The C’s, Heat, Houston and Detroit get us ready for NCAA opening day.
Big night on the schedule to discuss today since of course, it was Wednesday.
Before we begin. I beg of you, please, please, please, read this article. The best thing I’ve ever read about Lamar Odom. Beautifully written piece.
I often say that Lamar Odom is my favorite Laker not named Kobe, that more than just a favorite Laker, he’s one of my favorite people in the entire league. I can’t really explain it, except to say you can feel his heart. He’s just good. I wrote about LO for our Top 50 this summer and I encourage every single one of you to check this piece out. Read it now, read it later today, save it for the weekend. I don’t care when, but do make sure you read it.
I skipped out on the Miami/Boston game because I had some other writing work to finish, felt better about it when I realized half of each team was missing, then wanted to kick myself when I saw that it went into overtime. Gutsy showing from the rooks, Chalmers and Beasley.
I said last week I really have been impressed with Mario and I had no fewer than a a handful of people jump down my throat. Sounds like he was doing alright, last night.
Honestly, I am OFFICIALLY officially on the Twitter bandwagon. I know we’ve all heard more than we needed to about it since yesterday and the Skiles/CV31/Twitting@halftime debacle, but man. If you can’t catch something live, fire that thing up and you will get instant updates from every arena (and ball fan watching at home). It’s fantastic.
Okay, bball. We’re going the short recap route again today because to be honest, 11 games are just too many. Not to flip through, but to recap, yup. At least on the eve of…. March Madness!
And….. my bracket still has not been filled out.
I somehow convinced (or charmed, I’d like to think), a friend who just happens to have been a part of the Orange into passing along the team hoodie from their senior year. I think we all know what I will be living in for the next few weeks. At least on game days. You know it.
My word. I’m so behind and am failing at this week! Okay basketball.
The Hornets escaped with a 94-93 victory over the Timberwolves after Randy Foye’s jumper rimmed out at the buzzer in NO last night. Chris Paul set up David West for a dunk with 12 seconds remaining that gave the Hornets the lead and the game. CP3 finished with 26 points, 10 assists and 5 steals. West had 14 and 8, Rasual Butler had 14 and 7 and Hilton Armstrong added 12. Kevin Love had 23 and 11 for the Wolves as Ryan Gomes added 17 points in the loss.
The Kings went to Charlotte and got blown out by the Bobcats. Rashad McCants had 30 points in the start for Sacramento, Francisco Garcia had 17 and Jason Thompson added 12 points and 11 boards in the loss. Gerald Wallace led the Bobcats with 25 points and 12 rebounds as Emeka Okafor added 16 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots and Raymond Felton had 14 points to go with 7 assists as the Bobcats outscored Sacramento 26-18 in the fourth quarter to run away with the game, 104-88.
Boston took down the Wade-less Heat 112-108, but it took them overtime and 21 fourth quarter/overtime points from Paul Pierce. Without Wade, his rookies stepped up as Mario Chalmers scored 19 points to go with 9 assists and Michael Beasley added 21 points to give the Celtics a scare. Jermine O’Neal had 17 points and 6 assists for the heat. Paul Pierce was the savior for the Celtics with 36 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists while Rajon Rondo continued to show his worth, scoring 27 points and dishing 10 assists as Eddie House added 16 off of the bench. With the Heat trailing 100-99, Chalmers hit a free throw to tie the game at 100 and send it to overtime. In the extra session, the Celtics ran out to a quick eight point lead before Chalmers hit back to back three-pointers to keep it close. In the end, Pierce iced the game on free throws for the C’s.
The Pacers lost another game to the Blazers, this time falling, 95-85, behind Brandon Roy’s 20 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. The Pacer offense died in the fourth and they were outscored 30-19 in the period. Travis Outlaw scored 15 off of the bench and Joel Pryzbilla had a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double. Danny Granger appeared to have found his footing in his second game back, scoring 35 points to lead the Pacers offensively. He grabbed 10 rebounds as well. Jarrett Jack scored 13 points and Roy Hibbert added 14 in the start for Troy Murphy.
Orlando killed Milwaukee, 106-80. They were up 30 after two. Bring back twittering @ the half! Dwight Howard had 28 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 blocked shots. Charlie Villanueva had 17 for the Bucks.
John Salmons has been enjoying his time in Chicago. Last night he had 20 and Derrick Rose added 25 as the Bulls defeated the Thunder 103-96. Kevin Durant scored 28 points for the Thunder while Jeff Green added 18.
Denver won a close one against Memphis, 111-109. In the race for playoff seeding, it was a crucial game for the Nuggets. It was one Carmelo Anthony wanted and he made sure they got it, pouring in 35 points on the night as Chauncey Billups added 18 points and 12 assists, Nene had 19 and JR Smith added 21 off of the bench. Rudy Gay scored 30 for the Grizz as Hakim Warrick and OJ Mayo each added 16 and Mike Conley dished 10 assists in the loss.
Houston and Detroit was a good game that went into double overtime before the Pistons finally ran out of gas. Without Rasheed Wallace and Rip Hamilton, Antonio McDyess and Aaron Afflalo stepped up again, (14 points and 20 boards for Dyess, 24 points for Afflalo), and Rodney Stuckey added 21 points to go with 10 assists as the Pistons forced overtime on a free throw from Stuckey. In the first overtime, again, the Rockets were in control and again, it was Stuckey who tied it up. By the time the second overtime hit, the Rockets were ready to finish the game off and rang off a 10-0 run to put the game just far enough out of reach for the Pistons. Yao Ming finished with 31 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocked shots, Ron Artest had 26 points as Aaron Brooks and Luis Scola each added 14 points.
The Suns were able to pull away from the Sixers in the second half, thanks to the Sixers road weary legs after a buzzer beating win against the Lakers Tuesday night. In the final quarter the Suns outscored Philly 33-25. They also outrebounded the Sixers 44-31 on the night. Jason Richardson had 25 points while Shaquille O’Neal had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Steve Nash added 24 points and 10 assists as the Suns had 25 assists to only 8 turnovers. The Sixers were led by 23 points apiece from Thaddeus Young and Andre Miller while Louis Williams added 21 off of the bench in the loss.
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