Blah, blah, blah. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Lakeshow lost to the Bobcats. Again. I know, I know. I don’t have too much to say about that. Great, great, great effort from the Cats, especially with Gerald Wallace leaving the game in the fourth after taking a hard shot to the side from Andrew Bynum on a trip to the basket.
Seeing him writhe on the floor moaning was not fun. He’s had too many injuries already. Let’s let him be healthy, k, thanks.
Felton was fantastic, Diaw was great and I loved seeing Raja play against Kobe.
When Kob fouled out, I kinda knew it was over for real. Eeek. Ariza left the game with a concussion, but apparently is not expected to miss any playing time.
On to Cleveland and Sacramento. LeBron James. Triple-double. Mo Williams. Career-high 43. To go with 11 and 8. Nice. Apparently the last time two teammates have had lines like this was in 1971. Pretty wild. Those Cavaliers are also 21-0 at home now. They are going to be something to face in Cleveland. Gotta love that homecourt. advantage.
The Magic got back Mickael Pietrus and now they have another weapon to help Dwight open things up inside with his outside shooting. Pietrus had 27 points and 10 rebounds last night in his first game back and the Magic offense was on fire as they dropped 135 against the Pacers.
Didn’t get to see much/any of the Denver/Grizzlies game, but looks like once again it was Billups to get his team the victory.
The Spurs. Freaking awesome to see TD drop a line like he did last night. We talk abut the Spurs but I never give them the respect they deserve and I’m always looking like a dummy in the end when it comes to Pop’s boys.
I feel badly for the Jazz who’ve had so many injuries as of late, I can’t even keep track. I’m always analyzing the box score to make sure I can make sense of who is playing and who’s out. Get healthy, Jazz.
Speaking of getting healthy, the Wizards just can’t catch a break. Now the news that Andray Blatche will miss 2-4 weeks with a knee strain. If I were Gil, I’d almost not want to come back this season for fear of another injury with the way this team’s luck is going. I sure do miss seeing him out there though.
I’m sick of the nightly shot of Melo’s outfit on the bench, too. It’s time to see him in uniform, playing ball again. I’m missing Melo.
Great to see Darius Miles with another 13 points last night for the Grizz. Sure they lost, I’m just happy for Miles. He’s like the posterboy (man?), for the underdog this season, with all odds stacked against him. I’m rooting for him, obvously.
Okay. I’m on the verge of going off on another Lakers tangent so I’m going to close this up here. No need for my Bobcats-induced rage to come out.
Cleveland 117 Sacramento 110
Another victory, another triple-double and this time, another career-night by someone not named LeBron. While it was he who had the triple-double, this victory was all about Mo, as Mo Williams had a career-high 43 points on 15-21 field goals while also dropping in 11 assists and 8 rebounds to help the Cavs hold off the Sacramento Kings. With Bron doing his usual superstar thing, finishing with 23 points, 15 rebounds, 11 assists and three blocked shots, the Kings were no match for the Cavs late as they hung around, but didn’t really threaten the Cleveland lead once LeBron and Mo took over in the third to put their squad ahead. While the Kings dropped to 0-19 against the East on the season, the Cavs improved to 21-0 on their home floor. Cleveland absolutely pounded the Kings on the boards, hauling down 49 to Sacramento’s 25 as the Cavs had 17 offensive rebounds alone. Kevin Martin had 35 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists to lead the Kings while John Salmons had 21 points and Jason Thompson added 16.
San Antonio 107 Utah 100
Those damn Spurs. They are doing it again. While we talk about them every other week, while we all know it, they still somehow shock the hell out of us when we really stop and give them the shine they desreve. Last night against the Jazz, Tim Duncan showed all of us how silly we are when we forget to mention him in the list of best players in the league. Dropping a line of 24 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocked shots, he was solid when his team needed someone to guide them against the Jazz. When the Spurs went on a 10-0 run to take the lead in the fourth, Utah had no answer for them besides fouling and the Spurs were solid in the fourth after struggling at the line in the first three quarters. Tony Parker also had 24 points to go with 6 assists as Manu and Roger Mason each added 13 points. Mehmet Okur had 22 ponts and 17 rebounds to lead the Jazz as Deron Williams added 19 points and 13 assists and Ronnie Brewer added 23.
Charlotte 117 La Lakers 110
Somehow, I knew this wasn’t going to be so easy. Maybe it was BETCATS promising I’d be sad when Wednesday arrived, perhaps it was the moment Chris Webber and Gary Payton decided to heckle Ahmad for his Bobcats/MJ love, but I knew those Bobcats would be giving the Lakers a run for their money. In the end, the Cats outlasted Kobe Bryant and as he went down, so did the Lakers. While the Bobcats led throughout, Bryant led the Lakers back and a Derek Fisher three-pointer forced overtime. In the first overtime, the teams traded baskets until Bryant fouled out while guarding Shannon Brown on the perimeter. Without Bryant in the additional overtme period, Andrew Bynum did his best to help the Lakers scoring all seveo of their points in the second overtime, but they fell short as Brown scored five of his 15 in that session. It was a bittersweet victory for Charlotte as they lost Gerald Wallace when he took an elbow from Bynum on his way to the bucket. Raymond Felton had 21 points, 9 rebounds and 11 assists for the Bobcats as Raja Bell had 17 points and Boris Diaw added 23 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Bryant finished with 38 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists before fouling out for the Lakers. Bynum had 24 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocked shots while Fisher added 14.
Orlando 135 Indiana 111
Last night the Magic topped 30 points in each quarter of their game against the Pacers. With Indiana not being able to play any kind of defense, Orlando was able to roll to an easy, easy victory to try and get on the right track after a shaky week of losses. The return of Mickael Pietrus was an added boost as he played in his first game since breaking his hand and scored 27 points to go with 10 rebounds for the Magic. After the Pacers managed only 18 points in the first quarter while Orlando dropped in 36, the game was all but over. Dwight Howard had 22 points and 10 rebounds while Rashard Lewis scored 24 and Jameer Nelson added 12 and 8 assists. TJ Ford scored 23 points for Indiana as Danny Granger was held to only 10 points on 4-14 shooting.
Denver 100 Memphis 85
Thanks to a 30-20 point second quarter and then a 14-point run by Chauncey Billups in the third, the Denver Nuggets were able to put away the Grizzlies with relative ease last night, en route to a 100-85 victory, again, without Carmelo Anthony. The Billups led Nuggets were just too much for a Memphis team that lost it’s 10th straight despite having a new coach on the sidelines as they shot only 37.5% for the game. Billups had 29 for the Nuggets whie JR Smith scored 20 and Linas Kleiza added 16 off of the bench. OJ Mayo had 19 points for the Grizzlies while Rudy Gay, Kyle Lowry and Darius Miles scored 13 points apiece.
