If someone from the future told me at 9:00 PM last night that Dirk Nowitzki was about to go 5-15 against the Lakers, I would’ve put money on a Dallas loss. Good thing I’m not getting my gambling advice from one of these nonexistent future dudes. Actually, I don’t even gamble, but a friend of mine does, and the Lakers’ chokejob cost him 230 bucks. To make matters more frustrating, I know he had just dealt Jason Kidd (who I dumped on him not long ago) in our fantasy league. Kidd finally had his first good game since… I don’t even remember… it feels like it was the stone age. Hang in there, Dean. In other news (and there was plenty of it), the Nets won, the Bucks scored 100 points, and Jason Richardson pulled a Larry Johnson. NBA247365.com’s going to make sense of it all right damn now!
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap: Go DJ. Corey Brewer steals and slams. Kobe Bryant doesn’t respect his elders… at all. Blake Griffin is such a boss he alley-oops to himself. He is also known to put sick spin moves on clowns while going coast to coast for slam dunks. Kenyon Martin can still get up. He can also assist others in their getting up. Andray Blatche doing things a seven footer has no business doing. Danny Granger denies Dorell Wright. Landry Fields sets up Amare Stoudemire for the spike. How can you do this to a little guy named Pooh? Marc Gasol lobs to Rudy Gay. Even small white PGs can dunk on Cleveland. Jameer Nelson gives you an H after the whistle.
- Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, and Sasha Pavlovic led the struggling Mavs to a much-needed victory over the surging Lakers. Kidd scored 21 points on 8-12 (5-8 from three) and dished 10 dimes. This is the first time Kidd’s shot 50% or better from the floor since the 20th of December. Terry and Marion dropped 22 each on just 28 combined shots. Pavlovic, who was playing in just his fifth game of the season, scored 11 on 5-7 in 24 minutes. Dallas won this game with their longe-range shooting. Both teams shot about 55 percent and made 44 shots, but Dallas connected on 12 threes compared to LA’s 6. Only 20 freethrows were taken in this game. The Lakers shot just seven… Kobe averages 7.7 a game on his own. Kobe, Pau, and Lamar were on the South Beach diet, scoring 64 of LA’s 100 points. Luke Walton and Shannon Brown looked an awful lot like Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers with their 1-9 brick laying.
- Andre Iguodala helped the Suxers pry defeat from the jaws of victory by foolishly reaching in on J-Rich as he fired a three with 19 seconds left. Did the play warrant a foul? It was pretty ticky-tack, but Iggy should’ve protected himself by going straight up with his contest. Richardson would knock down both the shot and a freethrow to tie the game, and then following a stepback J by Lou Williams that bounced on the rim about 28 times before deciding to pop out, the game went to an extra period. Orlando got another four-point play, from JJ Redick this time, putting them up three with about 105 ticks left. The lead was still three with 45 seconds on the clock, but Thaddeus Young then managed to cut it to one with a one-handed slam. Unfortunately for Philly, that was the final bucket of the game. They had two looks from inside the paint to win it, but Andre Iguodala missed a bunny and Evan Turner clanked a half hook. Orlando outscored the Suxers by one in the extra period, resulting in a 99-98 victory.
- Trevor Ariza got away with whacking Mike Conley on the arm as he attempted to heave a three-pointer as time expired in regulation, putting the Hornets and Grizz in OT. The Bees trailed by four with 20 seconds left, but CP3 knocked down a three from the parking lot to cut it down to one. On the following possession Mike Conley threw a risky inbound pass that ended up costing Memphis the game. Paul picked it off and got the ball to Marcus Thornton for a game-winning layup. Like I said, Conley’s miscue did cost Memphis dearly, but he’s the only reason they were in it in the first place. Mike scored 22 points on 9 of 11 shooting. Rudy Gay also had 22, but needed 23 shots to get there. Chris Paul led the Hornets with 20 points and 12 assists. I only saw the final minutes of regulation and the overtime in this game, but the Grizzlies’ commentators seemed furious that Memphis only attempted 15 freethrows compared to 28 for New Orleans. They insinuated home cooking… whether there’s any merit to that or not, unfortunately I can’t tell you for sure, but Conley certainly did get hit on the arm on the final play in regulation.
- The Bucks dropped 100 on a team not from New Jersey for the first time since December 13th. Why do the Deer have such a hard time throwing the ball through the ring? Well first of all, they’re a Scott Skiles team. Skiles doesn’t care if you’ve never shot a basketball in your life if you try really hard on defense. Secondly, with Brandon Jennings out and Andrew Bogut’s inability to score of late, guys like Keyon Dooling, Corey Maggette, and Earl Boykins are forced to carry the offensive load. No disrespect to little Earl, who has been great this season, but that isn’t the league’s most explosive big three. Every once in a while, though (likely against crappy teams like Washington), they’ll do what they did last night: combine for 63 points. Anyway, Milwaukee beat Washington 100 to 87. The Wizards clanked 9 of 11 threes and sent the Bucks to the line 32 times, where Andrew Bogut went 0-4, but the rest of the team 25-28.
- After losing to the Nets 103-95, Deron Williams had this to say: ”It’s just another bad loss. What else can I say?” Is it just another bad loss, Deron, or is it your team’s worst so far this season? I’ll go with the latter. How do you fall behind to the Nets right from the start after becoming the first .500+ victim of the Wizards all season long? Yeah, the Nets probably did relax a bit seeing as the Billionaire finally told Carmelo to F himself, but they’re still the Nets. It’s not like Brook Lopez or Devin Harris did anything different… Lopez grabbed just four boards, and Harris racked up six turnovers. Utah was beaten by former mormon Kris Humphries, Laker rejects Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar, rookie Derrick Favors, and Travis Outlaw. All five of those guys dropped double figures in as few as 20 minutes. Same ol’ Jazz… they’ll pick up impressive wins at home, drop games to cellar-dwelling squads on the road, and lose in the second round.
- Looks like the Nets weren’t the only ones relieved by the ending of the Melo to NJ saga. Anthony scored 35 points as the Nuggets beat Oklahoma City 112-107. Ty Lawson’s 11 off the bench were bigger than they look… they came on 5-7 shooting in just 18 minutes, and seven of them were scored in the final period. Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 28. OKC simply didn’t quite shoot well enough to win this one. Both teams made 24 FTs, but Denver shot three percent better from the floor.
- Blake Griffin’s double-double streak has ended at 27 straight, but no one cares, because he dropped 29/8/6 in a 126-111 Clipper win over the T-Wolves. My favorite LA team has now won 11 of their last 15 as they continue to look like a completely different squad than the one that began the season, what was it, 1-12? Somthing like that. So, is it time to start talking playoffs?
-
Calm down, Jim, it isn’t as crazy as it sounds. They’re currently six games out with five teams in the way. Those teams are: Golden State, Memphis, Houston, Phoenix, and Portland. I’m not worried about the Suns or Warriors (unfortunately, because I like the Dubs). I have no doubt that the Clipps will finish higher than both of those teams. Portland players continue to drop like flies, and it’s crazy that they’ve been able to win games as it is. If anyone else goes down I imagine they’ll fall out of contention, but I can’t count them out right now because they keep on winning games. Houston also has injury issues, and while they still have quite a bit of talent remaining, I feel that the Clippers are the better team right now. I think LA will make up the three-game lead that Houston has on them at this point. As for the Grizzlies… they’re talented, but I’m not buying them. They’re 23rd in the league is assists per game, which indicates a problem of theirs: they’ve got a bunch of guys who like to go one on one, and that isn’t how you win basketball games. Barring an injury to Blake Griffin, Baron Davis, or Eric Gordon (who actually hurt his finger last night, but it sounds like it isn’t serious), I’m going to say they’ll finish 9th at worst. The only team I’m not sure if they can catch is Portland. Well whaddayaknow, the Clipps will be taking their talents to the Rose Garden tonight. I figure these are the two teams who will be battling for that 8th spot, so this is as big as a game gets in mid-January. I’m drooling at the thought of a Clippers/Lakers first round playoff series. I think everyone is… except for Laker fans. Please, basketball Gods, make that happen for me.
-
Thirty-eight-year-old Grant Hill put 27/12 on the Cavaliers in a 106-98 Phoenix victory. Take note of this: Grant is averaging 24/8 over his last three games. The old man is killing everyone, not just the Cavs. Following three losses that ranged from 22 to 57 points, this eight-pointer wasn’t so bad for the Cavs. Antawn Jamison called it “something to build on”. That illusive ninth victory is right around the corner, I can sense it.
-
The other games: Monta Ellis crossed up Brandon Rush and beat the Pacers at the buzzer. The Moped dropped 36 in the game. The world’s largest leprechaun had a 12/12 double-double to help the Celtics eek out a four-point win over the Pistons. DeJuan Blair scored 22 points and grabbed 11 boards as the Spurs beat the Craptors 104-95. The Knicks have fallen to just three games over .500 with a 104-89 loss to the Rockets. Chuck Hayes had a sick fantasy line: 8/12/4/3STL/2BLK on 4-5 FG. Nicolas Batum dropped 24 to lead the Blazers in a four-point OT victory over Beno Udrih (another 20-point night) and the Kings.
Quote of the Day: Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov with the funniest quote of the year…
“Maybe he sent me an e-mail but I never use computer, that’s why, maybe, I missed it or maybe carrier pigeon got lost.”
You really have to hear him say it… skip to the 55 second mark:
May I suggest buying your pigeon a GPS? I hooked mine up with a Garmin. Pidgey hasn’t gotten lost since.
Photo of the Day: The most awkward NBA-related photo I’ve seen in a while…
If you don’t understand what makes this awkward, click here and scroll down until you see “controversies”. Cat’s smile is faker than a pair of 50 dollar Jordans. Look at the guy in the background, he’s like “oh hell naw….”
The Celtics are WASHED UP for 2011 – get these guys a fishing pole!