DeShawn Stevenson had a pretty good day. He received his 10-karat championship ring before a road game against his former Mavericks team, then he helped the Nets beat said Mavericks team in Dallas for the first time in nearly 12 years. Although the Mavs are still one of the league’s better defensive clubs, they haven’t exactly been the same since allowing Stevenson (and Tyson Chandler) to skip town as free agents in the fall. DeShawn gave Mavs fans a little reminder of what they’re missing as he stifled Jason Kidd on a potential game-winning possession. His hustle as he doubled Dirk and rotated back to Kidd was huge in the closing moments of the game.
There was one Net who arguably had an even better day than Stevenson. No, not Brook Lopez… although he did score 38 points and the go-ahead freethrows. I’m talking about Gerald Green, who was signed to a 10-day contract during the All-Star break. Green had been playing for the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the Development League, and his MVP performance in the D-League All-Star game seems to have given him the final boost he needed to get back to the big league, at least temporarily. With a debut game of 10 points on 4-6, he just might stick around a little while longer. Two of Gerald’s buckets were threes, and another was an alley-oop dunk during which he nearly bonked his head on the rim. So, I suppose that means he was the same ol’ Gerald Green, but if he can just do what he’s always done–run the floor and hit threes–then he’s good enough to play for the New Jersey Nets. I hope to see him have a couple more solid performances… I imagine that would be enough to get him signed for the duration of the season.
During a 13-point third quarter, Kyrie Irving abused Rajon Rondo so hard he had Tommy Heinsohn declaring him a future Hall Of Famer. While Irving would go on to commit a pair of crucial turnovers in a Cavalier loss, he was the driving force behind Cleveland’s comeback. I think the Cavs probably would’ve won this game had Anderson Varejao been in the lineup. Kevin Garnett only scored 18 points, but he got the Celtics off to a great start as he abused whoever Cleveland threw at him. He also came up with the offensive board that preserved the W for the Cs. Semih Erden and Antawn Jamison contributed next to nothing, and I believe Varejao’s defense and rebounding would’ve made a huge difference. One Cavalier big man who played well was rookie Tristan Thompson. He made it three double-doubles in his last four games as he recorded 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks on 5-9 from the floor. The kid is still very raw (he wants nothing to do with the basketball outside of the paint), but he’s an athlete and a hustler.
Roger Mason out-choked Brandon Jennings as the Bucks beat the Wizards in a 119-118 shootout. After the game, Scott Skiles said he would’ve preferred an 80-79 loss. Just kidding. Okay, so Roger Mason and Brandon Jennings… yeah… well, just before John Wall hit a ridiculous runner off the wrong foot to put the Wizards up one with six seconds to go, Jennings had dribbled the ball off of his foot. He then tried to make up for his error by taking a little push shot, but he missed. Lucky for him, Ersan Ilyasova was in the right place at the right time. Roger Mason had a chance to win it for the Wizards, but he caught the ball with two seconds on the clock and decided to take a walk with it. Seriously, I don’t know what the hell Mason was thinking. He just caught the ball and started doing the shuffle. Said Mason: “I have had a bunch of those end-of-the-game situations and I have hit a bunch of them. This is the first time not coming through.”
…and it’s a damn shame Mason failed to come through, ’cause my dude Trevor Booker scored a season-high 20 points, including 6 of Washington’s last 8. Twice he furiously crashed the boards to finish Wizard misses, and then he stormed down the lane for a powerful two-handed crush. I really wanted Booker to play hero.
Speaking of the Wizards… Andray Blatche. The City of Washington is in hopes that he’ll never suit up for their team again, but it seems that he’s completely unwanted everywhere else, too. The Wizards actually found a destination that seems to make sense–Charlotte, in exchange for Tyrus Thomas–and they still got rejected. Now, I know Blatche is a bonehead, but so is Tyrus Thomas. Thomas does tend keep his boneheadedness on the court while Blatche takes his to the locker room, the streets, and everywhere else it can be taken, but Blatche is a much more talented basketball player and is owed slightly less money over the same amount of seasons. I suppose the Bobcats must be figuring that they can trick some other team into giving more for Thomas. I’ve suggested an Antawn Jamison deal with the Cleveland, but that would require foolishness on the part of the Cavaliers. I have no idea whether or not those waters have been tested. Anyway, unless there’s someone else willing to take Tyrus Thomas and his albatross of a contract, I swap him for Andray Blatche in a heartbeat.
People like to talk about Kevin Love, and all the stuff he does that Blake Griffin doesn’t do. What about the stuff Blake Griffin does that Kevin Love doesn’t do? And I’m not talking about jumping, either. Blake Griffin can hit the block and go to work, and I’m sorry, but Kevin Love’s got some work to do on that post game. Last night, Griff set up shop on the right block and went to work. He scored 18 points in the first quarter alone, and he easily could’ve had 22 if Randy Foye knew how to throw a lob. No matter who the Wolves threw at him, he couldn’t be stopped. Good thing the Clippers stopped him. After getting off to his best start ever, Griffin was isolated from the offense as Caron Butler went 1-10, Mo Williams went 4-12, and Randy Foye went 6-14. Griffin took one shot in the fourth quarter, and it came on the opening possession. Although he was able to muster another 12 points for a game-high total of 30, I don’t think he scored a basket on the block after the first quarter. He may have gotten a few freethrows off of post ups, but no buckets that I recall. So, instead of talking about how Blake Griffin killed Kevin Love as he dropped 45 in a statement win, we’re gonna be talking about how Michael Beasley and Derrick Williams came off the bench to score 27 a piece in a 109-97 Timberwolves victory… and it’s not Blake’s fault, either. I don’t know what the f@ck Vinny Del F@ckhead was telling his crew in the huddle, but it clearly wasn’t the right stuff. I give Michael Beasley, Derrick Williams, and Darko Milicic (who guarded Griffin down the stretch) all the credit in the world, but goddamn, the Clippers played an extremely stupid half of basketball. I mean, why the hell would you NOT pound the sh!t out of a small team with the post player who scored 18 in the first? Utter stupidity. Like I said, though, all the credit in the world goes to Beasley and Williams. They went 8-8 in the fourth quarter, and the shots weren’t easy ones, either. It was definitely the best game of Williams’ career, and for Bease… he just needed a game like this.
While I’m on Blake Griffin and the Clipps, let me touch on this: Shawn Kemp has finally spoken on the comparisons to Griffin, and he seems to believe that he was the superior dunker. Check it out…
You’ll get no disagreement out of me. To dunk a basketball… it’s an ostentatious (waddap, Clyde?) act by nature, but the showmanship that Shawn Kemp threw into the mix… that really separates him from a guy like Griffin, who really has no on-court personality. Even without the eccentricity Kemp may very well have been the better dunker… but the pointing, the howling, and the dapping just put him on a whole other level. Kemp’s only peer is really prime Kenyon Martin… he had the ups, the power, the rage, and the craziness. Blake Griffin only has the ups. Stupid comparison, really.
So much for the Detroit Pistons. Greg Monroe and friends have dropped three in a row after winning seven of nine during a surprising stretch that saw them defeat… oh, they beat a bunch of sh!tty teams. The Pistons are a sh!tty team, though, so that was still a really solid stretch of Deeeetroooooit basketbaaaaaaaaaaaall. I don’t even know where I’m going with this, I just saw that the Pistons scored 68 f@cking points in a loss to the Sixers and I felt the need to say something. Oh yeah, the Sixers… they snapped a five-game losing streak. Philly still hasn’t broken 100 in February, though. They’ll probably have to do so if they want to beat OKC tonight (the Thunder have dropped 100+ 11 times this month).
Box Score Observations: The Warriors scored just 78 points in a big loss to the Pacers. It’s their lowest point total since last March. Derrick Rose put 32/9 on the Hornets, who got 17/11/5 from Chris Kaman in a 95-99 loss (Rose hit the go-ahead bucket, of course). Ed Davis grabbed 15 boards in a Craptor loss to the Rockets. DeMarcus Cousins had 22 and 18 in a 103-96 win over the Jazz. Random observation: is there anything more annoying than the way Sacramento’s PA announcer says “DeMarcus Cousins”? Or is it just that I can’t stand DeMarcus Cousins?
Highlight Recap: Javale McGee with some sort of hybrid sky hook/slam dunk. DeShawn Stevenson, MarShon Brooks, and Kris Humphries collaborate on a rare double alley-oop. Paul George dunks with the lights on. Chris Paul breaks off JJ Barea, swags out like he didn’t lose the game. DeAndre Jordan with a routine alley-oop. At least DeMaR DiSaPpOiNtMeNt hasn’t forgotten how to dunk the basketball.
