Swin Cash gives me the hibbie-jibbies. In both ways. Although not as much as that guy from Georgia Tech who banged his head tonight and turned into the Undertaker. Watch SportsCenter or YouTube it. Scary indeed.
New Orleans 120, Phoenix 103
With or without Shaq, New Orleans owns Phoenix. Suns fans, y’all can win the championship as long as you don’t run into LA or NO. And I didn’t even bring up the defending champs. *shudder*
Don’t be fooled by the score though people, this was quite the game until the Hornets caught fire in the third quarter. Jannero Pargo could quickly join the Pantheon of mediocre guards who find a way to kill you. When he drops 22 you’re in for a long night: NO is 6-2 when he drops 15+. Chris Paul continues to dominate against the Suns. I’m not going to be foolish and say he killed Steve Nash because the Suns have thrown everything at him. They just can’t stop him.
Boston 92, Cleveland 87
Gotta love how the news out of this game is a combination of LeBron’s sprained ankle and his being the youngest player to reach 10,000 points. *Ahem* Take that Kobe fans. Normally I would drag Mike Brown and the Cavs through the mud but they lost to the best team in the conference and still have that ‘the trade just happened’ excuse going for them. They were doomed when LBJ shot 7-for-24, definitely didn’t help that Wally was broke again. 3-for-13 isn’t what they got him for.
Utah 103, Detroit 95
If tonight was any indication and Mehmet Okur has indeed found his stroke…the Utah Jazz just got THAT much tougher. Perhaps it was just the sight of his old team, but Okur was hot. 11 of his 28 points came in the 4th quarter, including three of those classic three-pointers that the Jazz always seem to hit at home.
(For the uneducated…by classic threes that Utah always gets at home, I mean wide open threes that generally come in crunch time to either tie the game, take the lead or put the nail in the coffin. No matter who they have they always have found a way to not only hit these, but make sure they are very wide open in the process. Check the highlights.)
For Detroit…complete self-destruction. They were up 15 with 5 minutes left in the third after a Chauncey Billups lay-up. Didn’t get another field goal for the rest of the quarter as that lead dwindled to 4 to start the fourth. Remember my mini rant earlier this week about not being able to trust the Pistons? Night’s like tonight are an illustration why. Good job Flip. A young team like Minnesota or even Portland..that’s understandable. A veteran, business like team like Detroit should never give up a lead like that.
Speaking of blown leads..
Portland 82, Clippers 80
The Blazers blew their third straight double-digit lead tonight. The difference? Instead of the Lakers and Celtics, they were only playing the Clippers and could find a way to gut this one out. Dangerous tendency though. As much flack as Jarrett Jack has gotten from us, he deserves MVP honors for his big-time play in the fourth quarter. With LMA and Outlaw struggling, Jack put the team on his back by making big buckets down the stretch. If only he could learn how to run a fast break.
Also credit the rest of the bench. Channing Frye pulled his monthly good game out of the bag (12 points) and Von Wafer showed that he might actually have some game. Is he going to be this year’s Udoka for the Blazers? Who knows. But if he can knock down a couple threes a game while James Jones is out we might not be in that bad of shape.
Although I am concerned we let Tim Thomas get 11 rebounds. Tim…Thomas. Yes that Tim Thomas who is 6’10 but plays like he’s 6’4.
Chicago 113, Indiana 107
A battle between two teams I don’t want to have to watch in the playoffs. Chicago made me look like less of an idiot for saying they got the best of that 3-team trade. Drew Gooden with 10 and 15 while Larry Hughes dropped 29. Although I’m not sure how a backcourt of Ben Gordon and Hughes could co-exist. Or moreso how anyone else could shoot the ball. Between the two of them they shot 35 times, which is exactly one more shot than the ENTIRE starting lineup took COMBINED. Have fun with that interim coach Jim Boylan.
Indiana continues their pattern for the reason…win…lose…lose twice…win…win…lose. You get it. It’s not pretty, but neither is the bottom of the East. More interesting than anything they did in the game…Does anyone else realize that they are one player away from starting a whitewash? Dunleavy, Murphy, Foster, Diener…can we force Brent Barry to sign there for comedic sake? Is this their way of making it up to the community for the “thuggery” that took place over the past couple years? They really should’ve traded Jermaine and/or Tinsley and just rode this wave. They’d be better off in the future.
Philadelphia 101, Orlando 89
If only the Sixers could get 20+ from Iggy, Willie Green and Andre Miller every night they’d be in the playoffs. Oh wait…they are the 7th best team in the East right now. Good for you Mo. Although you must pardon me for not being entertained by the prospects of having to watch you guys get blown out by the Pistons at least 4 times in May. That is if you hang on.
Gotta love those back-to-back road games in the NBA. Orlando didn’t show up at all after last night’s win. 20 turnovers on the road will get you nothing but an L. Although we did have a JJ Redick sighting. So nice of you to drop 10 points and jack up 10 shots in 16 minutes. He’s gonna get his.
Atlanta 123, Sacramento 117
I bet Bibby is just really tired of seeing the Kings. I mean sheesh leave the guy alone. That is weird that the Kings would play Atlanta twice in a week since Bibby got there. Bibby (24 pts, 12 asts) and Udrih (25 pts, 8 assists) had themselves a nice little duel. Josh Childress stepped up big in Marvin Williams absence (25 pts) and John Salmons quietly waits until he no longer has to play behind Ron Artest.
Denver 138, Seattle 96
New York 113, Charlotte 86
Toronto 107, Minnesota 85
When good teams beat up on bad teams. Or in the Knicks case, when a bad team beats up on another bad team.
Denver was lights out in Seattle shooting a preposterous 67 percent on the night. I’m not quite sure what’s more unbelievable: the fact that Denver scored 130+ in a game or that Anthony Carter had 12 assists. Honestly, Denver looks horrible on paper. Everytime I look at their roster I just shake my head and wonder how they do it. For Seattle..Kevin Durant is just not making any sort of adjustments (4/17 shooting, 16 points) and if the Hawks make the playoffs, I truly believe Horford should win the ROY. And unlike that Thorpe guy I’ve been saying that since December. PJ still has no clue what’s going on. Why Petro magically plays 32 minutes tonight and Collison plays 17 makes no sense. Also, why Gelabale wasn’t playing earlier (16 pts, third straight double-digit effort) instead of flirting with the D-League is anyone’s guess. Two things need to happen in Seattle: they need to stay there and they need to fire PJ.
The Knicks actually ended up blowing someone out on MSG instead of the other way around. I say the only reason is because Jason Richardson went out with an eye injury, but call me a pessimist. And Toronto manhandled Minnesota.