Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 9:04 am  |  120 responses

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The Post Up: Magical Sunday

And pretty, pointed toes on that catch.

by Holly MacKenzie

Good Morning!

Congratulations, Steelers fans. And what a game that was. That catch/toe-point touchdown by Santonio Holmes was breathtaking, wasn’t it? He looked like a damn ballerina  pointing his toes to ensure they touched and the TD was complete. Beautiful.

Basketball is my game as you all know, but any sport gets that hype, that excitement flowing through your veins. Last night I was watching the game calmly and then all of a sudden things were on the line and I couldn’t help but sit up a little straighter, lean forward and inch towards the edge of my seat. Great, great game.

Beautiful performance by Jennifer Hudson pregame as well. That one got to me a little bit. Bless her beautiful heart.

On to basketball, only a short (and early), day in the league yesterday because of the Superbowl, but I only got to see the Raptors/Magic game because I was at the arena for awhile before and after it.

I do need to address one other thing that I’m sure Marcel already has covered for us. Andrew Bynum. I was working Saturday night liveblogging the Hornets @ Spurs game over at The Score and my heart just flip-flopped when I started getting the IM, GChat and text messages. Kobe goes to the hoop, goes down into Bynum’s knee and it looks bad. Your dude Bynum looks like he’s done. There goes the Lakers season. And many other variations of the same.

First of all, I’m hoping and praying for Bynum’s sake that the injury is not serious. Moreso than a championship, he deserves a full season so he can build upon what he has done so far this year. Second,  mfgkhdksdkidgfjhdfgkj. Really? Really? And don’t even tell me it’s karma for G-Wall. I’ve heard that a couple of times and it just stings my soul.

Get well soon, Andrew.

To anyone wondering the importance of Bynum to the Lakers championship hopes, look no further than Kobe Bryant’s face as he looks down to watch Bynum writhe in pain.

Thoughts while watching the Spurs/Hornets game Saturday night:

- Spurs are really, really good.

- Pop doesn’t mess up his rotations unlike Byron (who I love and admire, on most nights), who sits Chris Paul down in the third for a breather when he’s on a roll. He’s young and in good shape, let him play, Coach.

- Michael Finley’s still got it. Corner 3s, shots to beat the shot clock, it doesn’t matter, just get the ball to Finley and let him bail you out.

- Manu and Tony Parker are each ridiculously fast.

- I really enjoy watching George Hill, but didn’t enjoy liveblogging Spurs and Suns Thursday night and having a George Hill and a Grant Hill playing against one another.

Okay, here we go with some action from yesterday. Also, a note about Friday’s post. Ryne and I had some technical difficulties (read: Somehow the intro didn’t save), so my apologies for the shortened version.

Boston 109 Minnesota 101

The Celtics took down the Timberwolves, 109-101 in Boston yesterday. Without KG who had the flu, it was Paul Pierce who put in work, scoring 36 points to go with 8 rebounds and 6 assists to get the Celtics their 11th straight victory. After outscoring the TWolves 33-20 in the second quarter, they stretched their lead to as many as 21 in the third quarter and went on easily to the victory from there. Ray Allen had 22 points for the Celtics while Glen Davis who started for KG put in 12 points and 6 boards. Al Jefferson led the way for the Timberwolves with 34 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Randy Foye had 21 points and 9 assists and Ryan Gomes added 17.

Cleveland 90 Detroit 80

After losing a tough one to the Celtics on Friday night, the Pistons continued to struggle, particularly on Sundays as they were defeated by the Cavs, 90-80 yesterday afternoon. While the Cavs took control in the third, it was a horrendous fourth quarter that doomed the Pistons. Being outscored 32-14 over the final 12 minutes, the Pistons are still looking for answers and it doesn’t appear that Allen Iverson’s got them. LeBron James finished with 33 points and 8 assists while Mo Williams added 22 and Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 13. For the Pistons, Iverson finished with 22 points, Richard Hamilton had 16 off of the bench and Amir Johnson added 10 points to go with 9 boards.

Sacramento 122 Oklahoma City 118 OT

It was Kevin Martin’s 26th birthday and he wanted a win. He wanted a win so he went out and got one, scoring 37 points to help the Kings avoid a nine-game losing streak and grab the overtime victory against the newly improved Oklahoma City Thunder. The Kings took the game 122-118 thanks to Bobby Jackson who dropped in 6 of his 11 points in the overtime session. This was a wild one to get into overtime as Jeff Green was fouled and had to make the first free throw, intentionally miss the second, then grabbed the rebound and got the putback to tie the game and force the extra session. It was a jumper from Jackson that put the Kings up four with 1:42 remaining and they were able to hold off the Thunder from there. John Salmons was fantastic for Sacramento with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists while Jason Thompson had 15 and Francisco Garcia added 17 off of the bench. The Thunder were led by Kevin Durant’s 33 points and a career-high 34 points to go wtih 8 assists from rookie Russell Westbrook while Jeff Green had 28 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists in the loss.

Orlando 113 Toronto 90

Dwight, Jameer & Co. came into Toronto looking for a win and hoping they’d be able to slow down Chris Bosh. Bosh had regularly torched the Magic for 30+ points and they knew he’d be the one to focus in on if they wanted an easy afternoon. For once, they were able to do just that. After a close first half that saw the Raptors impress and go into the locker room only trailing six, 53-47. It was the third quarter where things fell apart for Toronto. Giving up three’s left and right, the Raptors allowed the Magic to find their groove, connecting on 7-10 three-pointers in the quarter as they outscored Toronto 34-18 in the period and went into the fourth up big, 87-65. The final quarter was just a formality as the Magic continued to roll to their 18th road win of the season (18-6) and the Raptors again, were booed loudly off of the court. Orlando finished the game connecting on 13 three-pointers as compared to only two makes for the Raptors in a game that never saw Toronto hold a lead. Howard finished with 29 and 14 while Nelson was fantastic for the Magic finishing with 18 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds to just miss out on the triple-double. Mickael Pietrus added 22 points off of the bench and Rashard Lewis scored 15. Jose Calderon had 16 points for the Raptors while Andrea Bargnani scored 12 and Bosh added 11 on only 4-11 shooting.