The Post Up: LeBron Circus

by Holly MacKenzie

Good Morning Everyone.

I so want to take the “sweet world” line from Skeets. It’s so tempting, but I know, I know it doesn’t work for me like it does for him. I also would be happy not to hear about LeBron and the Knicks and 2010 again until 2010. That can’t happen though, can it?

Heartbreaking loss for the Thunder last night. I really thought they were getting the “W” against Phoenix and it hurt when they lost it in the final minute. Durant’s face was pure disbelief. Frustration. That feeling of being entirely unsure of what to think, feel, say or do. Westbrook had some good moments in that game, but come on, can these boys get a win?

Let’s not talk about Washington’s victory.

Raptors are facing the Bobcats tonight. I’m nervous for the knee/health of J.O. I’m also hoping he doesn’t play and he takes some time to rest and get right. Man, it rips me to think of how hard he LeDunkworked this past offseason to get back onto the court.

The NY/Bron stuff last night gave me a headache. Or at least, it made me cranky. Too much.

The Cavaliers are looking pretty damn great though, aren’t they? I keep waiting for them to fall, but it doesn’t happen.

Because I worked a night shift, learning the ropes of how things work behind the scenes over at The Score, I am not recapping those two blowouts that occurred last night. It is a bit too painful for me to talk about the 24-point victory the Wizards had over my Warriors anyway. 124-100. Yeesh. Caron was great with 35, 8 and 6 and I’m betting Buike gets the start over Morrow in the near future.

The Lakers were up by two at the half against the Nets, then the next thing I knew, they were winning 120-93. And Kobe scored 12. On 5-17 shooting. Okay, those Lakers are very scary when they have a bench scoring 50.

The video blog of Ron Artest over at Ball Don’t Lie, is absolutely must see. Really, take at least two minutes to see some of it.

Ridiculously busy night on the schedule this evening. Golden State in Boston could be a disaster and I don’t see Oklahoma City getting their win in Cleveland either.

I’m waiting on Melo to bust out of that scoring slump he’s been in and I’m thinking it may happen tonight against the Clippers. I’ll be watching that one.

Just a question for everyone; What has been the best performance so far this season, in your opinion? I think I’ve got to go with Morrow’s 37. An undrafted rookie in his first start. Brandon Roy’s buzzer-beater against Houston is my second pick. Tell me yours.

Cavaliers 119 Knicks 101

The big “Bron in NY” game ended up being pretty boring. While there were plenty of celebrities sitting courtside, the game was a hard one to watch as the Cavaliers defeated New York 119-101. While the Knicks never lead in the game, they were able to close the gap with a strong fourth quarter after falling behind by as many as 34 points in this one. With Tim Thomas and Al Harrington making their Knick debuts, the focus of the night was on LeBron before the game even started and remained that way until it was over. James finished with 26 points even after spending the fourth quarter on the bench. Delonte West scored 16 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Even with seven of the eight available players reaching double figures, it was an ugly game for New York. Quentin Richardson scored 22 points, David Lee had 12 points to go with 13 rebounds and Tim Thomas added 16.

Phoenix 99 Oklahoma City 98

With the debut of coach Scott Brooks in Oklahoma City, the Thunder were desperate for their second win of the season. With Shaquille O’Neal sitting this contest out, they nearly got it. After going ahead by as many as 16 points in this game, the Thunder were unable to find their defense in the fourth quarter as the Suns rallied and stole the game, 99-98 in the final seconds thanks to a three-pointer from Matt Barnes. Amare Stoudemire hit a three at the end of the third quarter to bring the Thunder lead down to 12 at the start of the fourth and the Suns returned to the Suns of old, without their big guy in the middle. Amare finished with 22 points while Nash had 20 and 15 assists to go with 8 rebounds as Matt Barnes added 16 points. Kevin Durant scored 29 points to lead the Thunder while Chris Wilcox scored 18 and Russell Westbrook added 15 off of the bench.

Dallas 109 Indiana 106

While Josh Howard was absent again with that sprained ankle, the Mavs have been learning how to win without him and did so again last night, dropping the Pacers 109-106. This win wasn’t an easy one though, with Indiana being in front for most of the game and leading by 13 in the second half before Jason Terry came to the rescue, scoring 16 points in the final period to bring the Mavericks back and rock the Pacers onto their heels. It was a career night for Antoine Wright with 24 points and the Mavericks needed each one of them. Jason Kidd hit a three to put the Mavs up 102-99 with 1:22 seconds left and the Pacers were unable to recover. Terry finished with 29 points, Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points and 12 rebounds and Kidd finished with 12 points and 13 assists. Troy Murphy had 21 points and 14 rebounds and Danny Granger added 22.