Bismack Biyombo didn’t feel like playin’ overtime. That was just one of his 4 blocks in this game, and one of 31 shots he’s rejected over his past nine games. Maybe equally as impressive are the three double-digit scoring games he’s had over the same stretch. If you’ve ever watched the guy play it’s pretty damn clear that he’s going to be (actually, he already is) an incredible shot blocker. It’s cool that this particular swat got the ‘Cats a rare win, but this is just Bismack being Bismack (note the fundamentals on this block… straight up, two hands, recovers the ball). Dropping jumpers over Chris Kaman, though? Maybe not something he’s doing every night, but he’s already shown more flashes of offensive ability in year one than… say… DeAndre Jordan has in his entire life. Two of the six buckets he scored last night came from outside the paint. He caught one ball back to the basket and just turned around and shot it with a fluidity that made it look as if he does that sh!t all the time. Paul Silas says this kid is one of the hardest-working guys he’s ever come across, and I’ll be damned if he doesn’t come back next season with a 15-footer that defenders will be forced to respect. That’ll basically make him Serge Ibaka at age 20, but with the size to play the five (he may not be any taller, but his wingspan is reportedly three inches longer).
Did you follow my advice and watch that Bucks/Nets game? Not bad, eh? Firstly, I’m becoming pretty confident that we’ll be watching Gerald Green for the remainder of the season. During a stretch in the second quarter Green was actually serving as New Jersey’s go to guy, and he delivered frequently enough that the Nets maintained their lead. Green made an excellent pass in transition, then came with a turn-around J, a step-back J, and knocked down some freethrows. He’d scored 11 points at the half. He failed to scratch in the third and fourth quarters, but there’s no doubt in my mind that his first half alone made an impression on Avery Johnson. He did some really good things, and made pretty sound decisions. He also executed another visual inspection of the rim.
Reigning Eastern Conference player of the week Ersan Ilyasova got annihilated by Kris Humphries. Hump scored like 10 of NJ’s first 12 or some sh!t and proceeded to record a career high of 31 points (on just 15 shots). He grabbed 18 boards, too. Ilyasova had just 4 points and 3 rebounds. For this reason, New Jersey got off to a great start and held the lead through three quarters (just 74-72 by then, but they once led by double digits). At that point Brandon Jennings exercised his best-player-on-the-floor status, lighting up the Deron-less Nets for 14 points. You could kind of see it coming… Jennings had been on all game long (34 points on the evening), and New Jersey was without a perimeter player capable of closing the game. Drew Gooden also had an excellent second half and finished the game with 23 points.
The Knicks hung around, but they were ultimately unable to absorb 32 points from Derrick Rose. That makes it six consecutive losses and lands them in 9th place. Remember how I said we’d see what the Knicks are made of during a post-All-Star-break stretch that would see them play five of seven against winning teams? Well… this was that stretch, and they went 1-6. My conclusion? The situation remains humorous.
Thirteen different players scored 10+ points as the Wolves beat the Suns 127-124. Yes, the game ended in regulation. Kevin Love finishing with just 7 rebounds is a pretty good indicator of how things went. I mean, there were no boards to be had because every f@cking shot went in the basket… both teams shot well over 50% from the floor. As the Suns got off to a quick start, Nikola Pekovic kept the Wolves in it with 15 first-quarter points. I thoroughly enjoyed his domination because Marcin Gortat had gotten the best of him the last time the two met. This was a really strange game from a T-Wolves perspective… it’s like guys took turns dominating the offensive action. First it was Pekovic, then it was Beasley (12 points in the first seven minutes of the second), then it was Williams (also 12 points in the second), and finally it was Love (23 in the second half). Hell, even Wes Matthews scored 7 consecutive points when the Wolves were slumping in the middle of the third quarter. I think Michael Beasley may have gone for 30+ in this game had he not left with a left foot injury. He was absolutely on fire… 6-7 from the floor, 3-3 from three. For the Suns, it was Jared Dudley with 28. He’s been on an 18.6 PPG rampage over seven games since the All-Star break.
Anthony Randolph was not one of the 13 players who scored in double figures. As a matter of fact, he may have played the most depressing minute and some odd seconds of NBA basketball I’ve seen since Kwame Brown was a Laker. I don’t know if any of you will remember this, but on January 17th, 2008 Kwame turned the ball over seven times against the Phoenix Suns. Four of the turnovers were part a short stretch in the third quarter during which he also missed at least one dunk. There used to be a cringe-inducing video of it on Youtube but it’s since been taken down. The AP’s game recap mentions it. Anyway, here’s what happened to Randolph…
8:40 Anthony Randolph lost ball (Markieff Morris steals)
7:56 Robin Lopez blocks Anthony Randolph’s 10-foot jumper
7:48 Anthony Randolph shooting foul (Robin Lopez draws the foul)
7:20 Robin Lopez blocks Anthony Randolph’s 5-foot jumper
In five minutes he went 0-3, got stuffed twice (by Robin Fropez), committed a foul (against Robin Fropez), and turned the ball over. Don’t expect to see him again any time soon.
Al Jefferson gave Detroit the business as he scored 33 points to lead the Jazz to a 105-90 W. This game was a lot closer than the final score makes it out to be, though, and it was Al Jeff who stepped up late. With the score tied at 85 with just 5:43 to play, Jefferson hit a mid-range jump shot. He then out-scrapped Jason Maxiell and Ben Wallace for a hard-earned bucket after having his initial attempt blocked. Three Jefferson scores later it was 95-89… basically time to bring on the fat lady. This was a special effort from Jefferson, who had lost his grandmother over the weekend. Jefferson was raised by his grandmother, and his teammates didn’t expect him to play. Said Al: “I know she wanted me to go out and play and do my job and that’s what I did.”
The Clippers lost another one, 85-94 to Boston. I saw a good portion of the second half… looked like a very physical game. I suppose the good news for the Clipps is that DeAndre Jordan showed signs of life (13 boards). For Boston, this had to feel good coming off of the loss to the Lakers. I seem to recall Kevin Garnett hitting a big shot. Kind of unusual.
Highlight Recap: Blake Griffin reverse alley-oops over a steamroller. DeAndre Jordan beasts on KG, then catches a shot attempt by Rajon Rondo. Blake should’ve leaned and smashed this one with his right hand. Kris Humphries dribbles 94 feet, finishes with the dunk. Tim Duncan is a copy cat. Jeremy Lin swats Derrick Rose.
