Led by Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, and Kyle Korver, Chicago was able to climb out of a 23-point hole and beat Phoenix in double overtime. That wasn’t the only game that required some extra minutes… the Spurs needed an additional to beat the T-Wolves and extend their winning streak to 12 games. Props to Minnesota for giving the Spurs their closest contest since November 8th.
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap: Boobie Gibson lobs to Jamario Moon. Wilson Chandler drives and dunks. Kevin Durant one-handed slam. Tony Allen steals and slams. Hakim Warrick right-handed slam. CJ Miles and Al Jefferson deny Emeka Okafor. Amare swats the crap out of DJ Augustin. D-Wade swats Rashard Lewis. Kris Humphries rejects Ray Allen. Darrell Arthur putback dunk. Derrick Rose blocks Grant Hill.
- Lowlight Recap: Just five games after returning from his suspension, Delonte West broke his right wrist. He may miss the rest of the regular season. While he’s out I think they should give him Tonny Heinsohn’s job… or keep Tommy and just add Delonte to the crew. Make him the sideline reporter, put him on the halftime show, whatever. If I knew Delonte West was going to be speaking for an extended period of time my entire schedule would be built around watching Celtics games. Get it done, CSNE!
- The Suns outscored the Bulls 36-17 in the first quarter, and still led by 13 with 11 minutes left in the fourth. The Bulls went on a 14-4 run over the next four minutes, and although they never had a lead, they were able to force overtime. Trailing by two with seconds left in OT, Derrick Rose made a nice cut and scored a layup to force a second OT. Phoenix went cold in the second OT, scoring just two baskets, and the Bulls took it by eight. Derrick Rose had 35 points (on 33 shots), 12 rebounds, and 7 assists. Rose, who has never been known for his range, has now hit at least one three-pointer in six straight games. Luol Deng was also big for the Bulls with 26/10, and Kyle Korver dropped 24 off the bench. Rose and Deng both played over 50 minutes in this game.
- Amare Stoudemire’s defense was key last night as the Knicks improved to .500 and extended their winning streak to five games. The Knicks beat the Bobcats by four, and without Amare’s presence in the paint it could’ve been a different story. Stoudemire swatted six shots, many of which came on important possessions late in the game where a Bobcats bucket would’ve been huge. Raymond Felton and Wilson Chandler were the main contributers in the scoring department for New York. They went for 23 and 21 points respectively. Felton also dished 13 assists. Tyrus Thomas got his first start of the season (at center, oddly enough) and responded with 26 points and 11 boards. Tyrus has played 29 minutes or more four times this season… he’s averaged 22.5 points and 8.3 boards in those games. The guy has produced every time he’s been given minutes this season, but Larry Brown is yet to utilize him consistently. I doubt this starting gig at center will last too long, Tyrus simply isn’t big enough, and LB said it was just a matchup thing… but I think last night’s game should encourage Brown to find minutes for him somewhere.
- The Spurs needed an extra period to knock off Darko Milicic and the T-Wolves. That’s right, Darko Milicic and the T-Wolves. “Manna From Heaven” had his third 20+ point night in a row, and I’m going to refer to the Wolves as his team until the streak comes to an end. The Spurs actually got out-shot and out-rebounded pretty badly in this one, but they got 29 points from the freethrow line compared to 18 for Minnesota. Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 26/6/6. Kevin Love had 32/22… why I’m even mentioning that, I have no idea… that’s pretty much a routine game for him these days.
- Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson pick-and-rolled the Heat to death. Howard had 24 points and Nelson had 14 assists as the Magic lit the Heat up with their 51% shooting from the floor. Dwight Howard went just 8-16 from the stripe, which allowed the Heat to stay in the game down the stretch. Miami struggled to score, though. They were only able to manufacture six points in the final six minutes, one of which was a technical freethrow gifted to them by Jameer Nelson, who was tossed from the game for talking smack to Eddie House. I watched the fourth quarter of this game and I felt like Miami’s offense severely lacked movement. It was LeBron or Wade pounding the ball and the other four guys standing and watching. I don’t care how much talent your squad has… that’s not winning basketball.
- The Hornets have officially begun their first losing streak of the season. New Orleans went to Utah and got trounced by 18 points. Deron Williams won the latest battle in the “best PG in the world” war: he dropped 26/11… Chris Paul had just 17/9. Al Jefferson went for 20/10 for the second time in his last three games.
- Tyson Chandler had a monster double-double-17 points and 18 boards-to help the Mavs defeat the Thunder. Dirk Nowitzki knocked down 14 of 15 freethrows on his way to 34 points. Kevin Durant had 32/11/5. The Mavs are now 7-2 since inserting my man DeShawn Stevenson into the starting lineup. Rick Carlisle gets my vote for Coach of the Year.
- The other games: Mo Williams beat his old team at the Buzzer. Snaq O’Meal had his best game of the season (25/11 on 9-10) as the Celtics beat the Nets. Reggie Evans scooped up a career-high 22 boards, and somehow managed to score 12 points. It was his first double-figure scoring game since March of last season. His Craptors beat the Suxers by 16. Memphis beat Detroit by 21 at home in front of about 354 of their most dedicated fans. Golden State continues to be terrible without David Lee. The Dubs lose by 10 to Houston… Luis Scola had 24/12.
- The Spurs have signed Ime Udoka. Nice addition, he’s a solid role player who’s been with them before.
Quote of the Day: Stan Van Gundy on Barack Obama giving advice to the Miami Heat…
“I know there’s a lot of time in the day, but I’d be more confident if he didn’t know what was going on in the NBA.”
Don’t worry Stan, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know what’s going on. Didn’t he tell the Heat to “be patient” or something? That’s pretty crappy advice when the pressure builds with every loss and the goal is to win as many games as possible over an 82-game span.
Photo of the Day: Forget Shaq and Dwight, Mo Williams is the NBA’s real Superman. Here he is litterally flying up the court, leaving Brandon Jennings looking shook.
