And Rasual Butler breaks Sacramento’s heart.
by Holly MacKenzie/ @stackmack
Big night, tired hands. Burning wrists, actually. Gotta try to keep this short.
THE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS: Shaun Livingston getting signed to a two-year deal with the Thunder. I just typed Hornets in there, think it’s because I’m watching the Kings/Hornets. Also cried at Vlade’s halftime ceremony. That stuff KILLS me. I love that they scheduled it with the Hornets in town so that Peja would be there.
So, yes. Livingston is on an NBA squad. I’m loving that all over town. You couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face yesterday. I know all of you SLAM people feel the same way and share my hopes for Shaun, that he gets a chance to live his dream.
Scot Pollard opened his speech by saying, “Vlade-Daad-e, he likes to party” Pollard’s pretty great. Chris Webber needs to be a public speaker or run for office or something where I can watch him and zone in. He’s an amazing speaker.
Funny story: After Z scored his 10,000th point, Delonte West was unaware of the milestone and kicked the game ball into the stands after the game. This kills me. Classic Delonte.
Sheed got called for his 16th technical last night for jawing with an official. He will now be suspended a game. Not good for the Pistons as they fight to remain in the 7th spot. It was fun seeing Sheed scream “That ball don’t lie” after Mo Williams missed the tech free throw, though.
I’d like Gerald Wallace on my team. That man is amazing.
Also, cool to see MJ on the sidelines cheering for his team. That has to feel good when you come to the bench and Jordan is on his feet. Fun watching him watch Kobe, too.
BETCATS, this is for you: Charlotte Bobcats took down the Lakers last night, 94-84. Second straight loss for the Lakers, and Charlotte looked good. Raja Bell forced Kobe into 28 shots for his 25 points, Pau did his best with 16/11/7 and Lamar added 20. Gerald Wallace was a beast with 21 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 blocked shots. Boris Diaw had 11 points and 12 assists and Raymond Felton added 16.
With the Bulls 107-105 loss to the Pacers, the Bobcats are only one game out of the eighth spot in the East. TJ Ford hit a jumper at the buzzer to give the Pacers the victory. The loss was the Bulls second straight road loss in a close game. Danny Granger had 31 points to lead the Pacers while Ford had 22 and 9 assists off of the bench. Derrick Rose had 25 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists for Chicago as Kirk Hinrich and Tyrus Thomas each added 20 in the loss.
Hawks fell to the Sixers, 98-85. Josh Smith had 33 for ATL in the loss and Flip Murray added 19 off of the bench. Andre Miller had 18 points and 10 asssts, Andre Igoudala scored 19 and Marreese Speights added 16 off of the bench.
Detroit held a lead for most of the first half against the Cavs in Cleveland, but Bron and Co. came roaring back as the Pistons scored only 29 points in the entire second half of the game to fall, 79-73. Bron had 25 points and 12 rebounds while Delonte West scored 12. The Pistons had 13 points from Rip Hamilton and 9 points/9 boards from Sheed.
Dallas took down Minny by 20, 108-88. Suns are now done like dinner. Dirk had 23 points and 12 rebounds… And so did Kevin Love. Love also had 3 assists.
On the same day that OKC adds SLAM-favorite Shaun Livingston to their roster (and had him sitting on the bench), the Thunder grabbed a huge victory over the Spurs, 96-95 when Michael Finley missed a jumper at the buzzer only seconds after hitting a three to keep the Spurs in it. Kevin Durant had 31 points, Russell Westbrook scored 16 to go with 10 assists and Jeff Green scored 16 as well. The Spurs were led by Tim Duncan’s 21 points and 12 boards as Manu Ginobili added 17.
The Nuggets held on for the 111-104 victory over the Knicks after giving up a 27-point lead. D’Antoni played only seven guys and they gave the Nuggets a run for their money. Nate Robinson scored 30 for the Knicks off of the bench as Al Harrington scored 23 and David Lee had 19 points and 12 boards. The Nugg’s were led by Melo’s 29 points while Nene had 18 points and 12 boards and JR Smith added 17 off of the bench.
On the night of Vlade’s jersey retiring, the Kings pushed the Hornets to the limit… And then the Hornets woke up. After Francisco Garcia scored on consecutive trips down the floor to tie the game at 108, he then blocked a layup attempt by Chris Paul and Beno Udrih hit a layup with 1.7 seconds remaining. While the Kings thought they were safe and had delivered a victory with Valde and the other former Kings in attendence, Peja got the last laugh as Rasual Butler hit a beaty three at the buzzer. David West scored 40 on the night to go with 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Chris Paul had 15 points 15 assists and 8 rebounds and Butler added 18. Andres Nocioni had 23 for the Kings while Garcia added 19 and Kevin Martin scored 20.
Protland killed the Jazz 125-104. BRoy had 25 and 11. Pryzbilla and Boozer and Sloan were all ejected. I didn’t see any of this game. Feel free to fill me in.
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