Time flies when you’re having fun! We’re two weeks into the season… every team has won, almost every team has lost, and Joe Johnson has finally had a good game! We’ve seen 20+ assist and 20+ rebound nights, but we’re still waiting on a 50-point outing. I’m putting my money on Monta Ellis, he’ll get it done soon.
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap: Rodney Stuckey powerful dunk. Rodney Stuckey behind the back to Rip. Westbrook lobs to Durant. Amare throws it down. Nate Rob beats the halftime buzzer. Jordan Hill pins a shot on the glass. Ish Smith dishes to Chuck Hayes. Top 10 plays.
- The Houston Rockets caught a break in the schedule and got the T-Wolves last night, allowing them to win their first game of the season. Luis Scola led the way with 24 points, and Kevin Martin (who left with an ankle injury in their previous game) played 26 minutes and scored 21 points. Minnesota is now on a 5-game losing streak, dropping each game by an average of 26 points. Kevin Love has still played 30+ minutes in a game only one time all season, which completely baffles me. I guess there’s been a whole lot of garbage time for the Wolves lately, which Love probably sits through. That’s the only logical explaination I can come up with. Things don’t get any easier for the Wolves as their next game is Tuesday in LA, and not against the Clippers.
- My game to watch for last night was a major dud. Pau Gasol had a triple-double (20/14/10) as the Lakers crushed the Blazers in LA. The Lakers had seven players score in double figures, shot 55% from the floor, nearly doubled Portland’s rebound total, and racked up 33 assists compared to Portland’s 21. I thought this game would be a nice test for LA as they had lost five of their previous six meetings with the Blazers… so much for that. The Lake-Show travels to Denver on Thursday, we’ll see if they can steamroll another playoff squad. With all of the injuries to the Nuggs’ frontcourt, I have a feeling that they might.
- Seven games into the season, Joe Johnson has finally broken out of his slump. Oddly enough, the slump-buster came in a Hawks loss. Joe had 34 points on 15-27 and Al Horford dropped a big-time double-double with 30/10, but it wasn’t enough. The Phoenix Suns converted on 11 of 23 from long range and scored 118 points on the previously undefeated Hawks. Steve Nash reached double-digit assists for the first time this season (15). Former Hawk and current Sun Josh Childress had 11/6 in his first game at Phillips Arena since the ’08 playoffs, after which he decided to leave the NBA and play overseas for a couple years. Things are about to get very difficult for the Suns in about a week. They play Memphis tonight and Sacramento on Friday, but after that their next four games look like this: @LA Lakers and vs Denver back-to back, then @Miami and @Orlando back-to-back. They’re 3-3 now, and I’ll be very impressed if they’re still .500 after this upcoming stretch.
- Stephen Curry rimmed out a beautiful look at a potential game-tying three with seconds left in the game, and the Warriors lost to the Pistons in the first game of their road trip. Rodney Stuckey returned from a one-game suspension and scored 21 points, and Richard Hamilton had 27. The Warriors have a great opportunity to get back on the right track tonight against the struggling Raptors.
- Kevin Durant had his best shooting night of the season so far, going 11-22 for 34 points, but the Thunder dropped the game to the Celtics. Boston built a 22-point lead, but as the C’s normally do with large leads, they choked most of it away later on. OKC had it down to six in the fourth, but they could never get over the hump. Boston’s bench rebuilt the lead to 17, and the C’s won their 5th straight.
- Joe Johnson wasn’t the only guy breaking out of a slump last night: Amare Stoudemire finally had an Amare Stouemire-like game with 21 points and 15 boards, but his Knicks lost to the Sixers by 10. Evan Turner got the first start of his career and delivered with 14 points and 10 assists. Elton Brand built on his great start to the season with another 20 point game (his fourth 20+ outing in a row). The Sixers are just 2-5 on the season, but none of their losses have been by more than 10 points, and two of those Ls were against Miami and Atlanta. Unforunately for Philly, their schedule gets very difficult this week. They have to play @OKC, @Dallas, and @San Antonio over the course of the next six days. Potentially making things even more difficult, Andre Iguodala just missed his first game since 2007, and he’s questionable for Wednesday.
- After missing his flight last week, AI has arrived in Turkey. He’s under contract to be over there for the next two seasons… we’ll see if he lasts that long. I’ve always liked AI as a basketball player, but he hasn’t shown me anything recently that makes me feel like this will end well. I’ll keep you posted, although I’m sure it won’t be necessary as there will be plenty of other NBA blogs dying for a chance to rag on The Answer. It’s the cool thing to do these days.
- When I was a kid, there was this pizza place I used to go to every once in a while. I liked to go there because they had good pizza, but moreso because of this awesome Mortal Combat game that they had. I think Mortal Combat was a highlight of many of our young lives, so when I was shown this Mortal Combat themed NBA mix, I had to post it for you…
Pretty awesome, huh? You’re welcome.
Quote of the Day: T-Wolves coach Kurt Rambis on his team’s 37.4% shooting…
“We were mentally prepared for the game, but we couldn’t throw a pea into the ocean.”
Darko probably crushes the pea in his hand when he tries to throw it in the ocean. Poor guy can’t do anything right.
Photo of the Day:
