1/2/11: DeShawn Stevenson Explodes For 21 Points.

My main man DeShawn Stevenson stepped up big and dropped a season-best 21 points to help the Mavs snap their three-game losing streak.  It was a duel of two former Arenas-era Wizards: Antawn Jamison dropped 35 for the Cavs, but DeShawn and company were able to keep the rest of Cleveland’s big guns–guys like Manny Harris and Alonzo Gee–in check.  They came away with a nine-point victory.  Stevenson was on fire from distance, knocking down 5 of 12 attempts from downtown.  From his days of LeBron stopping to tonight’s offensive outburst, DeShawn always takes care of business in Ohio.  It’s what he does.

Random Observations:

  • Highlight Recap, Blake Griffin Edition: One-handed oop from The BaronFastbreak dunk plus the foul.  There was a third dunk, but Youtubers apparently didn’t get the memo.
  • Highlight Recap, Everyone Else Edition: DeMaR DeRoZaN steals and slamsAmare swats Danny GrangerWilson Chandler hits from halfcourtRonny Turiaf denies Roy HibbertDeAndre Jordan with a two-handed hammerRudy Gay pounds an oop straight up off his vertDeMarcus Cousins is a fat KGTop 10.
  • The Toronto Raptors took care of the Dirk-less Mavs.  The Bucks did too.  The Cavs?  Dallas would have to be missing a helluvalot more than Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler.  Cleveland got 35/10 from Antawn Jamison and 19/12 from Ramon Sessions, but nothing to speak of from anyone else as they dropped their 7th in a row.  Jason Terry broke out of his slump, he dropped 18 on 8-14.  Shawn Marion scored 22 on 11-16.  In case you missed it the first couple times, DeShawn Stevenson was a complete monster with 21 points.
  • The first Collins Bowl of the season took place at Staples Center this afternoon.  Jason racked up two rebounds, a turnover, and a foul in 18 minutes while brother Jarron got a DNPCD.  Jason’s team (for readers who haven’t memorized all 30 rosters: ATL) got the W.  Josh Smith knocked down three second-half triples after shooting 0-8 in the first half to help his Hawks get a comeback win over the Clippers (I didn’t mean to make that seem like an accomplishment… the Clipps will basically put gift wrap and a bow on it for you, all you have to do is unwrap it).  J-Smoove, who recorded 22/10 in the game, went 0-7 from distance all of last season.  This season?  27-67.  The worst nickname in the association received help from Jamal Crawford, who scored 24, and Joe Johnson, who scored 29.  The Clippers jumped out to a big first quarter lead, but in typical Clipper fashion they fizzled as the game went on and struggled to get quality looks down the stretch.  Blake Griffin had another huge statistical night with 31/15.  DeAndre Jordan swatted six shots and collected 12 boards.  This was a great game to watch… three of the league’s premier athletes put their hops on display on multiple occasions.  Smith and Jordan had a meeting at the rim which can be seen in the highlight recap.
  • Ronny Turiaf made his presence felt defensively in a 98-92 Knicks win over the Pacers.  Turiaf swatted six shots, including a big one with 25 seconds remaining, and grabbed 10 boards.  This was a very sloppy game… back and forth throughout, but not because guys were pushing the ball and putting it in the basket.  Bricks were flying and turnovers were abundant, but the Knicks got it together down the stretch.  Wilson Chandler, who’s only bucket until this point was a halfcourt heave, knocked down a three with four minutes left to give the Knicks a 90-87 lead.  Amare Stoudemire took over from there.  For some reason that only makes sense to Jim O’Brien, James Posey ended up guarding Amare down the stretch, and he was simply overpowered for two key buckets.  That wasn’t the only questionable decision made by O’Brien today: Jeff Foster started over Roy Hibbert.  That one’s really going to make the fans happy.
  • Sacramento finished up their game against the Suns on a 21-2 run after falling behind early.  The Kings lost the first quarter by 10, but gradually came back, outscoring the Suns in each of the next three periods.  Tyreke Evans looked like the guy that was considering hanging it up for the season–he went 2-12–but DeMarcus Cousins stepped up with a career-high 28 points (plus eight boards and six assists) to lead Sactown to a five-point victory.  The Suns shot just 40% from the floor even though Steve Nash went 8-8.  The Kings also shot poorly, but they hit the glass hard (out-rebounded PHX 60-32, 18-9 on the offensive side).  Back to DeMarcus Cousins: is he getting it together?  This game marks his third productive performance in a row.  More importantly, he was a key contributor down the stretch in the two of those games that his Kings won.  He’s certainly showing the talent that made him a high lottery pick, along with some gutsy clutchness… but talent has never been the question.  Cousins has had solid stretches of production before, but he always puts a damper on it by doing something stupid.  Can he refrain from the shenanigans for the remainder of the season?  I doubt it, but we’ll see.
  • The Grizzlies pulled away from the Lakers in a 31-point 3rd quarter and put an embarassing end to LA’s little two-game win streak.  Kobe and company turned the ball over 20 times, and quite honestly looked bad in a 19-point loss to Memphis.  Rudy Gay scored 27 (including a steal and emphatic dunk that put his team up 20) while battling a stomach virus.  The Lakers have a bit of a test coming up this month.  They face three back-to-backs and games against New York, OKC, Dallas, Denver, Utah, and Boston.  They’re 0-2 against those teams thus far, and have just three wins all season over clubs that are currently .500+.
  • DeMaR DeRoZaN followed up his 37-point performance in H-Town with a 27-pointer against Boston, but once again his Craptors took an L.  Paul Piece did his 30-point thing for the second time in three games while leading the Cs to a 93-79 road victory.  Pierce left the game in the final moments after dunking and landing funny on his ankle.  The old man got a little over-excited following a huge poster slam and decided to throw another one down… father time let him know it was a poor decision, but didn’t go all-out Tony Allen on him.  I didn’t look all that serious, and I doubt he’ll be missing any games.
  • LaMarcus Aldridge continues to beast: LMA put 25/11 on the Rockets in a 15-point Portland victory.  Aldridge is thriving as the focal point of the Blazers’ offense… he’s scored 25+ in three of the last four.  Kevin Martin played just 24 minutes and watched his string of eight consecutive 20-pointers come to an end.  Patty Mills scored a career-high 14 off Portland’s bench. 

Quote of the Day: This one here is a doozy from Phil Jackson…

“We get behind early on in the third quarter on some stupid plays — poor passing, poor transition defense — and then Kobe has to screw up the game and start energizing the team by going one-on-one. That takes the rest of the guys out and as a consequence, that didn’t bring us back in.”

I first heard this on NBAtv and had to google it to make sure I got it right.  Sure enough, my hearing was on point.  I guess Phil’s not holding any punches these days.  Kobe did take 12 of LA’s 22 shots in the third, the quarter in which they really lost the game.  When it comes to Kobe’s one-on-one mode, it’s an ongoing debate: does the team’s poor play cause Kobe to try to take over, or do Kobe’s attempts to take over cause the team to play poorly?  Apparently Phil feels that it’s the latter.  I can recall examples of both cases in the past, and I wouldn’t say Kobe “screwed the game up” last night.  The Lakers basically lacked enough give-a-sh!t to win that game, and it’s not all Kobe’s fault.  Collectively they didn’t show up, and they haven’t been showing up regularly for a few weeks now.  If I’m a Lakers fan, am I worried?  Nope, I’m still not concerned.  It’s January.  If they’re still looking lackadaisical two months from now, then maybe you’ve got a problem.

Photo of the Day: Rudy rising…

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