You know what drives me nuts about LeBron James? He scores 51 points, the NBA’s high mark this season, yet still leaves me disappointed. How the hell could one possibly be disappointed by 51/11/8? Well, because as great a line as that is, it should’ve been better. James scored 23 points in the first quarter last night. He took nine shots in the quarter, making all nine of them. Second quarter? 3-5, six points. Third quarter? 4-7, 11 points. Fourth quarter? 1-3, 11 points. Ever since his days in Cleveland he’s been doing this thing where he gets off to these explosive starts, then takes two and a half quarters off, then comes through big in the end after the other team’s made a comeback. LeBron did put Orlando to bed with a dagger of a triple at the 1:29 mark, but it never should’ve been necessary. Had the King not spent most of the second and third quarters playing that signature passive basketball of his, Orlando never would’ve been in the damn game, and he could’ve watched the fourth quarter from the bench with his 50-point night already intact. I wish that just one time LeBron would keep gunning when he’s got the hot hand… I feel like we could be in for something special… but I don’t think he’ll ever do it. He seems to get some strange satisfaction out of watching from a distance as his teammates struggle to put the ball in the hoop, allowing the other team to make it a game again, then playing hero at the end.
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap: Dorell Wright catches a reverse oop from Steph Curry, who launched the pass from the other end of the floor. Gary Neal gets lucky and beats the buzzer. None of the other “highlights” are worth your time.
- Yeah…. Dwight, you probably should’ve refrained from all of these pregame theatrics:
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LeBron says he didn’t see it, but he damn sure played like he was watching. I have a funny feeling Dwight’s mockery of the powder toss and photo shoot rituals played some role in pissing LeBron off enough to give the Magic 51 points. You could say it was GM Otis Smith’s comments about his decision to join the Heat, but they’d already played the Magic twice this season and the King had been quiet, averaging just 20 PPG. Yup, sorry Dwight, but this one’s on you as far as I’m concerned. Oh yeah, and if you’re gonna go around acting like a tool, at least be sure to produce in the goddamn game… none of this 3 of 13 from the line for 17 points along with a second-half disappearing act.
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The Lakers didn’t shoot well against the Spurs, but they ultimately lost because they were unable to pull down a rebound. LA’s 88 points on 42.5 percent shooting should’ve gotten the job done, but Lamar Odom failed to put a body on Antonio McDyess on the final possession of the game…
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I shouldn’t just pin all the blame on Lamar, though. That whole sequence with the miss by Duncan and the tip by McDyess never should’ve even happened. The Lakers had two chances to grab a board on a missed three by Ginobili and a missed floater by Tony Parker, but failed to get possession of the ball on both occasions, which gave the Spurs those final two chances. I think we can all agree that four looks is three too many to give the Spurs in this scenario. Most NBA teams, let alone the one with the league’s best record, will be able to convert at a 25 percent clip. I’m sure if Phil had a chance to do it all over again he would’ve had Andrew Bynum in the game. Bynum had a team-high 10 boards in the game in 29 minutes of play. Kobe Bryant, who’s been taking a lot of heat for his shot selection lately, played a distributor role in this one. He took just 18 shots (made five) while dishing 10 assists. He sat the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, and made a jumper immediately after checking back into the game. That was his only bucket in the final period (1-5. Someone on TV just said 1-4, but I swear I counted 1-5. Whatever). Richard Jefferson came up huge for San Antonio with four threes and 18 points, and Tony Parker scored a game-high 21 points, most of which came in the third quarter.
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Monta Ellis scored 24 points as the Warriors shot 50 percent from the floor and beat the Bucks 100-94. The Dubs made 12 of 24 triples and got double figures from six players. Ersan Ilyasova led Milwaukee with 23 points. Former Warrior Corey Maggette scored 21, and Luc Richard Mbah A Moute had 15 points and 19 boards. I didn’t see this game, so I’ll just let Scott Skiles tell you what happened: “We had so many opportunities, so many open floor fast-break opportunities that we kind of kicked away. We took some wide open shots and had a couple of three-on-ones and came up empty-handed.”
Quote of the Day: Tyson Chandler says he’s the best center out West. Via Insidehoops.com…
“When you look at it as a center standpoint, I feel like I’m the best center in the West.”
The fact that he’s not that far off speaks more for how weak the center position is in the Western Conference than it does for Chandler. It also indicates that Tyson must be playing with a good point guard right now. Jason Kidd? Yeah, he’s still known to be an effective distributor. Funny how Chandler sucked in Chicago, became a solid starter in New Orleans, sucked in Charlotte, and now he’s suddenly effective again in Dallas.
Photo of the Day: Oops.
