Oh what a night.
Remember that song? It reminds me of my senior year of high school and one of many grad parties where for some reason, the only CDs we could find were old songs because someone forgot to pack the right ones and accidentally brought their parents. Eventually, the right CDs were brought over, but in the meantime we had songs like that.
I went to the Raptors/Bulls game last night, and I’ll have notes over at my Court Surfing blog later today. What I will be pulling from my postgame quotes and my in-game notes, is to be decided. It wasn’t the most entertaining game. Rose is unreal though, I’ll give you that. Goodness.
You know what else was unreal? Golden State taking the Kings to TRIPLE overtime. By the end of the game (which the Kings won, 135-133), the Warriors had three guys foul out, and were 
without another four due to injury. Marcus Williams still was a DNP-CD, though.
I didn’t get to watch much of the action last night and unfortunately I missed Chris Paul’s night. Um… Yeah. 33 points. 10 rebounds. 11 assists. And, 7 steals. Seriously, almost a quadruple-double. And, he led his team to the victory, too. Maybe Chris is about to reinstert himself back into that MVP convo.
I hope so.
That San Antonio/LA Lakers game was a classic, wasn’t it? I thought Kob had won it for us when he drilled that 3 just as he had in Houston the night before. I was not, not, not a fan of the Sam Cassell dance he did on his way back upcourt. Yuck. Suits Sam C. Kobe, not so much.
Roger Mason. WOW. When he had the ball in his hands I was having flashbacks of that Christmas game in Phoenix. It wasn’t a three last night, but it was a three-point play as Derek Fisher got caught behind him and was called for the foul.
That was a painful one to take. Even more so as the final play ended up being my boy Ariza getting called for the travel as he drove to the basket. It was little consolation to hear my other favorite guys JVG and Mark Jackson both agree that there was not a travel on the play and either a no-call or a foul. I wanted the win.
What else? Too much happened last night. Ryne’s Jazz somehow managed to lose to the Thunder… BY 21!
Washington and New York combined for 250 points while Atlanta and the LA Clippers combined to miss 31 of their first 41 shots. Or, something ugly like that.
Andrea Bargnani had a career-high 31, in a loss to the Bulls.
Boston killed New Jersey by 30 and Miami pulled one out against Milwaukee. Beasley had a nice 21 on 8-11 from the floor off of the bench in that one.
Okay, I think I’ve updated as best as I can.
Between you and me, I kinda wish I didn’t have to write on that Raptors game and had instead spent the night watching League Pass. Bet you never thought you’d hear me say that!
Indiana 110 Detroit 106
With the return of Rip Hamilton, the Detroit Pistons are learning how to adjust to playing small ball. One night after losing a close one against the Bobcats, the Pacers took those Pistons to overtime and it paid off, as they took down Detroit 110-106. The overtime session was forced by Danny Granger who hit a jumper to tie things up at 93 with three seconds remaining. The Pistons would have two opportunities to win it in regulation both both Rip and Sheed missed on jumpers. In the extra session, the Pacers hit first as Troy Murphy hit a three to put the Pacers ahead and they never trailed again. Granger finished with 24 points and 10 rebouds for the Pacers as Murphy added 18 points and 13 rebounds and TJ Ford added 23 off of the bench. Rodney Stuckey scored 30 for the Pistons, Iverson had 23 and Sheed scored 17 points to go with 15 rebounds.
New Orleans 104 Dallas 97
When the Hornets were trailing early in the third, Chris Paul knew it was time to step it up. And step it up he did. Going up against Jason Kidd yet being guarded primarily by Antoine Wright, CP3 finished with line that will stand out this season as one of the best. Scoring 33 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, dishing 11 assists and stealing the ball 7 times, Paul willed his team to the victory as he ran circles around Wright and the Dallas defense. Besides Paul’s big night the Hornets held the Mavs to only 18 points in the fourth as they took over. Peja Stojakovic and David West each added 16 points for the Hornets as Tyson Chandler added 10 points and 14 rebounds. Dirk had 20 for the Mavs while Jason Terry poured in 28 off of the bench.
San Antonio 112 LA Lakers 111
In perhaps the game of the year, the San Antonio Spurs pushed the Lakers and withstood the pressure as the Lakers pushed back, taking it down to the very last seconds to pull out the win as Roger Mason answered what appeared to be a three-point dagger from Kobe Bryant with a bucket and a free throw of his own with 10 seconds remaining to give the Spurs a one-point lead. The Lakers would give the ball to Trevor Ariza on the final play and he was called for a travel, game over. The Lakers were down 11 in the fourth before they came roaring back thanks to a 19-5 run that saw them take over the lead and go up by two before Mason’s heroics. Mason finished with 18 points for the Spurs as Manu Ginobili scored 27 and Tim Duncan added 20 points 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Kobe led LA with 29 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds. Pau Gasol scored 21 points and Andrew Bynum added 18.
Oklahoma City 114 Utah 94
Someone said yesterday that the Thunder are the best six-win team they’ve seen. Last night, they went out and got their seventh in convincing fashion against the Utah Jazz, thanks to a decisive third quarter where they outscored Utah, 36-23 and a rebounding advantage that saw them outrebound the Jazz 48-26. In that third quarter, the Thunder used a 22-7 run to take control of the game and despite the Utah’s best efforts, held on for the victory. Jeff Green had 23 points for the Thunder as Kevin Durant scored 21 and Russell Westbrook had 22. Deron Williams led the Jazz with 25 points and 6 assists as Kyle Korver and Kosta Koufos each scored 14 off of the bench.
Sacramento 135 Golden State 133 3OT
Yes, you read it correctly, triple-overtime. My goodness. This one was something else. While the Warriors came into the game without Stephen Jackson, Brandon Wright and Marco Belinelli, by the end of it, Andris Biedrins, CJ Watson and Corey Maggette were joining them on the bench after fouling out. This game just would not end as player after player stepped up to make the big play. It was Kevin Martin who tied the game in regulation on a jumper with 21 seconds on the clock to force the first overtime and then Kelenna Azubuike drilled a three with nine seconds remaining in overtime to tie things up at 115 and force the second overtime. In the second extra session, again it was Kevin Martin who scored with five seconds left and then we were given the third overtime. A John Salmons jumper off of a Kevin Martin miss gave the Kings the two point lead with 1.6 seconds remaining. On their final possession, Kelenna Azubuike attempted a three-pointer that was on point but just rimmed out, game over, Kings win 135-133.
