Your eyes do not deceive you. That is an unaltered screenshot from last night’s Bobcats @ Kings Yahoo! box score. No, the game wasn’t decided at halftime… there was no garbage time at all, in fact. KWAMAY is simply playing some half-decent ball right now. Check out his numbers over the past six games: 9.8 points, 10.7 boards, and 70.8 percent from the freethrow line (17-24). I threw in the freethrow numbers because the fact that he’s knocking them down right now indicates confidence. He’s also catching and holding onto the basketball, which has always been a problem. He’s averaging just over a turnover a game during this stretch, about the same as his season average, even though his minutes and role have been increased. Can he keep it up? He’s never done anything in his entire 11-year career that would lead me to believe that he can… but I’ve never seen the guy look even a little confident until right now. A dose of confidence can go a long way for a basketball player.
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap: Odom scores while flying out of bounds. Nick Young decides to get dizzy before he scores a layup. Donte Greene can also spin and score. Gerald Wallace drops the hammer. Baron connects with Griffin from halfcourt. Top 10 plays.
- Lowlight Recap: Shannon Brown hasn’t FAILed this hard since the dunk contest…
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As you know from the intro, Kwame Brown came up big for the Bobcats in their 94-89 victory at Sacramento. He played so well, in fact, that his performance even touched players from the opposing team. After the game, Carl Landry had this to say: ”He was a No. 1 pick, so I wasn’t surprised. He did a great job of coming out and being aggressive. His impact on tonight’s game was really special.” Aww, how nice. Anyway, Stephen Jackson led the ‘Cats with 21, Gerald Wallace put 19 on his former team, and DJ Augustin pitched in with 16. Charlotte nearly shot themselves in the foot with 16 turnovers, but the Kings were unable to put the ball in the hoop, shooting just 36 percent from the field. Their starting lineup went a combined 19 of 56. Yikes.
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My LA Clippers are toast. Eric Gordon’s going to miss a month or so with a banged up wrist, and they’ve dug themselves far too deep a hole to climb out of without him. They lost by seven in Dallas last night, and continue on with a road game in Houston tonight. Thirteen of their next sixteen are on the road, and with Gordon likely to miss that entire stretch… I don’t even want to talk about it. As for last night’s game, Jose Juan Barea and Jason Terry lit it up off the bench. They scored 25 and 28 respectively on 20-32 combined FG. Tyson Chandler had a season-high 21 points on 5-5, and Dirk Nowitzki scored 20. Griffin led the Clipps with 22/11/4. I don’t know where else to put this, so I’m just going to throw it out there now…
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Kendrick Perkins was able to leisurely make his season debut against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Perk played 17 minutes, scored seven points, and grabbed six boards as the Celtics won by 17. The Cs went 50 percent from the field and lit it up from long range (11-24). Paul Pierce was the leading scorer with 24, Ray Allen knocked down three more triples while scoring 18, and Von Wafer dropped 10 off the bench in a season-high 21 minutes. The Cavs consecutive L counter is now on it’s 18th tick.
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The Musical Mormon Missionaries took their show on the road to Los Angeles, knocked on the Lakers’ door, and were swiftly sent packing. That’s exactly how it goes when they come to my house, too… if I make the mistake of answering the door, that is. The Lakers dropped 37 in the first quarter and 29 in the second. The Jazz? They struggled mightilly with totals of 22 and 16. According to my calculations, that’s a 28-point halftime lead for the Lake Show. Earlier this season Utah was pulling all those crazy comebacks, but there was none of that last night. LA took this one with ease, 120-91. They led from the opening tip to the final buzzer, shot 62 percent from the floor, and knocked down 24 of 29 freebies.
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Al Harrington killed it for my fantasy squad, dropping six threes and 21 points off the bench as Denver defeated the Wizards 120-109. It’s a damn good thing Big Al stepped it up, because I’ve got Eric Gordon and a couple other injuries to deal with. Back to real life… the Wiz slightly outshot the Nuggs, equalled them on the offensive glass, had two fewer give aways, and made just three less freethrows… so what the hell happened? Well, not only did Harrington knock down six triples, the rest of the Nuggs knocked down another six. Washington? They made two.
Quote of the Day: Flip Saunders on his Wizards…
“I think our guys are looking forward to going on the road.”
…but why? You’re 0-21 on the road.
“Sometimes going on the road for a four-game trip is better than going for one game because you have the opportunity to bond a little bit.”
Yup, there’s nothin’ like four more losses to help a 13-31 team bond.
Photo of the Day: It happens to the best of ‘em…
