With eight minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Heat up 83-79, Wade dribbled up the court and when he was body checked by Sessions he lifted his left leg a little too high and struck Sessions between the legs. It hurts just trying to describe the play. Wade drew loud boos from the Charlotte crowd and Sessions, who believed that Wade intentionally struck him, got in Wade’s face to let him know that was not cool. A day later, Wade earned a one-game suspension from the league office. Watch the play:

Wade’s actions may have been driven by the fact that the game got very chippy. The Bobcats didn’t play like a team on a long losing streak, sending a message to the Heat by committing some hard fouls. And game was close until the Heat went on a run late in the fourth quarter. The most egregious hard foul was committed by Gerald Henderson, who knocked down LeBron James on a breakaway layup. Henderson was confronted by Heat forward Udonis Haslem, setting the tone for the rest of the night and causing Wade to lose his cool and resort to some playground tactics.

Luis Scola and Pau Gasol battle for a loose ball during a game at Staples Center in Los Angeles. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The Los Angeles Lakers need to fix their team on the fly.

For the second straight year they got bounced out of the NBA playoffs in the second round by a better team. They played better than they did last year in getting swept by the Dallas Mavericks, but it still isn’t good enough for the Lakers who are used to competing for an NBA title.

Mitch Kupchak is being targeted by the Orlando Magic as their new GM, but he is still under contract and he needs to make a deal or two to get the Lakers back to competing as a legit contender. And I have some ideas on how he can do this.

Kyle Lowry has recently stated he may need to be traded because he believes Houston will not be able to keep himself and Goran Dragic. “I don’t think so,” Lowry, 26, told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “I honestly think it would be tough. Things have to be addressed. The situation would have to be addressed. If things aren’t addressed coaching-wise, I guess I have to be moved.”

The Rockets were interested in Pau Gasol earlier this season because Rockets coach Kevin McHale likes to have a big PF like Pau to pair with Samuel Dalembert in their frontcourt. The Lakers should offer Gasol for Luis Scola and Lowry.

This way if Ramon Sessions decides to opt out (and he said he would before the playoffs began) they have a better PG in Lowry and in Scola they have an underrated power forward who has shown he can be a very good player. Next to Andrew Bynum, he might even be better in Los Angeles.

If the Lakers use the amnesty clause on Metta World Peace, let Sessions and Troy Murphy walk, they save about $ 14 million. By letting MWP walk they can develop Devin Ebanks and Christian Eyenga at small forward. Ebanks showed some flashes when Kobe Bryant was sidelined at the end of the regular season and Eyenga is an athletic player who could turn into a solid defender.

They can use half of the midlevel exception ($2.5 million) to bring back Jordan Hill, who played well after the trade of Derek Fisher and a first-round pick to the Rockets. Hill provided energy and hustle off the bench as well as several double-double games (points and rebounds) — something they didn’t get from Murphy and Josh McRoberts.

These moves would make the Lakers a lot better and keep L.A. in the hunt for a Western Conference finals appearance and a possible berth in the NBA Finals next season.

Darren Jacks is a contributor to OneManFastBreak.net. Send him an email at: djroxalot@hotmail.com.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are a lethal combination for the Oklahoma City Thunder. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Kevin Durant may be Oklahoma City’s best player, but make no mistake about it Russell Westbrook is the fire that ignites the Thunder.

Whenever the Thunder needs to shift into high gear, head coach Scott Brooks points to his 23-year-old point guard to give the team a major boost. Whether its a steal, a 3-pointer, a spectacular dunk, an alley-oop pass, or a circus shot, Westbrook has been in the middle of almost every major run the Thunder have put together in the 2012 playoffs. He did in Game 4 in Los Angeles when he kept driving to the basket and refused to let the Lakers get too far. His relentless attacks kept the Thunder in the game long enough to set the stage for Kevin Durant’s cold-blooded 3-pointer to give OKC a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

In the close-out game Monday night in Oklahoma City, Westbrook was again the explosive catalyst in the pushing the Thunder past the Lakers.

With the game tied at 70 with four minutes left in the third quarter and the Lakers seemingly controlling the tempo of the game, Westbrook picked off a pass by Lakers guard Ramon Sessions and raced to the other end for what Brooks called the biggest play of the game. Watch Westbrook’s circus shot while being grabbed by Sessions.

Westbrook’s 3-point play ignited a 23-7 Thunder burst at the end of the third and the start of the fourth that eventually pushed OKC into the Western Conference finals and knocked the Lakers out of the playoffs. “Sessions grabbed me kinda early and just kinda threw it to the rim. Luckily it went in,” said Westbrook, who finished with 28 points in Game 5. “That sparked us, and everybody else. Kept it going from there.”

Brooks calls Westbrook a “special” player, and goes out of his way defending his point guard no matter how many times he shoots the ball or fires a pass into the third row. Durant is also on his good friend’s corner, saying the Thunder won’t win a championship unless Westbrook does what he does which is score the basketball.

Together, Durant and Westbrook are a lethal combination. Durant is the cold-blooded sniper, while Westbrook is the fearless soldier you want fighting in the front lines.

“Kevin [Durant] showed a lot of maturity. He never ever chimed in publicly. He always supported Westbrook,” said former Toronto coach Sam Mitchell. “These guys have a certain trust. Regardless of what we may think at times about a young point guard and his decision-making, and [Westbrook] has gotten a lot better at it, his biggest supporters are two guys: Scott Brooks, the head coach, and Kevin Durant.”

Westbrook is not a traditional point man. He led all guards in the NBA in points in the paint, and has developed a very good mid-range jump shot. He is fueled by raw emotion and he’s not as effective when you try to bottle him up in a system and make him into Steve Nash. He’s not Nash. He’s not Chris Paul. And he’s not Rajon Rondo. Much like the character Michael in the movie “Underworld,” he’s a hybrid. He has a unique skill set that needs to be unleashed and not harnessed.

When you have a championship thoroughbred in your stable, you don’t keep him locked up in the barn. You let him run. Westbrook is a thoroughbred who can score, and loves to score. So why turn him into something that he’s not? Let him shoot the ball.

The Thunder have been successful the past three seasons because the team’s general manager (Sam Presti), the head coach (Brooks), and the best player (Durant) are all in when it comes to Westbrook.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastbreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

The Lakers gave up a first-round pick to obtain point guard Ramon Sessions from Cleveland. (GETTY IMAGES)

So, the trade deadline came and went.

The Lakers didn’t make the big move everyone thought they might do in shipping Pau Gasol out and tinkering with the lineup that won them two NBA titles. But, they made a very wise and shrewd move in picking up Ramon Sessions (along with Christian Eyenga) from the Cleveland Cavaliers for Luke Walton, Jason Kapono, a first-round pick in the 2012 NBA draft and a little less than $1 million in cash. In order to shed some light on this solid pickup, I am going to give a brief rundown on this underappreciated player.

Sessions played for Nevada for three years before declaring for the NBA draft in 2007 and was selected in the second round (No. 56 overall) by the Milwaukee Bucks. He was regarded as a solid passer, but he wasn’t thought to be very athletic and there were questions about his ability to score in the NBA (as proven by his 12.3 points per game his junior year with the Wolf Pack).

But the Bucks had Mo Williams and Charlie Bell to play point guard and they weren’t really in need of another PG at the time. So, the Bucks made him the first ever NBA D-League player when they assigned him to the Tulsa 66ers where he excelled. He was called up to the Bucks in January of 2008 and began to slowly get some playing time with Milwaukee. Sessions had a game where he demonstrated his excellent passing and court vision by dishing out 24 assists in a single game versus the Chicago Bulls.

Despite playing well and averaging 11.6 points per game and six assists per game in 1 1/4 seasons with Milwaukee, the Bucks drafted Brandon Jennings in 2009 with the 10th overall pick. Seeing the writing on the wall, Sessions signed a four-year $16-million deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves a few months later. He came off the bench for the Wolves in 2009 because they drafted Jonny Flynn and wanted to start him ahead of Ramon, despite Sessions being the better shooter and being a ball-handler.

In July of 2010, he was traded along with Ryan Hollins for Sebastian Telfair and Delonte West. In 2011, he made 38 starts and played in all 82 games. Statistically speaking, he had a breakout season with 13.3 points per game and 5.2 assists per game while sinking 46.6% of his field goal attempts and 82.3% of his free throws in just 26.3 minutes per game.

However, Cleveland was in the unenviable position of reloading their team after the LeBron James “decision.” Cleveland decided to draft college phenom Kyrie Irving, who spent just one season at Duke where he played in just 11 games before sustaining a season ending injury.This season, Sessions played very well backing up Irving and filling in for him as a stater. He had 13 assists and another game where he had 16 assists, displaying a passing proficiency Irving has not. Trading for Sessions is a very solid one by Mitch Kupchak and will make the Lakers a very tough team to beat come playoff time.

Sessions made his Lakers debut on March 16 and looked pretty damn good in just 19 minutes of action off the bench. He made three of six field goal attempts for seven points, he handed out five assists, and grabbed four rebounds. Not great, but not too shabby for not knowing much of the offense. If Sessions can average 13 points and 7-8 assists he certainly gives the Lakers a much better option at PG than they had before the trade. And his first game in limited minutes show that is definitely a possibility. His per 36-minute stats this year average out to about 15 points and 7.6 assists. And Sessions is a huge upgrade defensively against the ultra-quick guards in the Western Conference.

Sessions is an unrestricted FA in the offseason, but winning will certainly play a factor in him picking up his player option and winning just got a whole lot more realistic for the Lakers.

Darren Jacks is a contributor to OneManFastBreak.net. Send him an email to djroxalot@hotmail.com.