By Holly MacKenzie
After a busy weekend things slowed down last night with only 2 games on the schedule. I didn’t get to watch the Boston game, but judging from the boxscore/play-by-play, New York didn’t win because Boston was sitting their stars, they just shut them down when it mattered most. I certainly wasn’t expecting that one. As for the Hawks/Washington contest, like I said last week, I am loving the Hawks right now. It is also funny that after reading Gil’s blog about his playing like “terrible trash”, he scores 19 in the game last night. I wonder if he had a conscious bet with himself on his scoring totals? Or if he had a bet with those prankster rookies? Also, when he says that he “got him good. Both him (Nick Young) and Dominic“, I want to know what it is that he did, if he is not blogging about it? It’s gotta be good if it didn’t make the blog. Even in the offseason, I can count on Gil to provide entertainment. Now, I’m waiting patiently for Lang to upload the next installment of their season preview.
Since I never wrote about the Kanye concert and there were a few people who wanted to know how it went, here is a short paragraph I wrote last week, but didn’t get “around” to posting it. You know, Kanye and Gilbert remind me of each other. Both are mega-talented and know it, they do and say things to ruffle feathers, but in the end they recognize they are just players in the game (be it the music game or the basketball one), and they are living it up to the fullest. Kanye even has his own blog now, filled with media, news and of course fashion. Of course, it isn’t as funny as Gil‘s but what is?The two are oddballs in their respective worlds, yet they both manage to reach all of us in ours. They each possess the perfect amounts of passion, crazy, and brilliance and for that, I am a huge fan of them both.
The Lost Excerpt
Hey everyone… the recaps may be a little sketchy today. I had a late night and I’m feeling really celebratory after the Kanye/Luda concert so sorting through boxscores wasn’t really working for me. Regardless, I hope you all get the necessary info needed. What can I say about the show? I knew it would be good since I love Kanye’s rhymes and I grew up on Ludacris, but I was not prepared for the energy and commitment put into the entire thing. Kanye is just an amazing performer. He makes you feel it. I swear, when “Jesus Walks” was up my heart was about to beat out of my chest. Ludacris was fun to start the show off. He had some questionable moments (playing Fergie’s glamorous?), but then he went old school and played some of the songs that immediately thrust me back into junior high. I remember when my mom found a mixed tape (a tape!) of Luda and Lil Kim and I had a lot of explaining to do. She basically told me I was listening to “lyrical porn” and she was NOT happy. Ohh the memories. Kanye came out rocking bright green pants and from the beginning he shone like the star that he is. I loved his setlist, the encore was brilliant and hearing the harp and violin playing over his beats was just unreal. I remembered all over again how much I loved “Get Em High” and the entire College Dropout album.”Drunk and Hot Girls” makes me laugh, it was a highlight to hear him sing “Through the Wire”, “Big Brother” gave me chills, “Gold digger” had the crowd going crazy and the whole show was everything I had expected from Mr. West and more. His setlist had 21 songs, he performed for over an hour and a half and he ensured fans got all of the energy and passion they were hoping for. If anyone else was at the GM Place, let me know what you thought. Maybe I am blinded by the Kanye love right now, but the show was perfect for me.
Atlanta Hawks 103 Washington Wizards 99
After a back and forth battle that saw neither team go ahead by more than 6 in the second half, perhaps our boy Gil is feeling justified in his decision to place Atlanta ahead of Charlotte in his preseason rankings. While Washington was ahead by 11 in the early stages of the 2nd quarter, a Charlotte run had things tied up at the half, 48-48 all. After trading baskets for almost the entire 2nd half it was Atlanta who was up with 23 seconds left in the game. Washington tried to return the favor but Roger Mason’s three-point attempt was short and the Hawks survived a last shot effort by Dominic McGuire to hang on to the victory. It was a big game for Atlanta as they have now have reached 6 preseason victories. This totals the most since 1995, with one more game remaining on the schedule before regular season tips off. Josh Smith and his 24-point, 11 rebound, 6 assist and 4-block line of the night led Atlanta, while Marvin Williams also added 24 points. Josh Childress added 22 while rookie Al Horford chipped in 10 points and 6 boards. Joe Johnson flirted with the triple-double with 9 points, and 8 of each, rebounds and assists. The Wizards were not able to escape the balanced scoring attack of the Hawks, but they were relieved to see Gilbert Arenas knocking down some shots after starting out cold in his first games back from off-season knee surgery. Arenas led the Wizards with 19 points on 7-18 field goals while Antawn Jamieson had 12 points and 9 rebounds. The Hawks were without Acie Law (wrist sprain) and Zaza Pachuila (knee), but they had point guard Tyronn Lue in his first game back since suffering from knee injuries. Next up for Atlanta is New Orleans while Washington will finish up the preseason with contests against Detroit and Toronto.
New York Knicks 94 Boston Celtics 87
In the rematch of a game which saw the Knicks suffer a 40-point loss just last week, perhaps the newly formed trio of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were feeling a little too good about their rematch against New York. After getting a combined 58 points from their big three, Celtics fans watched as the Knicks shut down their stars, leaving all three scoreless in the 4th quarter. There was only one point midway through the 4th where Boston appeared poised to take control and Nate Robinson pushed the New York advantage back to 10 where the Knicks retained the lead for the rest of the game. While Paul Pierce finished with 29, Kevin Garnett had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks before fouling out of the game, Ray Allen shot only 3-13 from the floor for his 12 points. Rajon Rondo contributed 10 points in the contest. For the Knicks, Nate Robinson came off the bench and showed up big, scoring 20 points on 8-13 shooting to go along with 9 rebounds. Zach Randolph led the Knicks with 23 points and a game high 5 steals while David Lee had a solid game tallying 13 points and 14 boards. The Knicks outrebounded the Celtics 53-41 and they proved that when one of the Celtics trio has a rough game, if you can keep the other two from blowing up, you just might surprise them. Especially if they trounced you by 40 only a few short days ago.
