Seriously, it’s running that slow right now …so there will be no intro nor header image. Sorry, but I just can’t take it anymore.
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap: QUALITY top 10… but you may want to mute it because they chose the strangest background music I’ve ever heard.
- Or maybe you shouldn’t have muted it, because the narrator actually said something funny! “How would you feel if you had leather for dinner?” Well… Greg can say he got the W.
- Derrick Rose dropped a career-high-matching 42 points on 27 shots (got to the line 21 times) on the Pacers, but fouled out in overtime on a questionable call, and the Bulls looked pretty inept without him. Even though Chicago dropped this one 108-115, I think D-Rose did nothing but make his case for league MVP even stronger. The dude scored 20 of Chicago’s final 21 points (essentially single-handedly brought them back from 10 down). He litterally put this team in his backpack and hauled them to overtime. The Bulls were down three when he fouled out. There were 24 seconds left in the game… Chicago missed all three of the shots they would take from that point on. Had D-Rose not been whistled for that foul (I felt that he stripped McBob cleanly), I have no doubt that Chicago would’ve won this game. I think I actually jinxed them with my “undefeated in their division comment” from my last recap post. That is no longer a possibility with this L to the Pacers. They’ll have to settle for 15-1 at best. Tyler Hansbrough led Indy with 29/12… the kid is a player. Danny Granger went just 4-11 from the field but hit one of the biggest shots of the night: a three-pointer to put his squad up seven about halfway through OT. Roy Hibbert came up with a beautiful block on the MVP to preserve that lead just a few possessions later. Even though they damn near pulled off a massive choke-job at the end of regulation (two points in the final three minutes), this is a great win for Indiana. The Bulls were the league’s hottest team with, what was it, eight wins in a row? Chicago does remain atop the Eastern Conference standings by a half game because the Celtics got their asses beat in Houston.
- After finishing up the Bulls/Pacers thriller, I noticed that the Bobcats and Thunder were involved in a tight game about midway through the fourth quarter. It was 81-79 OKC when I switched the channel. I’m not a huge fan of the Thunder’s commentators, so I went with the Bobcats’ broadcast. You know you’re watching the ‘Cats when every other commercial is for either monster trucks or Nascar. Anyway, by the time that thought had finished processing, I look at the score and it’s freaking ballooned to 96-79. OKC had gone on a 15-0 run over the course of five minutes, during which Russell Westbrook threw down two monsterous dunks. Charlotte scored just five points in the final eight minutes of this game… and while the Thunder D may deserve some credit, it honestly just looked like bad offense to me. Gerald Henderson fired an airball, Kwame Brown clunked freethrows, Tyrus Thomas looked like… a rusty Tyrus Thomas… it was bad. Kevin Durant was the game’s leading scorer with 25, and James Harden put in 21 off the bench.
- The league’s highest-scoring team was only able to muster 82 points in Orlando… but they buckled down on defense, and their 82 were nearly enough for what would’ve been a great win. Unfortunately, Jameer Nelson came through with this rainbow…
- As soon as that shot ripped the cord my brother and I looked at each other and said, “I thought that thing was like eight feet short.” Ty Lawson was right in his grill… I was 100% sure OT was imminent. Anyway, let’s rewind to the previous possession. Down two with about 15 seconds left, Denver put the ball in the hands of Danilo Gallinari. He took it strong to the rack and got fouled. Dwight Howard swatted his floater anyway, and I felt like the ball was on it’s way down. The officials determined that it had no chance to go in… but I felt like the call was questionable at best. I think the shot would’ve caught a little iron. Anyway, Gallo was ice-cold at the line with a pair of confident makes. I was really rooting for Denver in this one… I love what they’ve done since the Melo trade. I honestly feel like this 82-85 L actually says more about them than a 120-119 win would have. The Nuggets could not have shot 28-78 and remained competetive with a good team like Orlando earlier in the season. Denver is playing both ends of the floor now. Since the trade they only give up 93 PPG. To give you a little perspective on that number, they gave up 104.5 in Janury.
- LeBron James dropped 43 points in 31 minutes (that’s correct, 43 in 31) as Miami beat the feathers off of the Hawks 106-85. Next time I update my NBA dictionary I’m going to put the Hawks down as the definition of “pretenders”. This team will never be anything but mediocre as they continue pay a pseudo-franchise player a max contract to beat up on bad teams and lose badly to good ones. I feel like it would almost be better for them to blow it up and suck for a while… at least they could get a nice draft pick (although history tells me that they’d f@ck that up). Is losing in the first round every year really where it’s at? Anyway, back to LeBron James… he made 16 of 21 shots (5-7 threes), most of the work coming during a third-quarter barrage during which he scored his final 23 points.
- The Knicks… apparently want to give the Hawks a run for that “pretenders” title. Carmelo Anthony bricked 10 of 12 shots as his squad took a 95-99 L in Detroit. Fun fact courtesy of the AP’s game recap:
Detroit’s backcourt of 6-foot-8 Tracy McGrady and 6-11 Austin Daye was the tallest to start a game in the NBA since at least 1986-87, according to STATS, LLC.
- Teams the Knicks have lost to since the deal: Cleveland (x2), Orlando, Dallas, Indiana (x2), and Detroit. I honestly don’t know what more I can say about this team… we all know what the problem is: they play no defense whatsoever. I don’t feel like this roster, especially under the current coach, ever will. I feel like a broken record every time I write something about NY, so I’m just going to stop now.
- The Wolves had the Lakers involved in a nail-biter up until the final few minutes. Laker commentator Stu Lantz said it best around the two-minute mark of the fourth: “They’re starting to play like a young team now.” Pretty much… Minnesota missed six of their final eight shots, most of which weren’t very good looks. Rookie Wes Johnson had a great game with 29 points. Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 25, and Andrew Bynum grabbed another 14 boards. Kobe Bryant had yet another rough shooting night (6-17), but as long as the Lakers keep winning games at this rate I guess that means next to nothing.
- The Other Games: So you’ve heard about what Rose and LeBron did, but how about my main man Trevor Booker? This fool went and put a career-high 26 points and 13 boards on the Craptors, but the Wizards naturally lost (107-116) as it was a road game. Andrea Bargnani recorded 33 points, 5 assists, and………. 3 rebounds. I can’t tell you what happened to the Celtics because I didn’t watch their 77-93 L to the H-Town Boys, but based on the box score it looks like they couldn’t hit a jumper (1-10 from three, 30-71 from the field). Rajon Rondo had another god-awful game with four points and six assists on 2-11. Patrick Patterson did 18/12 for Houston. Tony Parker put 33 points on the Mavs in a 97-91 Spurs victory. The Mavs are slowly sliding down the standings… they’re now in third, and just 2.5 games ahead of the fourth-place Thunder. The Nets gave up 110 points to the Bucks, and Deron Williams may be getting shut down for the remainder of the 2010/11. R.I.P. season. The 76ers got contributions from a variety of players (5+ points from 11 players) as they crushed the Queens 102-80. Sacramento turned the ball over 21 times and shot 34.5 percent from the field. My main man Dorell Wright dropped 30 points, but the Warriors lost to the Suns 97-108. Dorell’s four triples weren’t nearly enough to make up for 21 team TOs. Channing Frye is back for PHX; he dropped 17/9.
Quote of the Day: According to Andre Iguodala, you don’t really have to do anything to beat the Kings. They’re experts in self-destruction.
“The Kings are a high-turnover team. You don’t have to gamble or be aggressive and go for steals against them to get turnovers. We just let them make the mistakes.”
Photo of the Day:
Kobe saves Kevin Love from going out of bounds as Kevin Love saves the ball from going out of bounds. What a nice guy that Kobe is.
