All 22 teams that took the court yesterday night did so against a team from their own conference, which ended up clarifying the East’s playoff picture and further shaking up the situation out West. Due to the fact that so many games had an effect on other games, I’m going to organize this post a little differently than I normally would. Hopefully that’s cool with my readers.
- Highlight Recap: Kenyon Martin cleans up Ty Lawson’s mess. Birdman takes flight. The top 10 has the rest covered…
- Lowlight Recap, Von Wafer Edition: Be sure to note both the time and score when this takes place…
- Eastern Conference, 2nd Place Battle: With a Heat win and a Celtic loss Miami would clinch the 2nd spot in the East. The significance of the second spot is homecourt advantage if and when the two have to meet (gonna have to happen if either of them plan on making the finals). Even with the way they’re playing lately, a Celtic loss didn’t seem likely. All they had to do was beat the Wizards. That task suddenly became more daunting when Doc Rivers decided to bench Pierce, Allen, Garnett, and Rondo. I’m not sure if that was the best of calls… I mean, yeah, rest is nice… but the stats indicate that the home team wins 67 percent of the time in the NBA (a more significant number than any of the other major pro sports). Anyway, that’s the decision Doc made, and the 2nd spot now belongs to Miami (who won 98-90 in ATL, and should probably send Von Wafer a gift basket… that missed dunk from the lowlight recap was only one of his eight bricks to just four makes). Carlos Arroyo was also largely responsible for the defeat. He got up way too tight on John Wall and fouled him on a three-pointer with about 20 seconds remaining. Wall made all three shots. Von Wafer then bricked one of two freethrows, and Jordan Crawford scored a baseline jumper to tie it up. Even after Von Wafer’s power-smash and celebration gone wrong, Boston had a chance to win it down one with six seconds left. Carlos Arroyo isn’t exactly Paul Pierce, though… he missed an elbow jumper and Washington took it 95-94. So… it’ll be Celtics/Knicks and Heat/Sixers in the first round. The Knicks are hot right now, and the Celtics aren’t (massive understatement). I don’t think New York can beat ‘em, they simply refuse to put in the necessary effort on the defensive end, but with the way Boston has been playing lately… I suppose it could last a while if New York is hitting their jumpers. In other not-so-good Boston Celtics news, Delonte West re-injured his right ankle. Oh yeah, before I move on: Wizards fans, John Wall promises life in Washington a year from now…
- Good luck with that, John. Uh, anyway, like I said, the Heat took care of business with a 98-90 victory over the Hawks. LeBron dropped 34, including 10 of Miami’s 19 in the fourth. He only missed one shot in the period, although he did cough it up a couple times. James Jones, of all people, also came up big late. With the game tied at 88 with 3:30 to go, James went on a 7-0 run of his own (a three and a four-point play) that made it 95-88 with 2:40 to go. Miami’s role players have now made significant contributions in two straight games (Mike Bibby also added 10 last night). I certainly wouldn’t count on it, but if the other guys can continue to show up every once in a while it would definitely make the Heat a lot scarier.
- Eastern Conference, 6th Place Battle: As you probably figured out from the previous bullet, the 76ers will head into the postseason in 7th place and face Miami. They gave up the 6th spot to the Knicks with an 85-95 loss to the Magic, during which Dwight Howard threw down one of those dunks that changed the whole game…
- Technically, that dunk gave Orlando a four-point lead. Realistically, it dug Philly’s grave. I didn’t see this game, I was watching Boston choke in Washington, but I’ve been told by some folks who did watch it that the slam [Kevin Harlan]sucked the gravity right out of the building[/Kevin Harlan], leaving the Philadelphia crowd buzzing and their hometown heroes lifeless. They failed to score over the next 2:26, fell back by double figures, and lost. Dwight finished up with 19 points, 13 boards, and no technical fouls. Philly guy Jameer Nelson came home and dropped 19 of his own.
- Western Conference, 2nd Place Battle: Jason Terry had a chance to win Dallas not only a game against the Rockets, but also a half-game lead over the Lakers for 2nd out West… at the freethrow line. Chuck Hayes, an excellent defender, made a mistake by fouling Terry on a jumper with just one second left. Terry, an 85 percent career freethrow shooter (but also a Dallas Maverick, so a natural choke artist), knocked the first one down. He clunked the second. He did make up for it in OT, though, by dropping 6 of his team’s 12. Houston missed their first four shots of the extra period and only managed to come up with five points. Terry/Dirk/Marion (who has been great lately) all scored 20+. So… the win put Dallas a half-game up on LA, who will see San Antonio tonight… but what about Oklahoma City? Don’t forget about them… that win over the Lakers put them in the running. They were in Sacramento last night, and they took care of business. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant combined for 62 points as the Thunder out-scored the Queens 69-55 in the second half, earning them a 120-112 victory. DeMarcus Cousins had a great game… he beasted his way to a career-high 30 points on the almighty Kendrick Perkins. Anyway, OKC remains a half-game behind LA and a full game behind Dallas. Even if LA loses tonight they will keep the third spot, though, because they hold the tie-breaker. LA controls their own destiny in this whole deal. If they beat the Spurs and Kings they get the 2nd spot no matter what anyone else does. If they lose both games they can finish as low as 4th, though… and I don’t think they really want to see Denver.
- The Games That Didn’t Matter: Boris Diaw came up with 20 big points and DJ Augustin drilled a game-winning jumper…
- …with one second left to lift the ‘Cats over the Nets 105-103. KWAMAY BROWN has deactivated beast-mode, he only scored 11. Cleveland beat Detroit 110-101 (they’re no longer the worst team in the NBA! This win put them one game ahead of Minny!) in a game that ended with Charlie Villanueva making death threats to Ryan Hollins, who was part of a CLE bench attack that dropped 61 points. Here you will see him completely losing his mind and attempting to storm the Cleveland bench…
- …he apparently told Hollins to see him after the game. When Hollins did not, CV attempted to force his way into the Cavs lockerroom not once, but twice, exclaiming ”I will kill that dude, I don’t give a [explitive]!” Villanueva had to be removed from the building forcefully by Auburn Hills police. Youtube comment: “Villanueva’s behavior will be sure to raise eyebrows around the league.”
- Jerryd Bayless scored 20 points again (7th game in a row with 19 or more), but the Craptors were swept by the Bucks in a 93-86 L. Golden State got hot and dropped 37 in the third… too bad Denver got even hotter and dropped 44. JR Smith was accountable for 14 of those, and the Nuggets ran away with it 134-111. Channing Frye dropped 33 in a 135-127 OT victory for the Suns over the T-Wolves. Luke Ridnour came up with his fourth-best scoring effort of the season (21 points) in the loss.
Quote of the Day: The camera zoomed in on Kris Humphries, who had a stupid grin on his face. Charlotte’s commentators then said what everyone (well, not everyone, the few people who were actually watching) were thinking…
“Happy guy.”
“…Come on, you know you want so say it…”
“He’s happy every morning he wakes up.”
Photo of the Day: I have absolutely no idea what’s going on here, but it looks like Jamal Crawford didn’t appreciate it…
