The Post Up: CP3x2, No. 5

by Holly MacKenzie

Okay, Tuesday. And that Monday was a tough one to get through. I was dragging all day. I’ve been working weekends and weekdays all the same so the days are just blurring to me, but dammit if I cant always tell when it’s Monday. Mondays are devil days. Always. Ha.

I liveblogged the New Orleans/Philadelphia game over at The Score last night, so I didn’t get to watch much of any other NBA game last night. Still, I flipped back and forth on commercial breaks and halftime, so we’ve got some recaps below.

You know what we don’t have? Anything from that disgusting Atlanta/Miami game. I’m sure Eboy and Cheryl are psyched, but I refuse to recap a game where a team failed to score a field goal in over 13.5 minutes. Yes, the equivalent of a quarter. Listen Hawks, you killed me with that one. 27 points at the half while the Celtics had 78 at the half only a day before. Good gosh.

About that liveblog. I was worried it may not be so entertaining as the Hornets were without both David West and Tyson Chandler. Chris Paul knocked my socks off as he finished with his fifth triple-double of the season and a line so ridiculous, I can’t say it without smiling because I get excited. 27 points, 10 rebounds, 15 assists, 7 steals and a blocked shot. All on 13 field goal attempts. My gosh that guy is good. Too good. Yes, LeBron is a monster, a beast, an unstoppable force when he plays, yes Kobe is smooth and skilled and defying all odds, but Chris Paul, I don’t even know. He’s just special.

He makes me feel better about this game that I love when I watch him play.

He also speaks with the officials a lot.

Peja was nuts in that game as well. After the Hornets were horrible from beyond the arc in the first half, Peja found his rhythm late and drained a pair of three-pointers back-to-back and then followed those up with three more consecutive makes for the Hornets.

Thaddeus Young looked nice for the Sixers, though. He’s got a quick release and his shot looks so smooth sometimes, it shocks me.

The Suns continued to roll as they faced the Washington Wizards and that was another blowout. Shaq continued to play well and had 29 points on the night. My guy J-Critt got a few minutes and he was a welcome sight on my TV screen when I was playing channel surfer.

I had started to watch the Blazers/Clippers game and it was okay for the first half, but then somehow the Clippers managed to die in the fourth and get blown out by 20+ again. To be specific, Portland won 113-88, but the announcers said that Marcus Camby will travel with the team on their upcoming road trip, so that is a piece of good news. I think they’ll take whatever they can get at this point.

Brandon Roy had 33 points on 15 shots for the Blazers in that one.

New Orleans 101 Philadelphia 86

With the Hornets undermanned in this one, playing without Tyson Chandler (ankle), and David West (back spasms), the Sixers thought they’d be able to pull off the victory. They almost did as they lead early, except the Hornets have this guy named Chris Paul. He wasn’t content to allow his team surrender another game on their home floor. While Philly shot the lights out in the first half and led by seven at the break (47-40), Paul led New Orleans in a decisive third quarter that saw the Hornets outscore the Sixers 29-16. In the fourth, already holding a lead, it was Peja Stojakovic who found his shot, hitting 6-8 three-pointers in the final 24 minutes of action. Paul didn’t just lead his team to victory, he tallied his fifth triple-double of the season with a final line of 27 points (7-13 fgs), 10 rebounds, 15 assists, seven steals and a blocked shot. StojakovicRasual Butler added 26 points while and James Posey each added 13. Thaddeus Young led the Sixers with 22 points while Andre Miller had 19 points and Andre Igoudala finished with 17 points and 7 assists.

Oklahoma City 94 New Jersey 85

All of a sudden, the OKC Thunder are showing up to play. After the first half of the season was spent losing and losing by a lot, the Thunder are stringing together victories and putting up a fight as they show their opponents some serious grit as of late. Last night was a perfect example of this as the Thunder took down the Nets, 94-85, despite a fourth quarter collapse that almost saw them lose it all. Thanks to a 14-2 run to open a third qaurter that saw the Thunder outscore New Jersey 31-14, OKC led by as many as 30 points in the second half before allowing the Nets to get back into the game when they went ice cold in the fouth, but the Nets had too much of a hole to dig themselves out of and were unable to get any closer than seven points. Kevin Durant had 18 points to lead the Thunder as Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green each had 13. Nick Collison added 12 points. The Nets were led by rookie Brook Lopez and his 18-point, 7-rebound performance. Devin Harris had only 10 points on 17 shots while Josh Boone added Nice pic, but Tracy wasn't nearly enough...for the Knicks.11 points off of the bench.

New York 104 Houston 98

While the Rockets have both Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest back, they don’t have Yao Ming and that is proving problematic, as the Rockets were unable to grab a victory at MSG last night. While the game was close and McGrady had his shot going early, he cooled down in the fourth when the Rockets needed him most. While they led by nine in the fourth, the Knicks used a 14-5 run to tie the game and after Wilson Chandler hit a three-pointer to put the Knicks ahead 97-96, New York never trailed again. David Lee had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks as Chris Duhon had 12 points and 11 assists. Nate Robinson had 19 points and Wilson Chandler 18, off of the bench. Luis Scola had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets while Tracy McGrady had 20 points (on 20 shots), and Carl Landry added 16 points off of the bench.

Minnesota 90 Milwaukee 83

If B. Long’s facebook status is to be believed, the Timberwolves have the best winning percentage of any team in the NBA in January. Now, I could look that up, but I’m going to trust our guy. If he’s wrong, well, get at him about it. Last night, the TWolves did what they’ve been doing as of late, they found a way to win another game, this time against the Bucks, taking them down 90-83 in Milwaukee. Without Michael Redd, and also Andrew Bogut, Minnesota knew this was a game they could get and just as they have been doing since the new year has arrived, they went out and got it done, behind the effort from Al Jefferson who finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds. With the Wolves up double figures in the fourth the Bucks went on a 13-3 run to cut their deficit to only five, but they were unable to get any closer and the victory was Minnesota’s. Ryan Gomes had 22 points and 8 rebounds as Randy Foye and Kevin Love each scored 12. Ramon Sessions had 18 points for Milwaukee while Charlie Villanueva added 15 and Richard Jefferson added 10 points and 9 rebounds.