An NBA match-up of magic and might

You’ll not like this but coach Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat has just announced that LeBron James won’t be specifically assigned to guard the magical German sniper Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks.
That, you bet, is a first-class damper, mainly around here where the James-Nowitzki matchup has started to be billed as a mano-a-mano for the ages.
Or, to further fuel the projected rivalry, a Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. slugout of the NBA kind.
* * *
Spoelstra must be kidding, cries Cesar Ruiz Aquino, poet laureate at Silliman University in Dumaguete and an original LeBron diehard.
Sorry, master, but the Miami Heat tactician, as Pinoy as Laguna’s pancit habhab, meant what he said.
Yes, other players will be sent out to chase and stall Nowitzki, who was at his sharpest best, soaring to 52 percent from the three-point area when he almost singlehandedly beat the scared, often scattered, Oklahoma City Thunder last week.
* * *
But is there anybody who can do the job better than James?
Didn’t the 6-foot-8 phenom display unassailable defense, not only against Derrick Rose but much earlier in slowing down Paul Pierce and also stalling Rajon Rondo of the Celtics?
Granted, Spoelstra explained in a talk with Shandel Richardson of the Los Angeles Times.
Indeed, James is qualified for the job, but Spoelstra had to stress he won’t draw the assignment specifically.
* * *
Why? Because they follow a rotation system which has proved quite effective, the Heat mentor explained.
Not to worry, Spoelstra added quickly, they defend and rotate and, like it or not, James would also have a partial crack at Nowitzki.
“James is versatile enough that sometimes he’ll probably be guarding all their (Dallas) players at one point in the series,” Spoelstra said.
* * *
Writes the poet in Dr. Cesar Aquino: “James is Eagle, Bosh is Snake, Wade is Black Panther, the rest piranha.”
OK, said Spoelstra, but there’s no need to change their defensive rotation now, after it has proved quite successful the past two months and a half.
* * *
No full-scale head-on clash between Wade and Nowitzki.
But this does not mean it would be a firefight of the lesser kind when the best-of-seven NBA Finals start Wednesday morning.
The fierce matchups on both ends should more than make up for that damper from the Heat’s Fil-Am coach.
All eyes are on Nowitzki, who still managed to go on a scoring picnic despite being repeatedly pushed out of his comfort zone.
“I’ve studied his moves, all his likes and dislikes,” James bared.
It’s a matter of making things difficult for him, James added.
But making things truly uncomfortable for the German Sniper won’t be easy.
James indeed has the crying might, but will this be enough to outshine the soundless Nowitzki magic?