The Post Up: CP3x2

by Holly MacKenzie

Goooood Morning Everyone. Eeeek. I’m a little late here, sorry. You can blame that on a combo of my phone’s ringer being turned off (how many of you use your phone as an alarm clock? I think a lot of us do), and Chris O’Leary ignoring my “I need to eat dinner early tonight, I’m exhausted and need sleep” texts so that I didn’t get home until well after 12 a.m. My apologies.

I also picked up the new Kanye album yesterday. Very, very happy with it. I know a lot of people probably won’t be, but I’m enjoying it already. I do encourage you to go get it and at least give it a few listen throughs before you trash him for deciding to move away from rapping on this one.

And, on to basketball. The whole Mobley heart thing is kind of scary. These heart issues always seem to pop up and they are kind of worrisome. Let’s hope that it isn’t anything serious and that the trade Chris time duogoes through and everything is good. I want to see Jamal tonight in Golden State, so let’s get it done.

Chris Paul with another triple-double last night in a win over the Clippers. He is too good. I want the Hornets to get themselves back on track and if he can put up numbers like that each night, I’m guessing they’ll get there.

D.J. Augustin is really, really good. I’ve been enjoying watching him get some time. The rest of his team, not so much.

Dwight Howard is really, really bad at free throws.

Bulls over the Jazz. That was a pretty huge game. Rose with the missed shot to win it, but then Larry Hughes gets the rebound and scores as time expires. Imagine hitting that game winner, where the clock is at zero and buzzer sounds. I’m sure some of you have. I haven’t. Oh, I wish I was a baller. Not really, but it would be fun.

Orlando 108 Milwaukee 101

Despite Dwight Howard missing 10 of 20 free throws and having 6 turnovers, the Orlando Magic were able to get the victory against the Bucks last night. Even with his struggles, Howard finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. He shot 7-10 from the floor, despite his struggles from the line. While the Magic led by double-figures in the first quarter and were up by 12 with two minutes remaining in the game, those mixed free throws and sloppy turnovers almost came back to haunt them as the Bucks were scrapping and cut the lead to only three before the Magic closed it out. Hedo Turkoglu had 22 points and 9 rebounds and Rashard Lewis also added 22. Richard Jefferson led the Bucks with 25 points, Andrew Bogut had 16 points and Charlie Villanueva added 17 points and 9 rebounds off of the bench.

Houston 107 Miami 98

The Rockets were able to continue to roll on the road last night against the Heat. While Dwyane Wade has been carrying the Heat this season, he was unable to do it last night, scoring 23 points, but taking just as many shots to do it, shooting only 7-23 from the floor. With Yao Ming back into the lineup for the Rockets, they were able to overwhelm the Heat inside, on their way to outrebounding Miami 51-35. While the Heat were able to keep the game within reach throughout the first half, they quickly fell behind in the third and were unable to recover. Mario Chalmers scored 23 points for the Heat as Shawn Marion added 17. Yao finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds. Luis Scola scored 11 points and pulled down 13 rebounds and Ron Artest added 20 points.

San Antonio 94 Memphis 81

With the return of Manu Ginobili, the Spurs were able to put together a convincing win over the Memphis Grizzlies, downing them 94-81 last night. With the Grizz only managing to top 20 points in the fourth quarter, San Antonio led the entire way through, going up by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter. With Ginobili back into the mix, the Spurs brand of basketball immediately looked more familiar. The Spurs had 20 assists as compared to only 10 for Memphis. Ginobili keyed a 20-6 run to close the third quarter and put the game well out of reach for the Grizzlies. He finished with 12 points on the night while Tim Duncan had 14 points and 11 rebounds, George Hill scored 20 off of the bench and Roger Mason Jr. scored 18. Rookie OJ Mayo led the Grizz with 26 points, Rudy Gay had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Darko Milicic added 11 points and 11 boards.

Chicago 101 Utah 100

In the game of the night, the youth of Chicago managed to win out against the discipline of the jazz, but just barely. Dropping Utah 101-100 on the Jazz’s homecourt, Derrick Rose continued to dazzle for the Bulls. Pouring in a team-high 25 points and 9 assists as he helped his team get the “W”, it was Rose who missed a final shot attempt to win the game for the Bulls, but luckily, the offensive board went to Larry Hughes who shot and did not miss, as time expired to give Chi the game. With the lead switching and neither team really running away with a lead, Chicago recovered from a 19-point third quarter to steal the game. Hughes finished with 16 points and Drew Gooden added 18. Mehmet Okur scored 26 points to go with 10 rebounds for the Jazz in the loss. Paul Millsap added 21 points and 10 rebounds and Ronnie Brewer added 18.

Portland 91 Sacramento 90

It took another solid performance and 28 points from Brandon Roy for the Blazers to get the grind it out victory against the Kings last night. While they led 48-44 at the half, they gave up a big third quarter to the Kings and found themselves in a dogfight for the win. With the Kings leading by four at the start of the fourth, the Blazers went to work and went on a 10-2 run to go ahead by seven. In the final minute of the game it was free throw shooting that sealed it for Portland. LaMarcus Aldridge had 10 points and 10 rebounds while Joel Przybilla added 10 points and 12 rebounds off of the bench. John Salmons led the Kings with 20 while Beno Udrih added 17 and Brad Miller scored 18.