The Blazers and Clippers have both had disappointing seasons, and they decided to take out their frustrations on each other. If Greg Oden wasn’t hurt already he certainly would’ve been after this game. Things got chippy in the second half when LA made a bit of a run. Joel Przybilla was sent to the floor, Brian Cook and Craig Smith were ejected, and three other players were T’d up over the course of the contest. The Clippers even got a team technical, whatver that is. Said Marcus Camby: “It was like a playoff atmosphere. It felt like a game in May.” Playoff atmosphere… Clippers… Lol.
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap: Amir Johnson with a MASSIVE putback dunk. Amir takes the pass from Bayless and hammers it. Trevor Booker with two monster one-handers. Timofey Mozgov fights to regain his manhood after the Blake Griffin debacle. Blake Griffin putback dunk. Baron Davis dunks on The Vanilla Gorilla. Westbrook lobs one to KD. Top 10 has a couple other decent plays.
- The Blazers took advantage of a visit from the Los Angeles Clippers and snapped their six-game losing streak. The Clippers, who trailed by 22 at the half, seemed to get a little momentum going as the game got rough in the second half. They fought all the way back to within three with just over a minute left, but Blake Griffin botched a fast-break by holding onto the ball for too long, and that was pretty much game over. Don’t get too mad at Griff, though. He’s just a kid, and he did drop 21/15… not like the Clipps would’ve had a chance without him. The Blazers got a couple big double-doubles from Batum and Camby, who went for 13/13 and 12/19 respectively. Eric Gordon had his eighth straight 20-point game.
- Amir Johnson has FINALLY worked his way into the starting lineup, and today he showed why some people (such as myself) are so intrigued by his talent. Amir had an array of high-flying dunks on his way to a 22 point/16 rebound night. He made 10 of 14 shots and also notched a couple blocks, but most importantly, he only fouled twice (Amir has issues staying on the court). Jerryd Bayless scored 23 of his own, but other than him and Amir the Craptors didn’t have much going for them. The Knicks took this one easily… by 17, to be specific. Amare Stoudemire had his fourth straight game of 30+ points and threw in 16 boards for good measure. Landry Fields grabbed another 10 boards at the SG spot. Apparently these rebounds aren’t a fluke; he’s collecting 7.4 a game on the season (second on the Knicks if I heard the Craptors’ commentators correctly).
- Rodney Stuckey, Tayshaun Prince, and Rip Hamilton got their Miami Heat on and dropped 71 of Detroit’s 102 as the Pistons handed the Cavaliers another double-digit loss. At least it wasn’t 34 this time… just 10. “That’s a step in the right direction”, said Byron Scott. Keep making those baby steps and I’m sure the fans will forget about the LeBron era in no time. I actually watched the first half of this game, and I’d like to point out something I heard from John Kuester: he was rambling about Tayshaun Prince being the focal point of their offense or some sh!t. Yup, 7-14 sounds about right then. Don’t get me wrong, I like Tayshaun, but he’s not exactly an offensive juggernaut. BG and Charlie V are collecting dust on the bench… they’re both known for putting balls in baskets. Just saying.
- Carmelo Anthony went just 4-20, but Aaron Afflolo (career-high 25) and Nene (27/11) picked up his slack and led the Nuggets to a one-point win over Memphis (their 7th consecutive W). The Grizzlies got down big early and went to halftime down 15, but out-scored Denver 30-14 in the third. In the fourth, Denver built a lead that got as big as nine and were able to hold on. Despite the recent success, I have little faith in the Nuggets making any real noise… I simply don’t feel like a team who’s best player is as good as gone can accomplish anything significant… but it is nice to see one of my favorite teams playing well again.
- The other games: Stephen Curry poured in 39 and Moped dropped 29 more, but the Warriors still lost to OKC by five. The Thunder made 37 of 40 attempts from the charity stripe. Nate Robinson filled in for Rajon Rondo and led the C’s with 21 points as they smacked the Nets 100-75. Meanwhile, Net outcast Terrence Williams continues to abuse D-Leaguers. The Suns got 20/17 from Steve Nash (on 8-8 shooting) and 26 from Hakim Warrick off the bench on their way to a 125-108 victory over the Washington Dakota Wizards. The Wiz actually shot 50%… too bad PHX shot 58%. Lastly, the Spurs beat the Hornets by 25. No one really did anything note-worthy… but I will mention that the Hornets have been bought by the NBA. Will David Stern be their new Mascot? I love Hugo, but watching David jump through a ring of fire would be funny as hell.
Quote of the Day: Wes Matthews on his Blazers…
“I don’t think teams are afraid of us yet.”
That could have something to do with the 9-11 record… or maybe it’s the fact that your team’s got more health problems than a nursing home.
Photo of the Day: Kevin Garnett is known as an insanely intense guy on the court, but did you know that he brings that same intensity level to other every-day activities? Here he can be seen looking real serious as he picks his fingernails…
When I imagine KG going through his every-day life, I picture him getting hyped before every single routine activity. For example: I would bet money that he pounds his chest and bangs his face on the refrigerator before he prepares a sandwich.
