LeBron James and Dwyane Wade must take over or find themselves watching the NBA Finals from home./AP

60.

That’s the magic number.

With Chris Bosh out with an abdominal injury that will take 2 1/2 to 6 1/2 weeks to heal depending on who you believe, the Miami Heat need their two superstars – LeBron James and Dwyane Wade – to average at least 60 points in order for the Heat to get past the Indiana Pacers and win it all.

Right now, James and Wade are averaging a combined 46.6 points in this Eastern Conference semifinals series that the Heat are trailing 2-1 heading into Sunday’s Game 4 in Indianapolis.

James is at 27.3 a game. Wade 19.3.

That’s not enough.

In desperate times, the superstars get it done.

Ten years ago, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant showed us all how.

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Earlier this week, Reno coach Eric Musselman called it case two coaches being “competitive.”

As the Erie BayHawks (32-18) head into Game 1 of their best-of-three D-League playoff series against the second-seeded Bighorns (34-16), check out how Musselman and Utah Flash coach Kevin Young got into it this season.

Now Musselman, who was an NBA head coach with the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, wasn’t suspended for this, but this shows how “competitive” he can be.

Garrett Temple (41) has been with Milwaukee since late last month.

In what may be his last game with the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, Garrett Temple didn’t score, but that may not matter in terms of him sticking with them.

Temple, 24, remembered last year when he didn’t play as well as he thought and still stuck with an NBA team.

“Sometimes you play well and they just don’t need you,” Temple said. ” They just try to save money or sometimes you play as well as you think you could have, but they still want you.”

This season, Temple went from the Erie BayHawks to the Milwaukee Bucks and has signed two 10-day contracts. In nine games with the Bucks, Temple averaged just 1.8 points.

If Milwaukee wants to keep him, it must sign him for the remainder of the season.

Before Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers, I talked with Temple about his time in Milwaukee, his experience with 10-day contracts and how the Erie BayHawks have fared without him.

How has your experience been with Milwaukee? “It’s been a great experience. Anytime you get a chance live your dream to be in the NBA, it’s always much appreciated. I just feel very blessed to have this opportunity. I got a lot of great veteran guys here that I’ve actually gotten close to.  Keyon Dooling. Corey Maggette. Earl Boykins. They got a good mix of young guys and old guys. Brandon (Jennings). CDR (Chris Douglas-Roberts), Larry Sanders, (Andrew) Bogut, guys that I can really relate to. I like the group. I like the coaching staff. Wish we could get some more wins and hopefully turn this thing around.”

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Toronto 7-foot-1 rookie center Solomon Alabi has played in just one game for the Raptors this season.

The guy is certainly thin, but Solomon Alabi showed some athleticism and quickness in his first practice with the Erie BayHawks earlier this afternoon at Gannon University’s Hammermill Center.

The Toronto Raptors sent Alabi, 22, down to play for the BayHawks, who open the season Friday night against the Springfield Armor at Tullio Arena.

Now granted it was just drills and he wasn’t going up against anyone in a 5-on-5 situation, but Alabi showed some explosiveness on one particular drill in which the player picks the ball off the ground, take a dribble and finishes at the rim.

Now Alabi will have a tough act to follow in terms of players from Erie’s NBA affiliates who have been sent down to play for the BayHawks in the previous two seasons.

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No one was more fun to watch in college basketball last season than Kentucky freshman point guard John Wall.

Let’s take a look at the first five picks of Thursday’s 2010 NBA Draft and see what they bring to the table.

1. Washington Wizards – John Wall (6-4, PG, Kentucky).
Strengths: Gifted athete, playmaker and brings size to PG position. Weaknesses: Needs to improve FT (Shot 75.4 percent at Kentucky), inexperience.
Impact on Wizards: Not only will he bring fans to the arena, Wall gives Washington a player they can immediately build around and put past troubles with the franchise.

2. Philadelphia 76ers – Evan Turner (6-7, SG/SF, Ohio State).
Strengths: Clutch, seasoned (played three years in college) and shoots a  high percentage  (shot 51.9 percent from the field last season). Weaknesses: Turnover prone and not as explosive around the rim in terms of finishing in traffic.
Impact on 76ers: Will have to play small forward, but teaming up with Andre Iguodala will give the 76ers two very good perimeter defenders. Has a very competitive edge, which Philadelphia has lacked in recent years.

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Stephen Curry has answered all the questions about whether he was too slight in stature to shine early in the NBA.

Ya’ll know Stephen Curry is my guy.

Just do a search of his name on my blog to find out.

When making my predictions for the 2009-10 NBA season, I thought the rookie of the year award would come down to Blake Griffin of Oklahoma and Curry, who was the most exciting college player while at Davidson.

Since Griffin, the top pick in the 2009 draft, had a major injury that cost him the season, (Darn L.A. Clippers curse), Curry became my choice by process of elimination.

For months, people have essentially given the award to Sacramento point guard Tyreke Evans out of Memphis, but Curry has been playing better and better as has his team.

The argument against Curry was the Warriors were a bad team. They still are but the Warriors are 5-5 in their last 10 days. The Kings? 1-9. Both teams are 24-54.

Being part of Don Nelson becoming the all-time winningest coach in NBA history will help Curry, but his play should merit enough to take home the honor.

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In 22 games this season, Othyus Jeffers is averaging 14.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and shooting 51 percent from the field.

The LeBron Act didn’t stop the Utah Jazz from giving Othyus Jeffers a chance in the NBA.

A month ago, Jeffers told me NBA teams weren’t signing D-League players because they’re saving money to sign LeBron James and other top free agents this summer.

“There are a lot of things going on right now in 2010 with the ‘LeBron Act’ so they didn’t want to spend money this year,” Jeffers said.

On Wednesday, the Jazz signed the Iowa Energy shooting guard. Jeffers is the 20th NBA call-up from the D-League this season.

In fact, since Jeffers’ comments, seven D-League players have signed 10-day contracts with NBA teams.

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Quincy Douby has made his way back into the NBA after playing five games with the Erie BayHawks.

The Erie BayHawks won’t have combo guard Quincy Douby for the D-League playoffs as their former guard signed with the Toronto Raptors on Monday through 2010.

When I first talked with Douby when he came to Erie a month after being released by the Sacramento Kings, his mindset was to get back in the NBA asap. Can’t blame the guy. The Kings picked the former Rutgers guard in the first round of the 2006 draft.

After five games with the BayHawks in which he averaged 18 points, Douby was back in the NBA. The Raptors signed him to two 10-day contracts before signing him for the remainder of this season and next season.

The BayHawks added him to their playoff roster in hopes he may become available, but understand this. The D-League’s main objective is getting guys into the NBA.

So the league gets its wish when guys like Douby choose to play in it for a stint and use it a springboard to get back into the NBA.

Erie BayHawks guard Quincy Douby signed a second 10-day contract with the Toronto Raptors after being called up by the NBA franchise last month. He's the first BayHawk to receive an NBA call up.

The Toronto Raptors have signed Erie BayHawks guard Quincy Douby to a second 10-day contract Friday, the Toronto Star reported.

No surprise here, but what that means is the BayHawks will be without the combo guard for the remainder of the regular season.

Erie has four games left with the final one being April 11 against Fort Wayne.

Douby, who came to Erie after the Sacramento Kings released him earlier this, averaged 18 points in five games with the BayHawks.

Erie lost four of those games.

A first-round pick of the Kings in the 2006 NBA Draft, Douby joined the Raptors March 24 and has played in only one game for the NBA franchise. He had two points and an assist in five minutes of play.

So with a roster void, the BayHawks may opt to acquire someone out of the D-League player pool. Is it too late in the year to bring someone new into the Erie fold as it battles to earn a spot in the upcoming playoffs?

We’ll find out.

After being released by the Sacramento Kings last month, combo guard Quincy Douby made his way to Erie and played only five games with the BayHawks before getting an NBA call up from the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday.

It’s the NBA’s league.

So the NBA can dictate action that takes place in the D-League. The Erie BayHawks experienced that in their relationship with combo guard Quincy Douby.

Unlike the other players Erie coach John Treloar has brought in during the season like  Mike Cook, Darian Townes and Tony Bethel, he didn’t set out to get Douby.

But when the Douby entered the D-League player pool after being released by the Sacramento Kings last month, there was seemingly some pressure for a D-League team to pick him up.

“When you have the opportunity to get a player of an NBA-talent level, the league doesn’t demand that you do it, but they encourage it very strongly,” Treloar said. “When Quincy Douby signs that contract with the D-League? I didn’t recruit Quincy Douby to sign a contract with the D-League. The D-League recruited him.”

So when the BayHawks got him on March 11, it threw off the rotation of the team. Not blaming Douby for that, but the reality is his presence took away minutes from other players and altered team chemistry.

I remember asking Erie combo guard Maureece Rice about it when Douby arrived in Erie. The first thing Rice said was, “It’s late the season.”

He didn’t look down upon the decision and welcomed Douby in, but you could tell he knew this was going to affect the team in some form.

Fair or unfair, that’s the nature of the D-League.

OK. It’s unfair.

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