12/18/11: All Hail The Great Greg Stiemsma

Celtics 76 @ Raptors 75: Greg Stiemsma isn’t going to make Boston’s regular season roster, but he’ll always be able to tell his grandkids about that time he made a game-winning tip in against Andrea Bargnani and the Toronto Raptors.  His heroic moment:

With Boston’s roster currently holding 18 players and their final preseason contest coming up on Wednesday, there’s a pretty good chance Stiemsma gets cut directly following the game in which he hit the winning shot.  I suppose he can always tell the kids an alternate ending.

My observations from the game were rather limited… it simply wasn’t very memorable.  The play of Marquis Daniels, Chris Wilcox, and Brandon Bass jumped out at me at times.  Daniels was excellent with 11 points on 5-7.  With Jeff Green out for the season he’ll be relied upon to score a few points off the bench, so Celtics Nation had to be pleased to see him doing his crafty work in the paint and making his excellent cuts off the ball.  That’s what Daniels brings to the table; nothing flashy, but sound fundamentals in the art of scoring the ball.  As for Wilcox and Bass, they were just active.  Bass collaborated with Rondo on the game’s premier highlight…

Oh, and KG was KG…

Nice to see him finally picking on someone his own size, but of course he picked out the league’s least-intimidating seven-footer.  I wish Andrea’d had the presence of mind to bounce the ball of his face a la J-Rich on Carlos Boozer.  Sometimes KG deserves to be hit on the head, and this was one of those times.  Unfortunately, no one on the Raptors is Anthony Peeler.  Actually, check that; I’m confident that KG’s next destination would’ve been the hospital had he f@cked around with Jamaal Magloire.  Of course he knows better than to do that.

Magic 85 @ Heat 118: JJ Reddick and Ryan Anderson scored 22 a piece, but Miami out-scored Orlando 22 to nothin’ on the break as they snapped the Magic’s 22-game preseason win streak.  Orlando got off to a decent start… they led 22-21 after a quarter, but it was all Heat the rest of the way.  After the game, Glen Davis, who posted a +/- of -22 in his Magic debut, ate 22 cheeseburgers, and LeBron James left the arena in his Chevy Camaro on 22s.  Will Dwight Howard be wearing an Orlando Magic jersey 22 days from now?  I give it about a 22% chance.  Maybe he’ll be a Net by the time the Magic travel to New Jersey on the 22nd of February.  One thing’s for sure: until he either extends or gets dealt, his play will be under a microscope.  Preseason games of 5 points and 3 turnovers on 22% from the floor certainly won’t help him duck any of the media attention.

It’s preseason, and it’s 4′oclock in the morning.  Forgive me if that was lameness.

Thunder 106 @ Mavericks 92: The highlight of this game was probably when one of the commentators suggested that Oklahoma City’s Lazar Hayward should tell everyone his first name is to be pronounced as if it were “laser.” 

That’s a f@cking excellent idea if I’ve ever heard one.  As a matter of fact, it’s not the only hint the Thunder could take from Dodgeball.

Kevin Durant: “Ball me blazer!”

Russell Westbrook: “No.”

You see, Russell, here’s the thing: Kevin Durant is White Goodman, and you’re Blazer.  As Blazer, it’s your job to help White perform to the best of his abilities.  A big part of that is recognizing when he needs to be balled.  The sooner you figure this out the sooner the Thunder make a big step in the right direction.

Anyway, Lamar Odom looked pretty good in this one with 14 and 7 on 5-11.  I also liked how Vince Carter played early… he was driving the ball to the rack (even had a dunk!) rather than settling for the jumper.  His 9 points on 4-11 were enough to convince me to take him in the later rounds of a fantasy draft (don’t make me regret that decision, Vince).  The most notable Maverick was neither Odom nor Carter, though… it was Dominique Jones, who 11 points during a 14-5 Maverick run that brought a close to the first half.  He finished up with 17/2/7 on 4-9, which almost justifies that NBA logo he’s got tatted on his leg.  Do it in a regular season game and I’ll dub you legit, my man!  As for the O’Brien Trophy…

I should also mention that Roddy Beaubois had a nice showing with 17 points.  He’s gonna be put into JJ Barea’s role this season, so hopefully he’s up to the task.  He and Brendan Haywood are going to be key; if they can effectively fill in for Barea and Chandler, then Dallas has a shot at the repeat.

Why am I only talking about the losing team here?  Well, I don’t know… do you really need me to tell you what Kevin Durant did in a preseason game?  Here’s the box score, feel free to look around.