42 points. 41 points.
And of both of those guys, all I can say is, thank you. Thank you for making the hyped up game worth it. I thought it was going out the window in the third, but thanks to Bron and Mo Williams, we had a battle down to the finish and that slam by LeBron, blowing past Jamario Moon and dunking all over JO (the Raptor-pain continues), that was ridiculous.
Speaking of proving me wrong, I’ve touched on this before, but Kevin Durant has made me look like a fool after rooting for Al Horford for ROY last year. Al is grrrrreat, but he’s no KD. That guy is just on another level than the rest of the young guys. He’s also out for the Thunder right now and Russell Westbrook is getting better by the game, dropping in his first career triple-double last night as OKC took down the Mavs.
He also was named the Western Conference rookie of the month for February. Brook Lopez was the rook winner for the East.
Yeowza. Love seeing the young guys kill it.
So Dwyane had 8 turnovers but 7 assists and 7 steals. Ridiculous steal numbers, but those turnovers, man.
Still an amazing performance from him. Bron, too. Isn’t it fun to watch those two go up against one another?
I promised O’Leary I’d give him a shout out for dropping 14 in his rec league game yesterday. Let’s see you do it again next week, champ.
For reasons unknown I’ve been pulling for Phoenix to take that 8th spot in the West. Perhaps it’s the play of Shaq, the return (and success), of the run and gun Suns under Coach Gentry, or maybe it’s the overwhelming presence of the Suns on Twitter (seriously, their director of digital media is a genius on Twitter, keeping everyone updated on all things Suns. And that’s not even mentioning JRich, Nash and of course, Shaq), but man, do I want those boys to keep the wins coming.
We’ve got Denver and Detroit tonight, but maybe no Iverson if he’s still out because of his back and also no Carmelo because of a one-game suspension issued by the team as a result of something that took place during their game Sunday night. Anyone know what that was about?
Josh Howard left the Mavs game last night after aggravating that left ankle again. Hoping that’s nothing too serious, even if I am rooting Suns.
Also on the injury-front: Mike Dunleavy will likely need season-ending surger for his knee. Tough break for the Pacers and for Dunleavy himself.
One more thing: The Spurs blew out the Clips, 106-78 to bounce back from an embarrassing loss in Portland. Tony Parker had 26 and 10, Tim Duncan had 18 and 12 and Michael Finley and Matt Bonner each added 14. Baron Davis had 12 points and 8 assists for the Clippers as Marcus Camby added 12 points and 8 boards as Fred Jones added 14 off of the bench in the loss.
New Orleans 98 Philadelphia 91
The Hornets have managed to get back-to-back wins on the road, winning Sunday in New Jersey and now escaping with a victory in Philadelphia last night, 98-91. David West was named player of the week and he continued to play like one, scoring 30 points to go with 10 rebounds and 5 assists last night as Chris Paul uncharacteristically struggled, turning the ball over 5 times before knocking down a three with 1:10 seconds remaining in the game to put the game out of reach for the Sixers. The game was New Orleans early as they went up by 13, before the Sixers came back to tie the game in the second quarter and it was tight the rest of the way before Paul’s three to put the Hornets up by six. It was the 10th three of the game for New Orleans while Philly connected on only four. Paul finished with 16 points and 12 assists as James Posey scored 16 points to go with 12 boards off of the bench and Rasual Butler added 16 points and 10 boards. The Sixers were led by Andre Miller’s 28-point, 6-rebound and 7-assist effort as Andre Igoudala added 30 points in the loss.
Atlanta 98 Washington 89
Marvin Williams continued his strong play from Sunday with a 28-point effort last night to help the Hawks earn the 98-89 point victory against the Wizards on the second night of a back-to-back. While the game was a close one, a third quarter that saw the Hawks outscore Washington 25-18 gave them enough of a boost going into the fourth to earn them the win. Joe Johnson played point guard and he played it well, scoring 16 points and dishing out 13 dimes to his teammates while Al Horford also scored 16 to go with 8 rebounds and 5 assists. The Wizards were led by Antawn Jamison’s 23 points and 9 rebounds and Javale McGee added 14 while Andray Blatche and Darius Songaila each scored 12 points in the loss.
Cleveland 107 Miami 100
LeBron James vs. Dwyane Wade. It was a matchup for the masses. It didn’t disappoint. With James dropping 42 and Wade scoring 41, their respective teams needed every one of them as the Cavs just escaped with the 107-100 victory on the Heat’s homefloor. After getting outscored 27-18 in the third by Miami, the Cavs took it a step further in the fourth and poured in 31 points to the Heat’s 18. In the fourth the story was as much Mo Williams as it was LeBron, with Williams scoring 30 points, 15 coming in the final quarter. With 42.7 seconds remaining in the game, James let the Heat crowd know there was no doubt, he was taking the win back to Cleveland with him as he got to the hoop and had a huge statement dunk to punctuate a great night. Williams added 7 rebounds and 7 assists to go with his 30 while Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 12 points and 15 boards. Wade had 7 rebounds and 9 assists, 8 turnovers but also 7 steals on his line. Jermaine O’Neal had 16 points and 8 boards and Mario Chalmers added 15 in the loss.
Oklahoma City 96 Dallas 87
No Durant or Green? No problem as long as you’ve got Russell Westbrook. The rookie led his OKC team to a victory against the Dallas Mavericks last night. 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. The first career triple-double for Westbrook came at a good time as he helped the Thunder build up a 23-point lead that they almost surrendered in the second half. While Dirk Nowitzki tried his best to save his team, the Mavs were unable to make up the ground to get out of the hole they found themselves in, getting within four points but then going scoreless for almost four minutes as the Thunder pulled away down the stretch. The Thunder outscored Dallas 31-15 in the third and Nenad Krstic had a season-high 26 as Kyle Weaver added 18. The Mavs had a 28-point night from Nowitzki, and 20 off of the bench from Jason Terry.
