It’s Monday, and–as usual–I don’t have much time, so I’ll be keeping this rather brief. Ehem… I wrote that line before I started. This didn’t really end up being that brief. I can never make anything brief when it comes to NBA basketball. I should work on that.
The floundering Celtics appeared to be ready to battle the Heat for the second spot about three minutes into the first quarter. They’d taken an 11-2 lead, and Miami had missed their first four shots. Erik Spoelstra called a timout, and that was pretty much it for Boston. Miami quickly came back to within one point by the end of the quarter, led by seven at the half, and had blown it wide open (15) by the time the fourth quarter rolled around. Miami’s defense looked stellar in this game. I’m sure it had a little something to do with Boston–they’ve been pretty bad offensively lately–but 77 points? This was a huge game… guys were obviously going to show up. Paul Pierce got his 24, KG got his 21, but the Heat stifled everyone else. Rajon Rondo was out-played by Mario Chalmers. Nenad Krstic, Big Baby, and Jeff Green were the only Celtics to score other than the big four (I’m only calling them that to save characters, I refuse to include Rondo with Pierce/KG/Allen), and they could only muster 12 points. Miami, on the other hand, got rare contributions from everyone: their bench came through with 32, and the two starters not named James/Wade/Bosh added another 14. Aside from the suffocating defense, the Heat also crushed the Cs on the boards, in the paint, on the break… it was rather lopsided. LeBron led the attack with 27 on 11-19. Inevitably, there was a little beef in this game…
Jermaine O’Neal is a beast of a human being. LeBron knocked him aside like a bowling pin. The dude’s physical freakishness never ceases to amaze me… a man so powerful simply shouldn’t be able to move like he does. Speaking of people doing things they shouldn’t be doing: say it don’t spray it, Chris…
That was pretty much the highlight of my day. Moving right along…
The Lakers dropped their 5th in a row for the first time since ’06/07 in a 120-106 loss to the rolling Thunder (who have won 9 of their last 11). First of all, this was a huge win for OKC because it brings them within just one game of second place. If they win out against the Bucks and the Kings and the Lakers drop their final two to the Spurs and Kings, then the #2 spot belongs to OKC. Well, unless Dallas takes it… they’ve got the Rockets and Hornets remaining on their schedule, and this Thunder victory put them in a tie with LA. The Lakers do hold tie-breakers over both Dallas and Oklahoma, so they can still control their own destiny and grab the #2 spot by winning out. As for last night’s contest… it was a lot closer than the final score indicates. The Thunder trailed by a point with 3:10 to go, and were still up by just four with under 1:30 to go. Thabo Sefolosha would then put his stamp on the game by forcing Kobe to fumble the ball out of bounds, and it was all Thunder from there. Hilarious photo evidence of the uber pwnage:
Russell Westbrook proceeded to score a layup, and the Thunder ran off 10 points in a row. LA only made one basket in the final three minutes, and it was a completely meaningless one with nine seconds left. Russell Westbrook only made 8 of his 20 shots, but 6 of his 26 may have been the biggest points of the game. His 6-0 run between 1:16 and :40 took it from a 4-point game to a 10-point game, burying the Lakers. Four of those points came as he stuck a cold-blooded three in the face of Kobe Bryant, who fouled him on the shot. He then turned around to the Laker crowd and screamed similar to how Kenyon Martin did not too long ago, moving him up a few notches on my totem pole (dude was swagged the f@ck out). So swagged out, in fact, that he had the sideline reporter all shook up…
Russerrr Rrrestrrrook? C’mon son.
Derrick Rose didn’t have to worry about Dwight Howard, who was suspended for the afternoon upon receiving his 18th technical foul, so he took it to the rack early and often. That resulted in eight buckets within three feet, 10 points at the stripe, 39 points total, and a three-point victory. With the game tied at 89 with 4:30 remaining, Rose went to work, scoring 8 of Chicago’s final 13. He stuck two freethrows that appeared to ice it with nine seconds left (100-96), but J-Rich stuck a three-pointer to make it a one-point game. Carlos Boozer then knocked down a pair, but it was still a one-possession game. Jameer Nelson for the tie…………………….
Yes!!!!! er…no. As you can see from the replay, the shot was just a few tenths of a second too late. Tough break for Jameer and the Magic, who really did put up a valliant effort without Superman Jr. They were still able to come up with 16 offensive rebounds, and although Chicago shot really well, Orlando did force 21 turnovers. Ryan Anderson really stepped up with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Oh, and they had to stick their threes to stay in it, obviously (12-24). Said Coach Thibs: “They played extremely well. It wasn’t a good game for us. Our defense wasn’t very good, our rebounding was below average and we didn’t take care of the ball. We were fortunate (to) win.” Fun fact: Chicago has reached 60 wins for the 6th time in franchise history. They won the title the other five times. Fun fact: They had this guy named Michael Jordan those other five times. He was alright.
By beating New Orleans 111-89, Memphis has tied themselves up with the Hornets for 7th, and also moved within one game of the Blazers for 6th. Greivis Vaquez, who scored 13 points on 5-5, says that his Grizz are going to go into Portland on Tuesday and just play to win. That’s right, Memphis plays Portland tomorrow…
You don’t want to miss this one. These are two teams that play HARD, and the Rose Garden is one of the best atmospheres in the league for an intense, meaningful game like this one. The fact that Zach Randolph is a former Blazer (not only a fomer Blazer, a former Jail Blazer-era Blazer), only adds to the intrigue. I expect this thing to be an absolute battle. I expect technical fouls, flagrant fouls, and plenty of smack talk. You don’t want to miss this one… it tips off at 10:00 PM ET. By the way, Portland is now the team that can control their own destiny in this mess. If they win their final two games, they get sixth. If they lose to Memphis, the Grizz will own the tie-breaker between the two. The Hornets still own the tie-breaker over the Grizzlies despite yesterday’s win, however.
The Mavs took care of business, but unlike all these other teams who are jockeying for position, they didn’t have to face a team that has anything to play for. Jason Kidd returned and contributed 7/7 as Dallas skated past the Suns 115-90. JJ Berea, Jason Terry, and Peja Stojakovic combined for 49 points off the bench, and Dirk led the attack 19. Shawn Marion also put in 18. Dallas knocked down 11 triples while Phoenix missed 18 of 20. Said Steve Nash: “We lacked energy and passion. We got what we deserve.” Damn… don’t be too hard on yourself, Steve. It’s not your fault that the organization has slowly allowed all of the talent to leave town unreplaced.
Chalk up another game winner for Carmelo Anthony…
Also credit Melo for moving his feet and stuffing Danny Granger’s impending attempt to re-take the lead on a pullup midrange jumper. Melo dropped a game-high 34 on the night… he needed 28 shots to get there, but he hit the big one. The guy is amazing when it comes to game-winners. You know exactly what he’s going to do: look you in the eye, jab step, and stick that J… it’s just been proven time after time that there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it. Hell, Granger even fouled him on this one and it still didn’t matter. The guy is cold blooded. This win puts the Knicks a full game ahead of Philly with games against Chicago and Boston on the horizon. Should be intertesting.
That covers all the games that mattered. There were a few others that won’t impact anything but quantities of ping pong balls in what seems like will be a rather weak draft (not that I know much about that… I don’t watch college ball, or follow prospects overseas). Anyway… KWAMAY BROWN scored 19 more points (you may recall that he was coming off of a 23-point explosion), but the Bobcats squandered his heroics and fell to the Pistons 112-101. Even Brook Lopez can grab 11 rebounds on the Craptors. He also scored 35 points, but his Nets lost by seven, 99-92. Jerryd Bayless dropped 19 for the 6th game in a row, and Ed Davis put up 18/8. Lastly, Sacramento beat Golden State by one. My main man Dorell Wright had a career-high six steals, but the Dubs choked an eight-point fourth-quarter lead. How ’bout them Queens? Mofos have won 7 of 11.
