11/5/10: Hornets beat Heat, Remain Undefeated.

I can’t honestly say that I have enjoyed any of the “music” that Lil Wayne’s put out since the first Carter Album (which is classic, I don’t care how terrible he is now), but I do approve of his choice of immediate post-prison activities (if you didn’t already hear, Young Weezy just got released from jail. I’m sorry I had to be the one to let you know).  Watching an NBA basketball game is the only propper way to re-introduce yourself to society.  He got a nice welcome home gift as he watched his hometown Hornets beat the Heat by three from his court-side seat, which was gifted to him by CP3.  Read about that and a whole lot more, right now!

Random Observations:

• Highlight Recap: Dwight Howard putback dunk.  Darren Collison buzzer beater.  Paul George big dunk.  Chris Paul wrecks James Jones’s ankles.  Kevin Garnett fastbreak dunk.  JR Smith sick reverse dunk.  Josh Smith powerful dunk.  Monta Ellis beats the buzzer.  Steph Curry behind the back to David Lee.  Dragic sets up Warrick for a dunk.  VC throws it down.  Kobe sick dish to Gasol.  There’s a few that I missed in the top 10.
• Lowlight Recap: Joakim Noah attempts to play PC (point center) with 18 seconds left in over time (1:55).  He fails miseribly, and costs the Bulls one last chance to tie the game.  Joakim, there’s this guy on your team named Derrick Rose, he’s a pretty decent ball handler.  You may want to deliver him the rock in this type of situation.  Just something to consider.  Also, Rudy Gay misses a freethrow that he tries to make, then makes one that he tries to miss (:30).  That’s rough… and it allowed PHX to tie the game and take the win in double-OT.  More about that in a minute.
• The Hornets beat the Heat in a thriller last night to improve to 5-0 on the season.  The Hornets led for the first 47 minutes of the game, but the Heat took a one point lead on some LeBron James freethrows with 59 seconds left.  Trevor Ariza and Chris Bosh both went on to hit clutch threes as time was winding down.  The Hornets ended up with a three point lead with a few seconds left.  All those people who have been wondering who will be the last-shot-taker for Miami were about to get their answer…  would it be LeBron, or would it be Dwyane?  Try Eddie House.  Eddie was set up with a chance to tie the game with a three at the buzzer, but missed.  He also missed every single one of the other six threes he attempted in the game.  Emeka Okafor had one of the best games of his life with 26 points and 13 boards.  Chris Bosh continued his not-so-beast-like play with 15 points and 1 rebound in 33 minutes. 
• The Golden State Warriors did something they haven’t done since April 15th of 2006: they won a regular season game in which they scored under 90 points.  The fact that this happened against the Utah Jazz, a team which certainly is much more well-suited for a grind it out type of game, makes it that much more impressive.  Golden State out-rebounded Utah, forced 19 turnovers, and held them to 39% shooting.  Andris Biedrins was huge on the glass with 20 boards, and David Lee added 15 more.  I haven’t been this impressed by the Warriors since their ’07 playoff run.  They’re currently at 4-1 on the season, and if they continue to defend and rebound like they have so far, dare I say they could actually be for real?  We’ll see.  Dorell Wright finally cooled off, hitting just one three pointer and going 3-13 overall from the field.  Steph Curry returned from his ankle injury and scored 20 points.  Monta Ellis, who is currently leading the league in scoring, had 26 of his own.
• Orlando beat the Nets by 15, but as far as I’m concerned there was only one true winner on a basketball court in Florida last night.  It wasn’t Dwight Howard with his 30/16.  It wasn’t anyone on the winning team at all.  Kris Humphries is that dude, and not because of his 13 points on 6-7 shooting.  The guy is dating Kim Kardashian.  How the hell does the ugly duckling Khloe pull Lamar Odom while Kim is forced to settle for Kris Humphries?  Anyway, this move by Kim may make Nets games worth watching.  Viewers will now get to stare at both Beyonce and Kim Kardashian during breaks in the action.  Lets not kid ourselves, we’ll be staring during the action too, because Kim K and Beyonce are more exciting than the Nets.
• The Knicks have won their second game in a row, they beat down on the Wizards in NY.  John Wall finally had a bad game: 13 points, 7 assits, 9 TOs, 4-11 FG.  Although his team won, Amare continues to struggle individually.  He had 18 points and just four rebounds.  Young guns Toney Douglas and Wilson Chandler combined for 33 points and 16 rebounds off the bench, both guys have been great thus far.
• The Suns and Grizzlies played the first double overtime game of the season.  As you would expect from a double OT game involving the Suns, there were some big numbers: 38/8 with 6 threes for JRich, 26/7 from Marc Gasol, and 26 from Rudy Gay.  Steve Nash had 13 of his 25 in the overtime periods.  This game had some pretty incredible plays down the stretch, including a game-tying reverse alley-oop dunk by Jason Richardson with just .4 seconds on the clock.  Derek who?  That’s the best .4 second play I’ve ever seen (it did not come in a huge playoff game like D-Fish’s, and taking that into consideration I suppose Fish still wins by a long shot).
• Three things have been consistent througout the first week and a half of the season when it comes to the LA Clippers:  Blake Griffin beasting, Chris Kaman sucking, and halftime leads disappearing.  Last night against the Nuggets, Blake had 26/10, Kaman shot 5-18, and the Clippers lost by seven after leading by one at the half.  Melo led the Nuggets with 30, and Al Harrington contributed 18 off the bench.
• Brian Scalabrine returned to Boston last night and was greeted by an ovation from Celtic fans.  Before you read any further, watch this video of Scal’s former teammates talking about him.  Delonte West and Kendrick Perkins both speak, making it a must-see video clip.  Scalabrine recorded one blocked shot and one personal foul in three minutes of playing time, and his team lost to the C’s in OT.  The Bulls trailed much of the way and made a nice comeback, but you can refer back to the lowlight recap to see how it ended for them.  Rajon Rondo had a season-low 11 assists (how strange does that sound?), and Ray Allen dropped 25 on 9-12. 
• The other games: The Bucks beat the Pacers by four, the Cavs knocked off Philly 123-116, Detroit got their first win of the season over Charlotte by seven, Minnesota managed to lose by just 10 to the Hawks, and the Lakers beat Toronto by five.  Reggie Evans got back to his work on the glass with 14 boards.

Quote of the Day: Monta Ellis on what his team would’ve done last season when faced with a game like last night’s against Utah…

“We would have given up and lost by 20.”

I’m impressed by his progress indivually, it seems like he’s really getting it, and it shows in the team’s 4-1 record.  Head Coach Keith Smart should also be given some credit, as he seems to be insitituting some new philosophies.  Here’s what he has to say about his team’s upcoming five-game road trip out East…

“We have a saying ‘D.T.W.—defense travels well’. If you can lock into your defense, that’s what they’ve done and that kept us in the game.”

Will you look at that, a Golden State Warriors coach makes a quote with the word “defense” in it for the first time since… who knows when.  Certainly the first time since August 29th of ’06 (you should be able to figure out the significance of that date, the lack of “defense” quotes is a pretty solid clue).

Photo of the Day: I had to…