Post Up: Wade’s 16 Dimes

by Holly MacKenzie

And, Steph is free. Finally.

I kind of forgot about the hearing yesterday and didn’t find out about the buyout until I was at the arena for the Raptors/Twolves game, but when I did, I was happy to hear that it’s all finally been resolved.

Until I realized that now until Steph signs with someone we will probably hear about it daily. Please, for the sake of everyone who loves this game, let’s get him signed somewhere, quickly.

You all think he’s going to Boston?

I like the Mikki Moore move for them.

Question? Is Robert Horry really contemplating a return? I could deal with seeing him in another playoff run.

I heard that Kobe sprained an ankle tonight. Hmm. Wonder what the ankle insurance shoes had to do with this? I’m sure nothing, if we ask Kob.

Also, he moved to 19th on the all-time career scoring list.

Sad news of the night was Delonte West being inactive after scoring 25 points in his return the other night. Turns out he’s experiencing soreness in his wrist and the Cavs are not sure how long he will be out. Get well soon, Delonte!

Great news of the day is hearing Gil say he’s feeling good and running, jumping and dunking without any pain or swelling. I’m thankful for that. Let’s keep that health moving forward and hope Gil will be the Gil of old when he is able to make his return, regardless of when that may be.

I don’t care what anyone says, you all know I love that guy on court, off court and everywhere inbetween.

Okay, so onto tonight’s games. I haven’t seen one bit of basketball besides the Raptors game tonight. A friend was in town from Nova Scotia so I slipped out of the ACC to meet up. My apologies, but we can run quickly through the scores and high scorers and hopefully you guys can comment on what happened where because there are some things that need explaining… Like, the Bulls taking down the Magic 120-102.

What happened there?

Derrick Rose scored 22, Ben Gordon had 20 and Tim Thomas added 17 off of the bench. The Magic had 26 points and 12 rebounds from Dwight Howard while Hedo Turkoglu scored 16 and rookie Courtney Lee added 14. The Bulls outscored the Magic 33-20 in the final quarter and shot 57% from the floor while the Magic shot only 45%.

Coach Stan Van Gundy had this to say postgame:

“Our starting lineup brought nothing to the game,” he said. “I’m embarrassed and disgusted by what I saw. I don’t know if our players are, but they should be.”Our guys want to talk about being a contending team. We’re still not tough enough and we don’t play hard enough.”

The Lakers hung on to get the 107-93 road win against the Thunder last night. They needed 15 fourth quarter points from Kobe Bryant including 10 in a three minute span down the stretch to hold off the Thunder. Outscoring OKC 32-25 in the fourth, the Lakers earned their 47th victory of the season and won despite being outrebounded by 15. Bryant finished with 36 points as Pau Gasol added 14 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists and Derek Fisher added 12. The Thunder were once again led by Kevin Durant, who scored 32 on the night to go with 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Jeff Green added 10 points and 9 rebounds, Russell Westbrook added 14 points and Kyle Weaver had 16 off of the bench.

The Spurs continued to rack up the w’s in Dallas, this time taking down the Mavs 93-76 behind a huge game from Tony Parker who had 37 points and 12 assists. They needed the big night from him as Tim Duncan (sore knee), and Manu Ginobili (ankle injury), each missed the game due to injury. This was an ugly game all around for the Mavs, as they shot just 34% and topped 20 points in just one quarter. Michael Finley had 16 points and Kurt Thomas added 10 points and 15 rebounds in Duncan’s absence. Dirk Nowtizki had 14 and 10 for the Mavs while Josh Smith had 19 and James Singleton added a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double off of the bench.

The stuggles continue for the Pistons as they gave up a career-high 16 assists to Dwyane Wade in a 103-91 victory for the Heat last night. This one was decided in the third quarter when Miami outscored Detroit 28-17, with the Pistons unable to cut into the lead into the fourth. Wade had 31 points to go with those 16 assists as Jermaine O’Neal scored 14 points and Udonis Haslem added 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Pistons received 22 points from Allen Iverson, 17 points from Antonio McDyess and 18 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists from Tayshaun Prince in the loss.

The Cavs coasted to another home victory, taking down the Grizzlies 93-79 in a game that saw Cleveland leading by double-figures after one and by 20 at the half. In 30 minutes of play, LeBron James finished with 15 points and 8 assists while Mo Williams scored 18 points and Daniel Gibson added 19 off of the bench.

Being without Tracy McGrady seems to be working for the Rockets as they took down the Blazers 98-94 last night. Opening up a 17-point first half lead, the Rockets were able to outlast a push by the Blazers down the stretch, thanks to some free throws from Aaron Brooks and some missed opportunities from Portland. Ron Artest led Houston with 21 points while Brooks added 20 points as Yao Ming and Luis Scola each added 15 points. Brandony Roy scored 24 for the Blazers while LaMarucs Aldridge scored 21 and Travis Outlaw added 15 off of the bench in the loss.

Phoenix took down Charlotte, 112-102 despite the Bobcats getting great performances from Boris Diaw (27 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists), and Raja Bell (23 points). With the teams trading leads throughout the first half, Phoenix pulled away in the third and were able to maintain their lead in the fourth. Shaquille O’Neal had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Suns as Steve Nash added 20 points and Leandro Barbosa scored 17.

The Raptors started slowly and found themselves trailing by as many as 15 in the first quarter before turning things around and holding off the Timberwolves to get the 118-110 victory against Minnesota. The Raptors shot 53% for the game while also giving up 50% shooting to the Timberwolves, but the Raptors ball movement was so crisp, they finished with 34 assists to just 13 turnovers. Jose Calderon had another double-double with 15 points and 13 assists as Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh were solid with 26 points apiece. Anthony Parker had another aggressive game with 24 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. The Timberwolves were led by Randy Foye who was dynamic, scoring 25 points. Ryan Gomes was all over the court, scoring 23 points, grabbing 9 rebounds and dishing 5 assists and Mike Miller flirted with the triple-double, finishing with 9 points, 9 assists and 12 rebounds in the loss.