I have no idea who that random lady in the celebration was, and I also have no idea what made her think that doing… that to her hair was a good idea… but anyway, even if Tyreke Evans had missed the game-winning halfcourt bomb (or if DeMarcus Cousins had continued to sulk his way into a five second violation), it would’ve been a wild finish in Sacramento. That one-footed fallaway by OJ Mayo was anything but an easy shot, and the Grizzlies only trailed because Evans stole the ball from Mayo and dunked it with 15 seconds left. I’d still give my game of the year nod to Celtics @ Knicks, but this was certainly the finish of the year. The Grizzlies are a below average team and the Kings are absolutely terrible, but as Sacramento’s commentator explained, “if you don’t like that you don’t like NBA basketball!” Don’t forget to show some random teams a little love from time to time… you never know when you’ll see something like this.
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap: Ramon Sessions drives and dunks. TJ Ford tosses a long-distance lob to Solomon Jones. T-Mac steals, sets Ben Wallets up for a slam. Luke Ridnour circus shot. Lamar Odom stuffs his own miss. Russell Westbrook with a big fastbreak slam. Old man Grant Hill connects with Half Man Half Retired on a lob. Blake Griffin explodes for a jam. Kyrylo Fesenko and Rany Foye with a pair of sick rejections. The top 10 has more… keep your eyes peeled for a sick slam by DeAndre Jordan and a nifty dish by Zaza Pachulia.
- I’ve already explained the final 30 seconds of the Kings/Grizz game, but I supposed the first 47:30 could use a recap as well. The Kings, who have been notorious late-game chokers this year, had to make an eight-point comeback in the final seven minutes to put themselves in position to pull off a miracle. The comeback was led by Tyreke Evans, who had 10 of the Kings’ final 23 points, along with DeMarcus Cousins, who had eight of them (including two important freethrows and a clutch bucket in the final minute). Cousins set a new career high in points (21) and tied his career high in rebounds (16). Evans, who scored 21, is still suffering with foot pain and could decide to shut it down for a while at any moment. For all you fantasy players out there, I’d suggest trying to use these last two games (32 and 21 points) to get whatever you can for the guy. I don’t think he’s going to make it through the season. Oh, Z-Bo deserves a mention here: he dropped 35/17 for the Grizzlies.
- Captain Jack dropped 38 on the Cavaliers to help the Bobcats improve to 2-0 in the new Paul Silas era. The Cavs, who have lost 15 of their last 16, were out-shot, out-rebounded, out-assisted, etc as they lost by nine. DJ Augustin added another 28 to Stack’s total… they were the only two Bobcats to reach double figures. Stack took a bit of a shot at Larry Brown after the game: “It’s a good feeling knowing the coaches are allowing you to use your brain and make basketball plays and not be sort of a robot out there.”
- Not only did Boston lose KG, they suffered their largest margin of defeat in a loss to the Detroit Pistons. Tracy McGrady scored 21 points (the most he’s scored since last March, coincidentally against the Pistons) and Tayshaun Prince added 18 as the Pistons cruised to a 12-point W. Boston came out appearing to lack focus, and then when KG left they really got extra sloppy. I imagine their minds were probably on KG’s status more than the game, which is understandle. They turned the ball over a season-high 21 times. Although Paul Pierce was responsible for five of those TOs, he had a pretty damn good game with a season-best 33 points along with eight assists. No update on KG at this point, I’ll let you know as soon as there’s news.
- The Lakers entered their matchup with the Hornets on a three-game losing streak, and things were looking a little shakey early. LA turned the ball over five times in the first seven minutes, but they kept the defecit at four or less the entire time. The Lakers suddenly got their act together with about five minutes remaining in the first quarter. By halftime they had led by as many as 20, and held onto an 18-point lead. The lead remained between 15 and 20 the rest of the night in a game that was a blowout from the second quarter on. Phil Jackson decided to insert Andrew Bynum back into the starting lineup in place of Lamar Odom… it worked out for both players. Bynum scored 18 points on 8-12 while Lamar scored 24 on 10-15. Both players saw about 30 minutes of PT.
- My main man Blake Griffin dropped 30/12, but Big Al Jefferson put up 31/10 of his own and led the Jazz to a comeback victory over the Clippers. LA dropped 31 in the first quarter and 26 more in the second. They took a six-point lead into the lockerroom, but it didn’t take them long to blow it on the other side of the break. Seven straight bricks to open the third quarter allowed Utah to take the lead just three minutes into the period… and they would never give it up. Al Jefferson dropped 19 of those 31 in the second half. Gordon Hayward had the best game of his life, continuously knocking down open jumpers (including 3-5 from distance) all the way to a career-high 17 points. DeAndre Jordan went 5-5 from the floor and swatted seven shots for the Clipps. Blake Griffin knocked down another three-ball… he’s now 4-6 on the season from distance.
- The Heat shot 58% and scored 125 points… yet they only beat theRockets by six. How? They were abused on the offensive glass. the Rockets gathered 16 offensive boards and won the turnover battle, which resulted in their taking of 19 extra shots. Unfortunately, they couldn’t knock ‘em down. A 16% disadvantage in the shooting column was simply too much for H-Town to overcome. Dwyane Wade followed up his 40 point effort from Tuesday night with 45 more in this one. Dwyane/LeBron/Bosh combined for 86 points.
- The other games: Rashard Lewis played through a severe case of depression and managed to put in 10 points to help the Wizards pick up a 14-point win over the struggling Pacers. Nick Young scored 25, John Wall came up three boards short of a triple-double (10/7/12). My main man Dorell Wright poured in 32 points, but the Warriors came up 10 short in ATL. Monta Ellis and Steph Curry each shot 4-13 and combined for just 21 points. Al Horford dropped 21/15. Chauncey Billups is finally looking like his old self… he scored 36 as the Nuggets beat the T-Wolves 119-113. Super Cool had 33 points for the Wolves. Kevin Love notched 26/14, but was whistled for two devestating pushing fouls in the rebounding action during the final minute. The Thunder crushed the Brooklyn New Yorkers by 21… Brook Lopez still has just one double-double on the season. Second overall pick Evan Turner had the best game of his young career (23 points on 9-12) to help his Sixers beat the Suns 123-110. Jrue Holiday scored 25, and Andres Nocioni tacked on 22. Vince Carter made his PHX debut… he had 18 points on 20 shots.
Quote of the Day: Brent Barry explains his first impression after seeing Blake Griffin in person…
“He’s got red hair… and it’s curly.”
This is true, Brent, and it took me a little while to get over it too.
Photo of the Day: Baron Davis and DeAndre Jordan connect on an alley-oop that looks even more spectacular in photo form…
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