Paul Millsap channelled his inner T-Mac and dropped 11 points in 28 seconds last night to send the Jazz to OT in Miami. Also, the Hornets continue to win, The Pacers abuse the Nuggets, and white men can jump. It was a crazy night in the NBA, let us begin with the highlights…
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap: Landry Fields monster putback dunk. Bogut stuffs Amare, Jennings makes a sick pass, Bogut hammers it. Drew Gooden passes to himself. Dwyane Wade throws it down. Top 10 plays. Blake Griffin reverse dunk. DeAndre Jordan throws it down.
- The Utah Jazz showed up for a road game. They didn’t show up until the second half, but they showed up. Paul Millsap, a career 21.7% shooter from long distance who’s last made three was in January of last season, knocked down three triples in the final 28 seconds of the 4th quarter. He also threw in the putback layup at the buzzer which sent the game to OT, making it 11 points in 28 seconds. Millsap had a career-high 46 in the game, one-upping Dwyane Wade’s 39 for Miami. Utah was down 22 at one point and trailed by 19 at the half, but came back by holding Miami basket-less for over four minutes in the 4th quarter. After that, the Millsap madness happened, and then in OT Fransisco Elson was able to win it from the foul line with .4 seconds left. As it was in Miami’s loss to the Hornets, it was Eddie House shooting the last-second shot, but he didn’t get a very good look. If I was coaching the Heat I would’ve set up a lob to LeBron in that situation. Speaking of LeBron, he had a triple-double, 20/11/14. Final score: 116-114, Jazz. I don’t know what Utah’s going to do when Mehmet Okur comes back from his injury. The way Paul Millsap has played so far this season… it just seems like a crime to send him back to the bench.
- The Indiana Pacers scored 54 points in the third quarter against Denver. That’s correct, 54 points in one quarter. The Pacers shot 20 of 21 in the period, not missing a single shot until Josh McRoberts clanked a three with 1.9 seconds left. If that shot and the three freethrows that Indiana missed in the period had been made, the Pacers would’ve scored 60 and broken the record of 58 set by the Buffalo Braves in 1972. Anyway, Mike Dunleavy had 24 in the quarter by himself… that right there should make the Nuggets ashamed of themselves. How are you going to let Mike Dunleavy score 24 on you in one damn quarter? He shouldn’t be dropping 24 on you in an entire game.
- Kevin Love played the most minutes he’s played all season (38), and dropped a MONSTER double-double (23 points, 24 boards, plus 5 assists on the side). Still, this wasn’t enough to get the T-Wolves an illusive victory. They were playing the now 8-0 Lakers in LA, so the fact that they only lost by five is probably somewhat encouraging, actually. Kevin Love thinks so: “I think this was the best game we’ve played so far, despite the L at the end of the night. We got up to play the world champs, and we went down with a fight. We played a lot better than we have played in the last four or five games.” There you go, Kevin! Going down with a fight is a nice step in the right direction. The T-Wolves have a great opportunity to pick up a win in their next two games as they play the Kings and the Knicks. One final note on the T-Wolves: I’d like to know what makes Michael Beasley think this is a good look. With that hair plus Minnesota’s WNBA-like jerseys the dude looks like he’s playing for the Lynx.
- The Nets have now lost five in a row, and the Cavs have now won three in a row. Cleveland got 52 points from their bench (which now includes Antawn Jamison) and eeked out a two-point win over New Jersey. JJ Hickson led the Cavs with 18, and Travis Outlaw had a season-high 27 for the Nets.
- The other games: A bunch of blowouts. The Bucks beat the Knicks by 27, The Blazers beat the Pistons by 22 (LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 boards), and the Hornets (still undefeated!) beat the Clippers by 19.
- Monta Ellis injury update. He’s listed as day-to-day and could possibly play tonight. If not, Reggie Williams could have a big night.
Quote of the Day: Jerry Sloan when asked if Paul Millsap has the green light…
“He does now.”
Not even Jerry Sloan could come up with a quotation to buzz-kill Millsap’s performance.
Photo of the Day: Al Harrington sits on the bench as Mike Dunleavy and company torch his Nuggets…
54-point-quarter-face-palm.
