Just a mish-mosh of thoughts and fallout from Saturday’s slate of NBA games. The two diaries are still below if you missed out on our coverage of Portland/Utah and Boston/Detroit.
Fallout from last night’s game…in Detroit they’re seeing flashes of nightmares from the past two years. Cannot say I blame them at all.
Lots of breakout performances last night. Boston got a big lift from Big Baby who dropped 16 in the fourth quarter to lead them to victory. Portland got a 24 point third quarter from Martell Webster, who continues to tease Blazer fans with just how good he really is and can be. I mean I can’t quite fully believe in him because I know he could just as easily make a three in the first quarter and then completely disappear. But I can’t write him off because of night’s like last night. Also, Houston got a much-needed 22 points from rookie Aaron Brooks. Houston’s biggest problem is that their other guys haven’t been producing, hopefully this could lead to some good things for Brooks and the Rockets. Or perhaps it was because the Knicks were in town who knows.
Remember a week or so ago when I gave the Atlanta Hawks props for winning 5 in a row and looking like they were finally putting it all together? Yeah they’ve lost four in a row since then. I may in fact be a curse. Also, teams like Atlanta and Philly are why I can still make the argument that the Heat aren’t quite out of it yet…even though they really are. Interesting article on the Hawks right here. So how come they started losing? Because Mike Woodson is an idiot that’s why. They were winning because they had stability at the PG (thanks to injuries) and Anthony Johnson was being solid. So of course when Acie Law is healthy, Woodson says ‘To Hell With Winning!’ and splits their time. Here’s the stats for you visual learners.
- In their 5 game winning streak, Johnson played 38, 45, 38, 40 and 33 minutes.
- In their 4 game losing streak, Johnson has played 19, 24, 22 and 36.
Why ruin a good thing? You don’t see Nate tossing Sergio into the starting lineup because he had 8 assists in 5 minutes for a reason. Moving on to things that make me look smart…
Yesterday, I named Chris Paul the current MVP of the Western Conference….and he made me look good last night. Playing all 48 minutes, dropping 28 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals and leading the Hornets to a victory in Phoenix last night. I’m sorry but for right now the Paul/Williams debate is settled. I’ve flip-flopped back over to Paul and I’m going to stay here for a while because he is doing his thing. Without David West the Hornets go to Phoenix and get a win? You must be crazy. This is the second time that Paul has outplayed Steve Nash this year by the way. Also…newsflash to Amare. The Hornets made it easy on you, they didn’t even have David West. You had one guy to take care of…Tyson Chandler had 19 and 11.
Staying on Phoenix…where has Shawn Marion been this year? The Matrix probably deserves his own post but he won’t get it and I hope he complains about it. How can you be the highest paid member of the Suns, constantly complain, demand a trade despite disappearing in the playoffs last year…and then not produce. I’d like to think maybe Grant Hill has had something to do with this decline but I’m not sure. He’s averaging his lowest point total since his rookie campaign (15.8 points), shooting the worst percentage from the free throw line of his career at 66.7% and his only averaging 2.5 attempts per game. He still averages 10 rebounds a game and still gets double-doubles but he has had a quieter season than the Suns have needed.
Does anyone realize that Washington has the 4th best record in the Eastern Conference?