 and 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

But things are just as unpredictable on the Pacers sideline as well. Forward Danny Grainger sprained his ankle and missed most of the second half of Game 5. Additionally, power forward David West suffered a sprained knee and missed the second half of the game as well.

After Game 5, which the announcers said was one of the most physical games this postseason; Pacers president Larry Bird called his team soft.

“I can’t believe my team went soft. S-O-F-T. I’m disappointed. I never thought it would happen,” Bird told the Indianapolis Star.

Bird was one of the most competitive players ever and that shot at his team was definitely an attempt to get them fired up for Game 6. On the other side, Miami knows that if they can handle their business in Game 6, it’s off to the Conference finals.

If Miami can make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, it will play the winner of the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers series. The teams play Wednesday night and the Celtics are looking to close out Philadelphia after grabbing a 3-2 series lead on Monday.

In the Western Conference Finals, the top seed San Antonio Spurs are playing the number two seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.

Game 6 between Indiana and Miami will take place Thursday night in Indianapolis.

According to Yahoo, the stunning blonde was the subject of 800 tweets in the first few minutes after Tannehill was drafted by the Dolphins.

CBS4’s Shannon Hori met with Lauren at the Setai on South Beach to talk about all the unexpected attention.

“It was crazy, it was nice to have people be complimentary of you and I’m very used to that being all about Ryan and I’m used to that. It’s good. I’m good with that. I was surprised, I was like ‘oh my gosh.’ It was fun,” Lauren said.

Lauren and her husband are now in South Florida for good.  They are looking for a house to share with their two dogs.

Lauren says she was hoping the Dolphins would come calling because she loves Florida.  In fact, it seems the Sunshine State might have been their destiny.

While they both attended school at Texas A & M, they met in Panama City while on spring break.

And then after their wedding in Mexico in January of 2012, they spent the first three months of their married life living in Bradenton while Ryan was in training.

“I was secretly crossing my fingers. I love Florida. I love the weather, and it gives me the opportunity here with modeling, too.”

Lauren is now looking to sign with a modeling agency in South Florida and plans to attend every home game.

She said when she met Ryan she didn’t even know that he played football for their college.

“I didn’t know for a good couple of days until they were all playing football in the yard and I was like ‘you’re really good,’” Lauren said.  “And that’s when I kind of put that together.”

Lauren says she is looking forward to meeting many of the people in South Florida.

“I am really down-to-earth. And I love to laugh and have a good time. I love my friends. I’m super social,” said Lauren.

Lauren says she was first attracted to Ryan for his looks.  At Ryan’s first Dolphins press conference, a reporter asked him about getting married so young.

His response?

“Can you blame me?” said Tannehill. “I found person I want to spend life with. Why wait?”

Besides the weather and the people, Lauren says she can’t wait to eat lots of Cuban food.  She’s a fan of Cuban sandwiches and platanos.  Hopefully there will be plenty of time to taste more of the variety South Florida has to offer.

Nolasco (5-2) broke a tie in the third with a two-run double off Juan Nicasio (2-2) that put the Marlins ahead to stay. On his third try, the right-hander became the Marlins’ sole leader in career wins with a record of 69-53.

He had been tied with Dontrelle Willis for the most victories.

Nolasco gave up four runs in six innings against the Rockies (15-27), who have lost six straight and are off to their worst start since 1995.

The Marlins (24-19) tied the franchise record for victories in May. Their 16-5 record this month is the best in the majors, and they’re five games above .500 for the first time this season.

Miami doesn’t have pennant fever yet, however. The crowd of 22,242 was the smallest so far at the city’s new ballpark.

Left fielder Chris Coghlan preserved the Marlins’ one-run lead when he made a running, leaping catch to rob Marco Scutaro of a hit, ending the eighth inning and stranding a man at third.

Heath Bell gave up a leadoff double in the ninth, then retired Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki and Todd Helton for his seventh save in 11 chances.

On Monday, Miami trailed 4-0 in the first inning and won 6-4. A succession of bloopers and bleeders helped Colorado score three runs in the first against Nolasco, but Nicasio couldn’t hold the lead.

Nicasio gave up six runs, five earned, in five innings and remained winless in his past four starts. Errors by shortstop Tulowitzki and catcher Wilin Rosario led to a pair of unearned runs.

Hanley Ramirez had three of the Marlins’ 12 hits and drove in two runs. For the second night in a row, the Marlins won despite stranding 13 runners.

Michael Cuddyer went 3 for 3 with a walk for the Rockies, and Rosario drove in two runs. They went 4 for 18 with runners in scoring position.

Miami scored twice in the first. Bryan Petersen hit an RBI triple and came home on a single by Ramirez.

Giancarlo Stanton doubled home the tying run in the third. With two out, Nolasco lined a 3-2 pitch for his first extra-base hit this year.

Ramirez stole second in the fourth inning, continued to third when Rosario’s throw was wild, and scored an unearned run on a single by Coghlan.

Tulowitzki robbed Petersen of a hit in the fourth inning with 360-degree whirl and throw behind second base. But Tulowitzki made a wild throw that led to an unearned run in the sixth when Ramirez delivered an RBI single.

Helton singled home the Rockies’ first run. Cuddyer followed with a broken-bat RBI single, and Rosario added a sacrifice fly.

Gonzalez doubled with two out in the fifth when third baseman Ramirez failed to catch his blooper. Tulowitzki followed with an RBI single.

The Rockies scored twice in the eighth off Edward Mujica to make it 7-6. Rosario hit an RBI single, and an unearned run scored when catcher John Buck made an errant pickoff throw.

(© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

James added 10 rebounds and eight assists. Shane Battier scored 13 and Mario Chalmers had eight points and 11 rebounds.

The Heatlead the best-of-seven East semifinals 3-2, with Game 6 in Indiana on Thursday night.

Paul George scored 11 points for Indiana, with starting forwards Danny Granger and David West adding 10 points apiece. Granger left with a sprained left ankle in the third quarter, and West left with what the Pacers called a left knee sprain at the end of that period.

Miami shot a franchise playoff-record 61 percent.

(© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Martin is expected to man the right tackle position for the Dolphins going forward. Martin had spent the last several seasons as the blind side protector of Andrew Luck at Stanford. His switch to the right side will mean he will have to get stronger.

Martin’s main competition for the right tackle position will be Lydon Murtha, but given that Martin was a second-round pick, he has the inside track on the job.

The Dolphins have signed the following draft picks: Martin, receiver B.J. Cunningham, receiver Rishard Matthews, and defensive tackle Kheeston Randall. The Fins still have to sign: quarterback Ryan Tannehill, defensive end Olivier Vernon, tight end Michael Egnew, running back Lamar Miller, and linebacker Josh Kaddu.

In case you missed it, Stanton came up to bat for the Marlins with the bases loaded in the fourth inning. He was going against Jamie Moyer, who is old enough to be his father, of the Colorado Rockies. The duo went back and forth for seven pitches.

Then Moyer let a pitch hang over the plate and Stanton blasted the ball over the left field fence hitting the scoreboard before dropping down to the fans in left field. ESPN calculated the ball left Stanton’s bat going 122.4 miles per hour, the fastest ever tracked by the company’s home run tracker.

Sometimes words can describe a homer, but this one is best left to let the video speak.

• Click here to view the video of Stanton’s shot.

It wasn’t quite on par with this one, but it still lifted the Marlins to victory and gave the home crowd a memory they won’t forget.

Stanton has been on a tear since the calendar turned to May. He made a slight adjustment in his swing and has seen all of his batting stats explode. He’s currently hitting .277 with 9 home runs and 28 RBI’s. Stanton has an on base percentage of .348 and a slugging percentage of .520.

Stanton has also hit safely in eight of his last ten games while hitting better than .300 during that streak with 3 homers and 11 RBI’s.

The last time the Heat were on the court, their proverbial backs were against the wall. The Indiana Pacers had all the momentum in the Eastern Conference semifinals after blowing out the Heat in Game 3.

But LeBron and Wade put on a show for the Indianapolis crowd in Game 4 Sunday by scoring 48 of 50 consecutive points during a run in the second through fourth quarter. LeBron finished with 40 points and 18 rebounds and Wade contributed 30 points and 9 rebounds.

The Heat also finally got a significant contribution from someone not named Wade or James when Udonis Haslem finally found the stroke on his jumpshot and contributed 14 points and 4 rebounds to the Heat’s winning effort.

That was Sunday, now the Heat have to gather themselves together and do it all over again Tuesday night in Game 5.

“We can’t win the series tonight,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’ve had a laser-like focus the last 24 hours because we understand how important this is.”

The Heat may not be able to win the series Tuesday, but they can go a long way towards gaining the momentum in a big way and taking a 3-2 series lead over the Pacers.

Plus, the longer the Heat can prolong their season, the better the chances of power forward Chris Bosh being able to rejoin the lineup. Bosh hasn’t played since Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on May 13. During Game 1, Bosh injured his lower abdominal muscles and has been out ever since.

As mentioned before, Udonis Haslem could once again be the key to the series. If he continues to nail his jumpshot in a pick and pop style of play; the Heat will be deadly. It will open up more lanes for James and Wade by pulling the Pacers’ big men out of the lane.

But, Indiana is ready to give the Heat a heavy dose of center Roy Hibbert and power forward David West. The duo is Indiana’s best weapon against an undersized and undermanned Heat team.

For Indiana, the key may come down to if they can keep the Heat’s big two under 60 points. In the two games the Pacers have done that, they’ve won. But if LeBron and Wade get loose and into a groove like they did on Sunday, the Pacers don’t have an answer for the Heat.

Miami will come out playing strong at home looking to regain home court advantage and send the series to at least six games and maybe seven.

The best of 7 series is now down to a best two out of three with Tuesday’s game being Game 1. Tipoff for Tuesday’s game is set for 8 p.m.

The Fins have plenty to work on and plenty of questions to answer as the team looks to put last year’s disastrous season behind them and begin anew with head coach Joe Philbin.

At the top of the list, the Dolphins will begin to look at who will be the team’s starting quarterback come Week 1 of the regular season. The Fins have three candidates for the starting quarterback job: Matt Moore, David Garrard, and rookie Ryan Tannehill.

Moore played well down the stretch last season as he led the Fins out of a winless record to finish the season with 6 victories. Fins owner Stephen Ross has said he believes Moore will be the starter in week 1, but no one has guaranteed the job to Moore.

Garrard is a cagey veteran who spent last season out of football. He’s a former starter with the Jacksonville Jaguars who was the last Jags quarterback to lead the team to the playoffs. But he has also been out of football for more than a year while recovering from injuries.

Fans are focused on rookie Ryan Tannehill. He played for offensive coordinator Mike Sherman at Texas A&M and rocketed up draft boards leading up to the 2012 NFL Draft. He’s got a great arm, but needs to improve his accuracy.

Most draftniks said Tannehill would need a full season before he’s ready to play in the NFL. But, Tannehill has one leg up on his fellow rookies; he already knows roughly 75-80 percent of the playbook. Even Moore said Tannehill is far ahead of him in his knowledge of the playbook.

Still, knowing the playbook and being able to execute the plays while facing exotic NFL defenses is a completely different monster. But, Fins fans know that Tannehill will eventually take over a franchise devoid of a franchise quarterback since the days of Dan Marino.

Another question mark on the Dolphins roster is at the safety position. The Fins have several players including: Chris Clemons, Reshad Jones, and Jimmy Wilson; who can play either position. Coaches haven’t given any indication about who will play either of the two safety positions.

Speaking of defense, the team will finally start to put into place the new hybrid 4-3 defense of new defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle. The defense had been a 3-4 defense under former coach Tony Sparano, but Coyle will instead typically employ a four man front.

The defensive line could have a starting lineup as follows: left defensive end Jared Odrick, nose tackle Paul Soliai, defensive tackle Randy Starks, and right defensive end Cameron Wake. Odrick will be expected to put together a semblance of a pass rush to keep the double-teams away from Wake.

If Odrick, Soliai, and Starks can get a good push; Wake should be able to go one-on-one towards the quarterback, at least that’s the plan.

The Fins also have questions at wide receiver and on the right side of the offensive line to figure out as OTA’s go forward.

Today is only day 1, but for the Fins and Fins fans, it’s the beginning of a new journey they hope will end in playoff glory.

Ross first tried to attract celebrities by building a nightclub at Sun Life Stadium and actively seeking out celebrities to buy a small portion of the team from him.

When that didn’t work, he finally started to focus on the on-field product that had been in decay since the days of Dan Marino and Don Shula.

Part of Ross’ problem was that of his own creation. Being a new owner, Ross was to a degree tone-deaf to the ways of the NFL and displayed some poor decision-making with regards to his head coach. He tried to apply the lessons he learned as a powerful real estate magnate to football.

“I’m a developer,” said Ross. “So I”m looking at property and I have to have a vision. In football, it’s a lot harder to do.”

Ross originally went all-in to try and lure then-Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh to Miami to take over the team, while he still had Tony Sparano under contract as his head coach.

The move undermined Sparano and created a rift in the organization that carried over to last year as the Dolphins struggled to win any games. As the season went on, Ross became vilified and in a rare sight, protesters picketed the Dolphins’ facility. Yet, Ross decided to remain dedicated to his plan.

“You’ve got to believe in yourself… anything in life. However, the criticism does sting,” he admitted Ross.

As the offseason began, Ross started a complete makeover of the franchise. Gone were the days of being rude and standoffish with the press and the team decided to start revamping a roster in need of help.

Ross’ first move was to bring in head coach Joe Philbin, who had previously been a coach with the Green Bay Packers. Philbin also made a quick move to get Kevin Coyle to be his defensive coordinator.

Still, fans were still stinging from the high profile swings and misses of trying to hire coach Jeff Fisher and trying to lure quarterback Peyton Manning.

But then, one draft class started to give fans a glimmer of hope. The Fins finally spent a first-round pick on a quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, and then picked up a solid offensive lineman, solid running back and a potentially steal of a defensive end.

Most of the optimism centered around Tannehill and his potential in a West Coast offense. Ross, who has longed for a franchise quarterback, is trying to temper fans’ expectations in Tannehill’s first season.

“This is a guy that might take some time as one would expect,” he told CBS4′s Kim Bokamper.

Ross also said on NFL.com earlier Monday that he expects Matt Moore to be the starting quarterback in Week 1, but that he doesn’t know that for sure.

The 2012 season is the start of an era for the Dolphins Ross hopes will finally give Dolphins fans something to cheer about and be proud to be a part of.

“You know, you go through life once, and if you can afford to do something you have great passion to do, you go for it,” Ross said.

Ross has gone all-in with the Dolphins. Now it’s time to see if his bet was a winner, or if he will come up with aces and eights.

Austin Kearns tied a career-best with four hits for the Marlins, whose 15-5 record in May leads the majors.

Buehrle (4-4) worked 7 2-3 innings, giving up four runs and four hits in the first and one more hit the rest of the way. Heath Bell pitched the ninth for his sixth save in 10 chances.

Moyer (2-4) allowed nine hits and six runs in 3 2-3 innings in his debut at Marlins Park, the 50th big-league stadium in which the 49-year-old has appeared during his career.

Troy Tulowitzki hit a two-run home run and Michael Cuddyer had a two-run double for the Rockies.

Stanton wasn’t even born when Moyer’s career began in 1986. His first game against him was one to remember.

Miami’s big fourth got going with one out, when Buehrle hit a soft double — the second of his career. He scored when Jose Reyes’ single was bobbled by center fielder Dexter Fowler. Moyer nearly escaped further trouble, but walked Hanley Ramirez on a full count with two out, then walked Kearns to load the bases.

That brought up Stanton, who watched Moyer’s 2-2 offering just miss — replays showed the inside pitch wasn’t out of the zone by much, if at all.

Moyer’s next pitch was 72 mph. It went out faster.

Stanton’s ninth home run of the season and fourth career grand slam went an estimated 438 feet down the left field line, the impact of its collision with the video board over the left-field concourse temporarily knocking out a portion of the digital display. The Marlins had a 6-4 lead, and the crowd roared for nearly a minute before Stanton acknowledged their desire for a curtain call.

“I looked it up and 1986 was his debut and I wasn’t even a thought at that moment,” Stanton said. “I was born three years later.”

Meanwhile, Buehrle was in a groove.

Buehrle got hit hard in the first, literally and figuratively. Jordan Pacheco lined a ball off Buehrle with one out, and scored along with Carlos Gonzalez two batters later when Cuddyer’s double beat Kearns to the left-field wall. Tulowitzki followed with a homer to left that put the Rockies up 4-0 before Moyer even saw the mound.

Buehrle didn’t give up another hit until Pacheco’s two-out single in the eighth, tipping his cap to the crowd as he departed.

Moyer has pitched in more ballparks than anyone since at least 1921, and was 8-2 in the Marlins’ former home, Sun Life Stadium. Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen — one of 11 current managers to bat against Moyer in their careers — went 4 for 22 against the lefty, and several members of the Miami coaching staff and front office also have faced him at one time or another.

“I don’t remember much,” Guillen said about his times against Moyer. “I know he went from very bad to very good to very old. … I feel proud to know him.”

Miami added an insurance run in the seventh, when Ramirez tripled and scored on Kearns’ fourth hit.

(© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

The Philadelphia Eagles announced Monday that just ten days after signing Harris, they were releasing him.

It’s the latest setback for Harris who came to “The U” as a highly touted high school quarterback out of Northwestern High School in Miami. But, his career at the U mirrored the doldrums the football program is still trying to get out of in 2012.

At one point in his career, Harris looked like the real deal and some even talked of him as a Heisman Trophy hopeful. Harris’ inconsistency and penchant for throwing costly interceptions made his four-year starting career maddening for coaches and fans.

During his time at UM, Harris completed 60 percent of his passes for 8,826 yards, 70 touchdowns, and 48 interceptions. Harris struggled as a sophomore and junior throwing 38 touchdowns versus 32 interceptions combined.

The Eagles currently have quarterbacks Mike Vick, Trent Edwards, Mike Kafka, and third-round draft pick Nick Foles, which left Harris the odd-man out.

Harris also had a tryout with the Miami Dolphins, but was not signed by the Fins.

The moves come as no surprise as the team had long ago cast its lot with a superstar center, Dwight Howard, who was known more for his immaturity and lack of professionalism this year than he was for his dominating play on the court.

Van Gundy had been coach of the Magic since June 2007 and compiled a 259-135 record in five years in Orlando. Van Gundy led the team to a 2009 Eastern Conference championship and a berth in the NBA Finals, which was the teams’ second in franchise history.

Smith helped build the teams that Van Gundy guided to the NBA Finals, but was also blamed for several bad deals that have hamstrung the franchise from finding better players to surround Howard.

The most notable bad contract remaining is that of Hedo Turkoglu, who is scheduled to make roughly $23 million over the next two seasons.

Both Van Gundy and Smith were hung out to dry by Howard this season. Various reports said Howard wanted Van Gundy out as head coach throughout the season and he used his leverage of not signing a contract extension over the Magic for much of the regular season.

Smith was a member of the inaugural Orlando Magic team in 1989. Van Gundy was also a former coach of the Miami Heat.

The former Texas Longhorns defensive tackle was taken with the 215th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. While seventh round picks are often longshots to make the team, Randall could sneak into the roster.

Randall played in a 4-3 defensive front with the Longhorns, which is what the Dolphins are transitioning to this year. The Fins currently only have four defensive tackles listed on the active roster, including Randall.

But, players like Jared Odrick and Randy Starks who are listed as defensive ends could easily shift inside to defensive tackle if the situation warrants.

The Fins signed sixth round draft pick wide receiver B.J. Cunningham to a contract last week.

Everything started with a simple play LeBron called. He made a backdoor pass to Wade who came slashing down the lane for a simple dunk. But for Wade, it was anything but simple.

He had struggled mightily in the series up to that point, with the lowest point being Game 3 where he managed to score just 5 points in the entire game. Wade started Game 4 off slowly as well, but midway through the second quarter when he made that dunk, something clicked between Wade and LeBron.

Over the course of the next quarter and a half, LeBron and D-Wade put on a show and essentially beat the Indiana Pacers by themselves for more than half the game. The Heat’s dynamic duo scored 48 of the Heat’s 50 points at one point in the game.

By the time the game ended, LeBron proved why he is the unquestioned most valuable player in the NBA and Wade showed that he still has plenty left in the tank.

LeBron finished with video-game like numbers: 40 points on 14 for 27 shooting, 18 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocked shots. Wade got rolling again as well scoring 30 points on 12-23 shooting, grabbing 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocked shots, and no turnovers.

For the Heat, the dynamic duo couldn’t manage to finish the job without someone helping them. The role fell on the broad shoulders of power forward Udonis Haslem, and for the first time this season, he responded with a big game right when it counted the most.

Haslem played much of the second-half with an injury just above his eye and a huge bandage over it. Things really came together for Haslem as the second half wore on. He finished with 14 points in Game 4, which were the most points scored by a Heat big man since Chris Bosh went out with injury.

What Haslem did right was finally getting the pick and pop correct. As he would set a screen for another Heat player, he would stay outside for a mid-range jumper and when the player with the ball got in trouble, they would pass to Haslem and for the first time in a long time he drilled the shots.

If the scenario looks familiar, it’s eerily similar to what happened last year when the Heat were on the ropes against the Chicago Bulls and Udonis Haslem came back and sparked the team all the way to the NBA Finals.

Sunday it was a new Big Three that showed up as Udonis Haslem finally took the place of Chris Bosh like many had expected him to over the last two games. Speaking of Bosh, there’s been no official word on how his recovery is progressing, but he’s still listed as out indefinitely.

The dynamic duo of LeBron and Wade will look to continue their torrid play when the teams return to the AmericanAirlines Arena Tuesday for Game 5. Momentum has clearly shifted the Heat’s direction and if the team can win at home Tuesday; it’s a whole new series.

The longer the Heat play in the playoff, the higher the chance that Bosh can come back this season becomes. But the Heat have said they will not rush Bosh back from his injury.

Game 5 tips off at 8 pm at the AmericanAirlines Arena Tuesday.

Each week we’ll be providing you with insight into the best (and worst) baseball players to play in your fantasy baseball league.

It’s a common truism in sports: you don’t win a game in the first quarter, but you can lose one. We’re right about at the first quarter line for the 2012 MLB season. Sitting in first place? Don’t get cocky. We’ve got a long way to go. Sitting in deep last place in a keeper league? Might be time to sell early and get the biggest value out of your trade chips. Regardless of where you fall, here are five players trending upward as we hit the second quarter of the baseball season:

5 UP

1. Max Scherzer, SP, DET: Scherzer has been occasionally finding his way onto waiver wires thanks to his poor start to the season – he owned a brutal 6.26 ERA heading into Sunday’s start against the Pirates. Good things come to those who wait, though, and Scherzer delivered a 15-strikeout, two-run, four-hit performance with his fourth win of the season to patient owners Sunday. If Scherzer somehow sits on waiver wires or becomes available for cheap on a trading block, snap him up now. His 12.61 K/9 leads all major league starters – expect his ERA to trend towards his 3.74 FIP, if not lower.

2. Jon Lucroy, C, MIL: In Lucroy’s first two years as a major leaguer, he made a bigger impact with his defense than with his bat. His third season in the show has seen the power in his bat come alive – Lucroy owns a .185 ISO so far, his highest since 2008 in Double-A. He makes contact at an excellent rate, which would allow him to put this power to use, and even if his current .342 average is unrealistic, he provides pop at position which doesn’t usually offer it, and for that he deserves a longer look even in standard mixed leagues.

3. Matt Adams, 1B, STL: Lance Berkman was hardly off the disabled list before a new injury placed him right back there, and this one (a knee injury) could be career threatening. The beneficiary is Adams, last year’s St. Louis Minor League Player of the Year. The 23-year-old Adams hit .300/.357/.566 in Double-A last season and elevated to .338/.373/.597 in his first 36 games at Triple-A. He makes good contact and hits for power. His only statistical blemish as a minor leaguer was a lack of discipline – something that doesn’t matter as much for a fantasy player in a standard league. He’s a must-own in NL-only formats and should be watched in mixed leagues.

4. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C, BOS: J.P. Arencibia of the Blue Jays has been the hot add among AL catching sluggers this weekend, but if you missed out, take a look at Salty. The 27-year-old is showing the power potential that made him the centerpiece the Rangers coveted in the ill-fated Mark Teixeira deal, mashing eight home runs in his first 112 plate appearances. He’s still striking out a ton (29.5% of plate appearances) and shouldn’t be expected to maintain a .280 average, but he can hit the ball out of the park, and should have a shot at a 20 home run season, with the help of the Green Monster in Boston.

5. Felipe Paulino, RP, KC: Paulino was ejected from the Astros organization two years ago despite showing a rare live arm that could throw starter innings – he averaged over 8.0 strikeouts per nine innings each year, but failed to live up to FIPs under 3.70 in both 2010 and 2011. So far, Paulino has managed to put it all together with the Royals, striking out 21 in three starts (18.2 innings) and owning a sparkling 1.93 ERA. A 2.41 BB/9 is his best ever and may not be realistic, but his strikeout potential and what it could lead to make him worth an add in deeper or AL-only leagues, and worth watching in shallower mixed leagues.

Meanwhile, these five players have seen significant hits to their value in recent times. Don’t let them be one of the players who derails a hot start, or turns a poor start into a slide into last place.

5 DOWN

1. David Freese, 3B, STL: Freese opened the 2012 season as he closed the 2011 World Series, spraying line drives across the field and fly balls over the fences. On April 11th, he owned a .444/.464/.778 line, including three homers in six games. Since then, Freese has hit just .223/.296/.411 with five home runs in over five times as many games. This isn’t to say Freese is this bad – selective endpoints like these typically aren’t predictable. But it does help to show that such hot streaks, as the one Freese rode into the season, will inevitably cool off and occasionally turn into cold ones of their own. Expect Freese to settle somewhere around the midpoint of the two – his current .266/.327/.482 line sounds about right.

2. Rafael Dolis, RP, CHC: Dolis opened up hot, but he gave up his 13th run of the season in just 25 appearances Sunday to raise his ERA to 3.96 on the season. Predictably, this appearance included a walk – he now has 12 on the season, two more than his strikeout total. As such, with Kerry Wood out of the picture and James Russell largely used as a matchup lefty, the closer job could go back to Carlos Marmol as soon as he’s off the disabled list – if nothing else, it would give the Cubs another chance to inflate Marmol’s trade value come the deadline.

3. Derek Lowe, SP, CLE: Derek Lowe has done one thing absurdly well so far in 2012: get ground balls. Over two in every three balls in play off the 38-year-old has been a grounder, and as a result it’s actually conceivable Lowe could maintain an ERA in the 3.00s despite actually walking more batters than he has struck out at the moment. But the problem is, as a fantasy player, it still won’t be good enough to justify owning in standard mixed leagues. It’s easy to just look at ERA and wins, but Lowe is a black hole in two of the four categories a starting pitcher contributes to. His 2.37 K/9 would be the lowest since Nate Cornejo’s 2.13 mark for the 2003 Tigers (Cornejo took 17 of their 119 losses) and he hasn’t managed a WHIP below 1.35 since 2008 with the Dodgers.

4. Dee Gordon, SS, LAD: Owners drafted Gordon thinking he could single-handedly win him or her the steals category. Sure enough, Gordon has 12 stolen bases, but now he’s been benched for “a few games” by Don Mattingly and ostensibly could be sent down to the minors, should his incredibly cold season continue – he owns a .494 OPS in his first 155 plate appearances. Compounding the problem, there’s little reason to expect a significant rebound – Gordon’s .776 OPS in the PCL last year was actually significantly below average for a player in the hitter’s haven that is Triple-A Albuquerque.

5. Carlos Pena, 1B, TB: Pena opened the season on a hot streak but hasn’t homered since May 5th, dropping his average and slugging to .209 and .353 respectively. He still has been a disciplined hitter at the plate (15% walk rate), but he still strikes out too much to ever hit for a solid average. As such, unless the power is truly elite (like when he hit 46 home runs for Tampa in 2007), he isn’t worth playing every day. He still holds some value if owners can afford to platoon him and bench him against lefties, but otherwise the batting average hit is just too much to take with too little reward.

Jack Moore is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with degrees in Mathematics and Economics. His work can also be found at FanGraphs.com, DisciplesOfUecker.com, RotoWire.com, AdvancedNFLStats.com and ESPN. Follow him on twitter at @jh_moore.

The Marlins will start veteran left-handed pitcher Mark Buehrle who has been arguably the Marlins’ most stable pitcher all season long. Buehrle is 3-4 with a 3.17 ERA this year and if the Marlins offense had come to play in more of his outings, he’d have a much better record.

But the real story will be on the other mound as the Rockies toss out Jamie Moyer, 49, to face Buehrle. Over his career, Moyer is 13-6 with a 3.09 ERA in 19 starts against the Marlins. If he can pull out a win on Monday, it will be his 270th career victory.

The Fish will once again be using a make-shift lineup as injuries and poor play have shaken up the roster. Emilio Bonifacio was sent to the 15-day disabled list, Omar Infante left the team for a death in his family, and Gaby Sanchez was optioned to Triple-A after hitting south of the Mendoza line in April & May.

That leaves the Marlins moving Logan Morrison to his natural position of first base and a couple of spots in the outfield to cover. The Marlins recalled Chris Coghlan from Triple-A New Orleans along with infielder Donovan Solano.

Coghlan and Austin Kearns are expected to fill Morrison’s spot in left field, while Solano will be coming to the Majors for the first time in his career. Solano was hitting .262 with 14 RBI’s for New Orleans.

Winslow signed a 6-year, $36.1 million contract in 2009 that had paid him $20.1 million guaranteed. Winslow is due $3.3 million, $4.5 million, and $5.5 million, with no guarantees, according to Andrew Brandt of the National Football Post.

By cutting Winslow, the Bucs would save $4.8 million in salary cap space. The Bucs don’t need the cap space, but head coach Greg Schiano doesn’t believe that Winslow is the difference maker the team originally thought.

Winslow’s career was derailed in Cleveland, but he’s been a solid pass catching tight end in Tampa Bay and is just 29-years-old. Winslow averaged 73 catches and nearly 800 yards receiving per season with the Bucs.

With his ties to Miami, he could be an attractive option for the Dolphins if rookie Michael Egnew doesn’t develop quickly enough as a seam threat. But, given Miami’s tight cap space, Winslow is likely too expensive for the Dolphins to seriously consider.

According to ESPN.com, Wade had to have fluid drained from his left knee prior to the team’s blowout loss in Game 3. During that game, Wade had arguably his worst playoff performance of his career when he managed just five points.

Wade refused to blame the procedure on his poor performance telling ESPN after Game 4, “If I’m in uniform, I’m ready to play.”

Wade came back from the horrendous Game 3 performance in a grand way Sunday combining with LeBron James to score 70 points against the Pacers. The phenomenal performance was desperately needed to keep the Heat in the series.

Wade struggled at the beginning of Game 4, but when LeBron hit Wade on a backdoor pass that resulted in a dunk, everything seemed to click for the Wade. He went on to score 22 of his 30 points in the second half and at one point, Wade and James scored 48 of 50 consecutive points for the Heat.

ESPN said no further decision had been made on whether Wade will require another procedure on his left knee before Game 5 or further down the road if the Heat continue on in the playoffs.

With Chris Bosh’s status unknown for the foreseeable future, the Heat’s only chance of surviving until he returns is for a healthy James and Wade to continue playing the way the did in Game 4.