No, that’s not the TD Banknorth Garden, or whatever the hell they’re now calling the building that I still refer to as the Fleet Center… that’s the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA… about as far as you can travel from Boston MA while remaining in the continental United States. I’m not the type to get on people for their rooting interests–I really don’t care why you choose to cheer for whatever team–but I was a little disturbed as fans cheered louder on a Ray Allen jumper than they did on a Blake Griffin alley-oop that damn near had me jumping for joy. I’ve watched my share of Lakers and Celtics games in cities like Memphis and Atlanta… so I’ve seen this type of thing a million times, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it to this extent… Uh, I guess that’s all. I couldn’t come up with an intro… it was a slow night.
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap, Blake Griffin Edition:
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Highlight Recap, Everyone Else Edition: I’m posting early again, so I’ll have to fill in the links as they appear on Youtube. You can use your imagination for now. Roddy Beaubois swats John Wall. John Wall connects from (almost) halfcourt. Air Bud alley-oop slam. Tyson Chandler hammers the lob. Randy Foye throws down in the vicinity of Jeff Green. Nick Young goes for a spin.
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The Celtics came out looking drained and discombobulated in the first half, and had fallen behind by seven to the Clippers at the break. They appeared to lack energy, cohesion, and intensity… it was as if they were still mourning the surprising departures of some of their former teammates. The ball wasn’t moving, guys were taking bad shots, and Los Angeles was throwing down uncontested dunks like they were going out of style. I imagine Doc Rivers must have made one of his patented motivational speeches at halftime, because his team came out and looked much better in the second half. They went on a 14-4 run to begin the third quarter, took the lead on a Nenad Krstic jumper at the 7:45 mark, and never gave it up. Randy Foye kept the Clipps within striking distance with 18 of his game-high 32 points coming in the last 15 minutes, but a substantial run was never really made, and Boston took it 99-92. Nenad Krstic made his presence felt immediately in his first game with his new squad. He scored the first bucket of the contest and snagged a couple offensive boards right off the bat, but he got in foul trouble quickly and was forced to take a seat. He finished with nine points and six boards in 21 minutes, and I thought he looked excellent. He hit the glass, ran the floor, and knocked a jumper down… what more does he need to do? Jeff Green’s debut didn’t go so smoothly. He played 17 forgettable minutes… most of the time appearing to be rather uninvolved in the action. Most of his shots came in isolation situations, resulting in a 2-5, seven-point night. It looks like he’ll need a little more time than Krstic to make this adjustment, but I don’t expect him to struggle for long. As for the Clippers… they did what the Clippers do: come out of the gate strong and fizzle as the game progresses. Blake Griffin was a non-factor in the fourth, failing to score a single point. Chris Kaveman, who was shockingly on fire in the first half, disappeared after the halftime break. LA outshot Boston by five percent, but sent them to the line 41 times.
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Rodney Stuckey made an impactful return to Detroit’s starting lineup with 28/5/8 in a 120-116 Piston victory over Utah (first time the Pistons have beaten the Jazz since ’05). The Jazz, who have now lost six of their last seven, scored with ease (56 paint points, 17 on the break), but they were lit up by D-Town’s long-range gunners. Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, and Austin Daye combined to shoot 10-12 from distance (11-17 as a team). Five of those eleven makes came in the fourth quarter. Detroit missed 8 of their 31 attempts from the line, but they knocked them down when it mattered most. Their final 10 points were the product of 10-11 freethrowing by Gordon, Stuckey, and Bynum. Each member of Utah’s starting frontcourt put up 20 or more points… I figure without D-Will they will be looking to Millsap and Jefferson for more offense. They came through tonight (19-29, 43 points), everyone did offensively… they were simply outgunned.
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Tyson Chandler posted a monster double-double (23/13) as Dallas narrowly defeated the Wizards 105-99. Three starters (Peja, Kidd, and Beaubois) gave Dallas virtually nothing in the scoring department, but the bench came through with 51 points. John Wall led the Wizards with 24 points, although he wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of efficieny, requiring 26 shots to reach that number. This game had a rather strange ending. Washington trailed by eight with three minutes to go… they scored four buckets in a row and tied it up with 1:30 on the clock… then scored just once the rest of the way. Said Jason Terry: “You’re up nine in the fourth early—that’s a situation where you kind of want to go up 15, ice your knees and get on the bus. It didn’t happen, but at the end of the day we want wins.”
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The other games: Neither Joakim Noah nor Andrew Bogut broke into double-figures in the scoring column, but they grabbed 17 and 16 boards respectively. Joakim’s team came away with the win because–BIG surprise here–the Bucks couldn’t put the ball in the basket. They shot 38 percent on their way to 75 points… slightly worse than Chicago’s 41 percent and 83 points. Luol Deng was the game’s leading scorer with 19 big ones. Unlike the Bucks, the Rockets had no trouble putting balls in baskets. Houston dropped 123 on the Nets, who also had an above average night with 108 of their own, including a combined 32 points and 29 assists from Deron Williams and Devin Harris… wait… what?
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Who am I to argue with an official box score? How long do you think Harris will be content coming off the bench behind Sasha Vujacic? How the hell does Brook Lopez not stumble upon a double-double with all those bricks that D-Will and Sasha tossed up? Moving right along… Zach Randolph did what Zach Randolph does (23/12) as the Grizzlies shot 55 percent and beat the piss out of the Queens (120-92). Shane Battier made one shot in 25 minutes in his first game back with the Grizz. Said Samuel Dumblembert, Queen of stupidity: “We just got killed.”
Quote of the Day: Jason Terry gives Phil Jackson some chalkboard material. He recently had this to say about the Lakers…
“We’re not even worried about them. They’re behind us. We got our sights set straight ahead.”
Photo of the Day: My main man Ralph Lawler called his 2,500th Clipper game today…
Thanks for all of the entertainment, Ralph… League Pass certainly wouldn’t be the same without you. Best commentator in the world right there. A few of my favorite Lawler calls…
Bingo!
Oh me oh my!
Slaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam dunk!
