Monta Ellis had another great game with 36 points, but he wouldn’t be the Warrior to knock down the biggest shot of the night. Vladimir Radmanovic, who had 10 scored points in the first 11:58 of the fourth quarter, added three more in the face of Darnell Jackson to send the game to OT. Darnell should be kicking himself right now, he really blew his defensive assignment. He watched the ball and lost track of the most potent three-point threat on the floor. Jackson was able to get a hand up, but there’s no way the pass should’ve even made it to the top of the key from the baseline.
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap: Moped hits a circus shot to ice the game. Tyson Chandler dunks while being smacked upside the head. Derrick Rose goes coast-to-coast for a dunk. Iggy explodes to the rack. Top Five plays. I guess that’s it.
- Sacramento’s frontcourt really lost the game for them last night. I already explained what Darnell Jackson did wrong, but he never would’ve been in position to f@ck up had DeMarcus Cousins not fumbled an easy rebound out of bounds. Reggie Williams was at the line with about three seconds remaining, and he had to intentionally miss the second shot for Golden State to even have a chance. He did just that, and the ball bounced right to DeMarcus Cousins… who did his best Kwame Brown impersonation and simply dropped it. The rest is history. Monta Ellis led the Dubs with 36… which is no big deal for him. That’s just one point more than his average over the last four games. Beno Udrih dropped a career-high 34 for the Kings before fouling out in OT. One final note on this game: scroll back up to the top of this post and take another look at Vlad’s shot. Notice who’s arena the game is at, then watch/listen to the crowd. Once upon a time, Arco Arena was home to the craziest atmosphere of all NBA buildings. Last night, the majority of Arco’s crowd seemed to be Warrior supporters. That’s what happens when you’re 5-21.
- The Orlando Magic and Dallas Mavericks are headed in opposite directions. Entering their matchup last night, the Mavs had won 15 of their last 16, and the Magic had lost seven of their last eight. Dwight Howard put in 26 points and grabbed 20 boards for the third game in a row, but it wasn’t enough to stop the skid. Dirk Nowitzki had his worst game in a while with 17 points on just 4 of 13, but he made history, passing Larry Bird for #25 on the all-time scoring list. The Mavs were led by Caron Butler and his 20 points. JJ Redick scored 21 for Orlando, who decided to go small and start Hedo Turkoglu at PF. I don’t think that was the problem (Orlando won the rebounding battle and had more points in the paint)… they just simply didn’t make shots while Dallas did. J-Rich, Turk, and Arenas all struggled again. They combined to shoot 7-30 (3-13 from distance). The Magic did shoot perfectly from the line, knocking down all 12 of their freethrows. I wonder if they’ve ever done that in the Dwight Howard era? Doubtful.
- The Chicago Bulls shot 64.5% against the Suxers, who shot 35%. I probably don’t even need to elaborate, but I will, because some of the numbers are kinda funny. The Bulls led by as many as 51 points and ended up winning by 45. Philly bricked 52 shots… Chicago made 49. The Bulls doubled Philly’s 26 points in the paint. Andre Iguodala recorded a +/- of negative 41. Derrick Rose and Kurt Thomas did +41s. I think you get the point.
- Kobe Bryant: “Don’t ruin Christmas by losing to the Milwaukee Bucks.” Whoops. Earl Boykins came through with 22 points in place of the injured Brandon Jennings to lead the Bucks to a 19-point victory at Staples. The Reindeer led by just six entering the final quarter, but the final 12 minutes were Earl time. The little guy matched LA’s 13 fourth-quarter points with 13 of his own on 4-4 from the floor and 3-3 from distance. I personally find it enjoyable to watch a guy shorter than me dominate an NBA game. Kobe Bryant, however, hates little people. He was so infuriated by the prowess of Milwaukee’s midget that he decided to exit the game two minutes early and refused to speak to reporters on his way out. That’s too bad, he would’ve been a lock for quote of the day.
- The other games: Kevin Durant dropped 32 on just 13 shots as the Thunder beat the Bobkittens by 18. Charlotte’s dropped their last four… they’re averaging about 80 PPG in the losing streak. Kwame Brown got a starting nod and put up 9/5 on 3-4. The Brooklyn New Yorkers beat the Vancouver Grizzlies by seven. Brook Lopez led the New Yorkers with 26 points on 8-14.
Quote of the Day: With a statement like this you’d think Doug Collins was coaching a contender…
“I told the guys that I’ll give you one. In the NBA you’re going to have games like this, it just happens. It’ll be easier tomorrow (at Boston). Our effort will be better tomorrow. We were just discombobulated on offense tonight. I didn’t recognize us out there.”
Wait… what? Why’s it going to be any easier in Boston?
Photo of the Day: Kwame Brown finally snapped…
An unknown victim appears to be catching a serious beat-down. Maybe Kwame should consider the UFC… I wonder if they’d allow him to use his signature birthday cake attack maneuver?
