It appears that even KG, Ray, Pierce, and Rajon found it difficult to watch. I remember telling my father, a Celtics fan, that the Bucks would have an awfully difficult time scoring against a defense as good as Boston’s. That being said… I damn sure didn’t expect to come home to find the Deer with just 22 points at the half. It turns out they had scored just seven points in the first quarter, which to my surprise did not set an NBA record (the ’97 Mavs and ’04 Warriors each had two-point quarters). I actually feel like their 34-point second half was the sorriest part. Bad teams will often have low first-half totals against superior competition, but then they’ll usually make up for it by putting some points on the board when all of the other team’s starters are yanked. Aside from D-League legend Earl Barron, who led the Bucks with 10 points in 10 minutes, Milwaukee couldn’t even score on the likes of Carlos Arroyo, Sasha Pavlovic, and an out-of-shape Troy Murphy. In the closing seconds, Keyon Dooling stepped to the line for a pair of freethrows which came gift wrapped with a bow from the officials, who obviously felt sympathetic (it was clearly a jump ball). The guy is an 85 percent freethrow shooter, but you just knew he wasn’t about to make these. He bricked both, and Boston set a franchise record for fewest points allowed in a game.
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap, Paul Pierce dunked again Edition:
- Well, I guess I’ve already given you the gist of the Bucks @ Celtics game… all you need are a few numbers to understand just how ugly it really was: Milwauke made just 22 of 70 shots (31.4%). They missed 11 of 14 threes, and they turned the ball over 17 times. Seven of 12 players who saw the court went either zero or one for something. As for the Celtics, they finished up with 87 points… and won by 31. I find that absolutely hilarious. Ray Allen was the game’s leading scorer with 17. Nenad Krstic recorded his second double-double in a row with 11/14.
- Of all the teams that could’ve ended a 53-game double-double streak… the Warriors get it done. Credit David Lee for working hard on defense, holding Kevin Love to just six points on six shots. In stopping him the Warriors stopped the Wolves and picked up a 100-77 win. The Dubs shot just 44 percent from the floor, but surprisingly won the rebounding battle 46-43 (13-9 offensively)… that’s an impressive feat seeing as Minnesota is one of the league’s top teams on the boards. Fun fact: Love’s streak is the longest of it’s kind since Elvin Hayes recorded 55 double-doubles in a row back in ’73/74.
- When you don’t play any defense whatsoever, you leave yourself prone to 106-93 losses to the Danny Granger-less Pacers (who had lost six in a row). You know who I’m talking about, right? The New York Knicks, of course! Amare Stoudemire (did not get suspended for the T; it got rescinded) and friends gave up a career-high 29 points to Tyler Hansbrough as the Pacers shot 57 percent from the field. Indiana out-scored New York 44-28 in the paint and 16 to 9 on the break while also making the defensive effort necessary to hold NY to 36.6 percent from the field. As long as the Knicks play just one half of the court and launch 30 threes on a regular basis they will continue to perform inconsistently; beating good teams and losing to bad ones.
- The Bobcats beat the Craptors 95-90, but check out the game highlights… from :17 to :45 they include a montage of Reggie Evans setting screens and grabbing offensive boards…
- How f@ckin’ awesome is that? Reggie racked up 7 offensive boards in the first half and a total of 17 rebounds in the game in just under 30 minutes of play. Even though they were crushed on the glass, Charlotte took the win with their 51 percent shooting. DJ Augustin led the ‘Cats with 23 points on 8-14.
- The Other Games: Dwight Howard got 17 shots and destroyed the Suns (26/15/5 BLK) as the Magic rolled to a 111-88 win. Aaron Brooks filled in for Steve Nash and dropped 19 points, but all of them came in the first half. The Cavaliers put up a Buck-like 75 points on 33.8 percent shooting as they lost by 20 to the Thunder. Serge Ibaka grabbed 14 boards and swatted seven shots off the bench.
Quote of the Day: Scott Skiles on his Bucks…
“That’s about as humiliating a defeat as you’ll ever see. They got us on our heels and took our competitive fight away from us. We pretty much just gave into it.”
Nah, Scott, this is 2011. If you aren’t a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, just remember that no matter what, it could’ve been worse. The Cavs did out-score your Bucks by one on the 11th of January… but they gave up 112 in the process.
Photo of the Day: The Minnesota Timberwolves…
…where depression happens. My suggestion: next time you’re feeling blue, just think of how much money they paid you to go lose by 25, or 30, or however much. I don’t know about you, but that sh!t would put a smile on my face some quick.
