Danny Granger led the Pacers with 33 points including 6 of 11 from three but it was Tyler Hansbrough who came through in the clutch with a timely jumper, rebound, and free throws to ice the game for Indiana. The Bobcats had a few tries to tie the game but couldn’t get the first home win of the season. Gerald Wallace led the ‘Cats with 29 as Augustin went 5 of 14 from the field and finished with 17 points, to go with 6 assists.
The Lakers used Lamar Odom’s s big night of 18 points and 17 rebounds to beat the declining Suns. Grant Hill actually led the team in scoring (21 points), the last time that happened we all thought The Mask was a breakthrough in movie visual technology. LA closed the third quarter on an 11-3 run and stretched the lead through the fourth, briefly making it a 6 point game before pulling away late. Since Odom bad a terrific game, expect another great game from him on March 29, 2013.
The Nets earned their second victory of the season as they beat the Kings (last time the Nets started 2-0 was back in 2002). After a one-sided war of words, the Cousins/Favors “rivalry” was a wash – Cousins finished with 12 and 4 while Favors put up 10 and 7. Brook Lopez led the Nets with 29 points and Devin Harris put up a 21 point 10-assist double double. The Kings, led by Tyreke’s 18 and 7 as well as Garcia’s 18 off the bench, went on a late 14-4 run but were out-executed by Harris and the Nets. In case you forgot, the Nets’ 2 wins had to wait a good 21 games before showing up in the standings last season, prompting owner Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay Z to pop the bubbly with an “11 More Games to Improvement” party.
The L-Wolves earned their first win of the season, riding Beasley’s 21 points and 10 rebounds and Kevin Love’s always efficient 17 points and 16 rebounds. Not important to the team? The Wolves out-rebounded the Bucks 62-39, giving them second-chance points all night and eventually leading to the win. Cory Maggette led the Bucks with 23 off the bench but the team decided to invest in real estate as they piled up the bricks all night long.
Chris Paul is the best point guard in the league. Now that we have that out of the way, his 18 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds led the Hornets over the “is he still here?” Nuggets. Looking beyond the stats, CP3 scored 10 of his points in the last 9 minutes of the game and assisted on 3 key plays during a 13-2 Hornets run that sealed the win. Melo is like an employee who gave his 8-month notice: mailing it in at work. Spending most of the night looking at YouTube clips of funny cats, Melo occasionally woke up and contributed 24 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
Being the NBA version of the San Diego Chargers, the Mavericks decided to start losing games earlier than previously planned (in the playoffs). Fighting Dirk’s 27 points and 7 rebounds, OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay dropped 20 and 21 points, respectively. After a made Marc Gasol free throw, Mayo stole Kidd’s inbounds pass to seal the win. The Mavericks missed 12 of 18 shots and had 9 turnovers in their nightmare of a fourth quarter.
If there’s one thing the Hawks are allegedly working on, it’s not collapsing in the 4th quarter of games. Atlanta kept fluid ball movement and held on for the win thanks to a Josh Smith block (one of his 6). Horford used a variety of low-post moves to finish with 20 points and 12 rebounds while Jamal Crawford added 19 off the bench. Iguodala put up a near triple double of 27 points, 10 assists, and 6 rebounds but Evan Turner was scoreless on 0 for 5 shooting (with 4 assists and 2 rebounds).
After tying his career-high 46 points on opening night, Monta (15 points, 11 assists) and company dismantled the Clippers led by Dorrel Wright’s 24 points and 8 rebounds. For the Clippers, ROY lock Blake Griffin put up solid numbers (14 points, 10 rebounds) but his team couldn’t get over the Warriors’ pick and roll offensive attack which opened up the floor for both guards as well as the frontcourt.
“Check My $tats” of the night: Rajon Rondo: 10 points, 10 rebounds, 24 assists. While you were reading this line, Rondo assisted on the popcorn guy’s shot to the 9th row.
Criticize Stern for running the NBA like a kindergarten, but the man has at least one positive feature for the fans: League Pass. If you don’t have it already, you can basically watch all NBA games that are not already on national TV. Most impressively, it continues to get better and better with annual improvements ranging from archived games, adjustable streaming settings, and hidden box scores (so game results aren’t spoiled before you watch them). This season, there is more good news for Canadian viewers: games that are technically nationally televised in the States (but not available in Canada, like ESPN and TNT), are viewable through League Pass. I’d highly recommend purchasing it.
At the start of this season, there is no better time to promote fan unity. No matter if you eat your cereal with your Jordan tongue out or heat your house by burning LeBron jerseys, we all have one thing in common: the love of the game. So I am issuing an open challenge to all SLAM readers: become a better NBA fan. Watch more games. Watch small-market teams, up-and-coming teams, rookies, and hidden gems throughout the league. Because a year from now, there’s a good chance that we’ll all be begging for a Wolves/Pacers game.
See you guys tomorrow.
P.S. If you’re in the DC area, be sure to check out Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” happening on the Washington Mall. While you’re at it, vote.
P.P.S. My wall > your wall
