We already knew about Wall’s prowess on the basketball court, but last night we learned that he’s also a very talented dancer. The guy does it all. November 2nd in the NBA also included Super Cool’s return to Miami, JJ Hickson going ham (if you aren’t up on your southern hip-hop influenced slang, ham = crazy, I may use the term from time to time), and a game being postponed due to asbestos. Let us begin with the highlights, as always…
Random Observations: First of all, I should let everyone know that the links are now external. No more right clicking, opening in new tabs, or clicking the back button 50 times. Secondly, NBA 24/7 365 now has a Facebook page, you should “like” it so you are alerted every time I post something.
- Highlight Recap: Various John Wall highlights. John Wall steals and slams. Michael Beasley putback dunk. LeBron sends Wes Johnson’s shot into the crowd. Dante Cunningham reverse alley-oop. JJ Hickson throws it down. Matt Barnes putback dunk. Devin Ebanks skies for an alley-oop from Blake. Jrue Holiday behind the back to Iggy.
- John Wall damn near had a quad-double as the Wizards beat the Sixers in OT. The numbers: 29 points, 13 assists, 9 steals, and 8 turnovers. The steals set a franchise record, and the points and assists are the most by a rookie so far this season… and for those reasons nobody cares about the TOs (except for Wall, he mentioned that he needs to work on cutting them down after the game). As for the pregame dance? Apparently it was a security guy’s idea: “The security guy told me I need to dance to get the crowd into it, so I did it for them.” Good call, Security guy. Now that I’m done rambling about the greatness of John Wall I can tell you about the game. Lou Williams scored 20 4th period points (30 in the game) and had the Sixers up three with a few seconds left, but Cartier Martin tied the game with a highly-contested triple in the face of Andre Iguodala. Andray Blatche, who had 23 points in the game, hit a couple of freethrows with seven seconds left in OT to win the game for the Wizards. Evan Turner, the second pick in the 2010 draft, played 27 minutes off the bench and scored all nine of his points in the 4th quarter. Turner has pretty much no hype at this point, I honestly forgot the #2 pick was even playing in this game.
- Rajon Rondo dished out another 17 assists last night (without a single turnover), boosting his total through four games up to 67. That means he’s currently dishing 16.8 dimes a game, an absolutely mind-boggling number. His teammates have helped him out by shooting well thus far. As a team the Celtics have shot 46% or better in all of their games. First-year Celtic Jermaine O’Neal raved about Rondo after the game: “I knew Rondo was a pretty good young point guard, but his control and his command of the game … it’s light years ahead of his age. He looks like he’s been in the league 15 years already. It’s rare you find point guards with that type of command.” O’Neal continues: “He has an opportunity to be, if health and everything pans out, to be one of the all-time great point guards this league has ever seen.” JO would throw the “if he remains healthy” thing in there. Poor guy wasn’t so fortunate himself. Anyway, Boston beat up on Detroit 109-86. Ben Gordon started the game in place of Rip Hamilton who sat out with a sore right foot. Hamilton is supposed to be back by the weekend, but until then watch out for some potential big scoring nights for BG.
- Michael Beasley’s return to South Beach could’ve gone better for him. Things were looking up as he began the game with a big dunk, but it was all down hill from there. After playing just 10 minutes, Beasley fell hard on his left hip and was done for the night. His Timberwolves, who he called the worst team in the league just days ago, proceeded to get scorched by the 58% shooting of the Heat and lost by 32. Eddie House and James Jones combined to hit nine triples.
- The Cavaliers lost to the Hawks, but Cleveland fans have to be about as optimistic as a Cleveland fan can possibly be after watching JJ Hickson score 31 points (also, Mo Williams returned from injury! Yay!). Hickson’s individual progress is probably more important than winning games at this point, seeing as he’s the only guy on the team that it really makes sense to have on a roster which needs to go through a major rebuilding process. So, Cavs fans, remember: the team isn’t going to be any good this season, you have a young guy with great athleticism and a little talent, focus on him and pray to the basketball gods that he makes astronomical improvements… and don’t jump. It’ll all be OK in time.
- Matt Barnes was all over the place last night as the Lakers mopped the floor with the Memphis Grizzlies and their 40-million-dollar point guard Mike Conley (so much for my Tuesday night game to watch). Barnes recorded a big-time double double off the bench with 16 points and 14 boards. The more I watch the Lakers, the more I feel that they’re even better than last season. Steve Blake and Matt Barnes have fit seemlessly into their roles, Shannon Brown’s jumper has been money, and Lamar Odom has been stupendous… throw all of that on top of Pau Gasol’s beastliness and Kobe’s supposed 100% status and you have a 4-0 Lakers team which has looked pretty goddamn impressive so far, although they are yet to play any great teams. The game against Portland on Sunday should be more of a test than four games against Houston, Phoenix, Golden State, and Memphis were.
- Just as Knicks fans could start to see a glimmer of light at the end of a really long tunnel, the world’s most famous arena layed an egg. My fantasy team, consisting of Dwight Howard and the almighty Wilson Chandler, also layed an egg as the Knicks/Magic game was postponed due to some asbestos falling down from MSG’s ceiling. Madison Square Garden has been just about the only redeeming quality of the Knicks franchise over the past decade, so it makes sense that it would fall apart as soon as they begin to repair the team that plays in it. Management can only handle one massive renovation at a time. A make-up date for last night’s game is yet to be scheduled, and MSG is yet to re-open.
- Wes Matthews dropped 18 off the bench as Portland got back to their winning ways. The Blazers knocked off the Bucks (who have fallen to 1-3) and finished their four-game road trip at 3-1. Portland will get one day off and then play the Thunder back at the Rose Garden. Man, the NBA schedule makers didn’t cut Portland any slack to start the season. They have to play the Lakers in LA on Sunday, and it’s a back-to-back. Well, at least the first game is at home against the Craptors.
Quote of the Day: AP sports writer Tom Withers had this to say after the Hawks beat the Cavaliers…
“There’s still one perfect team in the Eastern Conference. It’s from the deep south, loaded with young, improving stars and it just might be good enough to make a run at an NBA title. Watch out, Miami. The Atlanta Hawks could be gaining on you.”
Let’s break this down: the Hawks have won four games in a row, and it’s the beginning of November, so that means they haven’t lost yet. They’re loaded with same young and improving “stars” that they’ve been loaded with for the past three seasons. They beat the Grizzlies, then eeked out wins over the Sixers and Wizards, and last night they beat Cleveland by 12… and they’re ready to make a run at a championship now? Did no one tell this poor guy that LeBron changed teams? Hell, even if he didn’t, this quote would still look dumb. My question: how does this guy get paid to write about the NBA while I sit here and do it for free? When I was a kid my mother always told me that “life’s not fair”. I seem to keep finiding out over and over again that she was right on the money.
Photo of the Day: Now that you are depressed from reading my “life’s not fair” rant, let me cheer you up with a funny photo of Big Baby attempting to take a bite out of his own hand while running over Rodney Stuckey…
I’d say Big Baby is right up there with Pau Gasol for the lead in the “most funny facial expressions made during game action” statistic. Maybe I’ll put a little compilation image together. Stay tuned.
Great update, you made me lol a couple of times. Keep it up!