San Antonio’s rodeo road trip is off to a losing start because LaMarcus Aldridge decided to hit Timmy and company with the best game of his life. Aldridge finished up with 40 points and 11 boards after starting the game with a turnover, two misses, and a foul. The struggles didn’t last long… he had 16 points by the time the first quarter came to a close. The Spurs must be wondering what the hell hit ‘em. Last time they played the Blazers, LaMarcus had a routine 16-point night. This was the first the Spurs had seen of the new, improved, every-night-beast-mode LaMarcus Aldridge that took the league by surprise about a month and a half ago. Have enough coaches taken notice over the short time span to get Aldridge in the All-Star game? I have my doubts, but we’ll find out tomorrow. In other news, Sacramento couldn’t beat another contender, Kevin Martin shot all of his team’s freethrows, and Washington still hasn’t won anywhere but the Verizon Center.
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap: Jason Smith drives and throws down. Javale McGee punches an oop on top of Aaron Gray. Paul lobs to Ariza. Kendrick Perkins, for whom finishing at the rim is as daunting a task as brain surgery, gets rejected by Donte Greene. Paul Pierce throws down on the break. LaMarcus Aldridge scores 2 of his 40. John Wall splits two defenders with the dribble, then splits two more for the score.
- Even with all of the injuries, I’ve stopped expecting the Blazers to go away. No matter how many people go down with bum knees, they never seem to leave the picture. Coming off of a pair of losses, Portland appeared to be in for another battle with the best team in the West coming to town. The Spurs showed up at the Rose Garden… the best team in the West did not. San Antonio missed 7 of 15 freethrows and shot 42.7 percent from the floor as they failed to reach 90 points for just the third time this season. The Spurs were doing well at the half… they had 52 points and a five-point lead, but Greg Popovich’s speech must not have been one of his better ones. His team went ice cold at the end of the third quarter, and Portland just kept on rolling all the way to a 99-86 victory. San Antonio scored just 34 points in the second half. Aldridge’s 40 points came on 16 of 23 from the floor and eight of nine from the stripe. Wes Matthews contributed 21, and Andre Miller had 18.
- Could the Wizards make it 1-24 on the road with Emeka Okafor out of the lineup for the Hornets? Well, I guess I already told you the answer. Okafor’s replacement, Jason Smith, made 9 of 11 shots on his way to 20 points in 25 minutes as New Orleans took this one 97-89. Fun fact: Jason Smith had never before scored 20 points in his three-year career. Hopefully his first time won’t be his last, because I added him to my fantasy team. I figure any big man who plays with Chris Paul has to be a decent 13th option. Anyway, the Wiz indeed fell to 0-25 on the road. Nick Young was the game’s leading scorer with 30, and Andray Blatche was next with 21. Jason Smith’s 20 led the Hornets.
- DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo got into it a little bit as the Kings two-game win streak came to an end:
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Said Kevin Garnett: “We’re a very proud team. We don’t really do that to other people and just want hold up some decency in this game and respect. We all have each other’s back. I guess (Rondo) felt he was standing over me, which is inappropriate to us.” LOL WUT?!
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What I think Kevin meant to say is, “we don’t do that to people who aren’t small white point guards.” Seriously though, LOL @ KG having anything to say about respect. Just LOL @ that. Now that I’m through with my KG bashing, I can get back to business. The Celtics had a terrible second quarter in which they allowed 34 points to the Kings, but held them to just 36 in the entire second half and won the game 95-90. Ray Allen made four of seven triples on his way to 22 points, and Rajon Rondo did 17/10.
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Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Lamar Odom, and Kobe Bryant had a helluva battle at Staples Center last night. Scola and Odom each had big double-doubles (24/15, 20/20), and Martin and Kobe scored 30 and 32 respectively in a high-scoring duel that required OT. Houston used the long ball to hang around, but in the end, 10 of 38 wasn’t good enough to get the job done. LA doubled H-Town’s eight overtime points as they took the much-needed 114-106 victory. Here’s a strange stat for you: Kevin Martin shot all 11 of Houston’s freethrows.
Quote of the Day: Andray Blatche on the Wizards…
“We’re not giving in and we’re not giving up. We’re just playing scared. It’s tough when you fight the whole game and you come up short. …I’m sure that if we keep playing like we’re playing, we’re going to pull off a road win.”
I don’t understand what this crew could possibly be scared of. There’s absolutely no expectations, and there’s nothing to lose but pingpong balls.
Photo of the Day:
Did anybody see that dunk that Deandre Jordan did vs the Bucks last night? Should have been number 1 on sportscenter top 10 plays.