KD and Russ W. are awesome.
by Holly MacKenzie / @stackmack
And another Monday is upon us, bringing us one week closer to the postseason. Crazy how All-Star break kind of breaks up the season and when things pick up after it, everyone seems a little more aware of standings and records and the true importance of each and every road trip/game/half/possession.
Chris Bosh admitted that he checks over the schedule and standings every couple of days after the All-Star break. Everything is just a bit more meaningful. And it makes for great competition.
Yesterday we had over 12 hours of NBA action, tipping off on ABC with the Magic hosting the Cavs. It went down to the wire before the Magic were able to close out Cleveland 101-95, handing the Cavs their third straight loss after reeling off 13 straight. Vince Carter was huge for Orlando down the stretch and Dwight posted serious numbers, finishing with 22 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots, enough to negate the 33-point, nine-rebound, six-assist effort from LeBron James. After going 0-for-12 in his Cavs debut, Antawn Jamison had a much better game Sunday, finishing with 19 points and eight rebounds, still it wasn’t enough.
In the second game on ABC, the Celtics took on the Nuggets in Denver and, wow, are they trouble at home. Flying out to an 18-point lead at the end of the first quarter, the Nuggets ran circles around Boston and are pretty much unstoppable in transition. Nene is a monster inside and he needs to get the ball. He’s shooting such a high percentage from the floor, it only makes sense to make sure he gets his touches. Of course, Boston settled into a rhythm and turned the game into a half court affair, coming all the way back in the second half, before George Karl got his Nuggets to get back to playing their game.
In the fourth, the Celtics defense kicked it up another notch, but it was too late and the Nuggets came away with the 114-105 victory, led by Chauncey Billups’ line of 26 points and seven assists. Melo added 23 points and tied a career-high with eight assists and JR Smith added 19 off of the bench. Ray Allen continued his strong play with 25 points. Good thing the Celtics didn’t trade him because he’s been the best Celtic in the past few games. Another positive for Boston: KG looked really good yesterday afternoon. He was active and very aggressive. Good to see.
In Minnesota, the Thunder continued rolling, owning that 5th spot in the Western Conference with pride. Pulling out the 109-107 victory, Russell Westbrook dropped the triple-double with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists as Kevin Durant poured in 32 points and Jeff Green added 17 points and 14 rebounds.
Can you honestly tell me you actively root against the Thunder? If they are playing against your team, fine, but if not, I don’t think I’d want to be friends with someone who can’t see the awesomeness in the Thunder. So much fun.
Quote of the night had to be this gem from the out of shape Darko Milicic – “I was trying to focus on breathing. I was just focusing on breathing so I didn’t die.”
Yup.
In Portland, the Blazers lost a tough one to the Jazz in overtime, falling 93-89. After leading by as many as 25 in the third quarter, Portland fell apart in the fourth, scoring just 10 points as the Jazz came racing back, forcing overtime on an offensive rebound –Boozer’s 21st of the night– and putback from Boozer. In the extra session, the Blazers offensive continued to stall and they lose despite having Brandon Roy back for the second consecutive game. Roy finished with 23 points but missed what would have been a game-tying three in overtime. He’s back, but he still doesn’t look right and it makes me nervous watching him play, particularly when you see him grabbing onto his leg to try and soothe that hamstring. Yikes.
Boozer was awesome in this one, scoring 22 points and grabbing a career-high 23 rebounds, none bigger than the one to force overtime. The Blazers connected on just four of their final 27 attempts from the floor and were unable to hang on for the win against a Jazz team that was without Mehmet Okur and lost Andrei Kirilenko in the first half due to back spasms. Marcus Camby had 18 boards, but only two points for the Blazers.
Heartbreaker. I felt for the Portland fans in that one!
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All the talk has been lately is “Gasol MVP, Kobe is useless, Lakers are better without him”.
Well the Cavs, after winning 13 straight!! Trade Z away and they are now 0-3 since this trade … so my question is, who is the REAL MVP of the Cavs? Because it seems to me like … well I will let you Lebron jockeys figure that one out!!
lol : D!!!!
Also, how about Darko? Cmon big man!!
He’s also a fantastic leader, mostly emotionally.
Trust me, if Z doesn’t return, I’m not entirely sure the Cavaliers got better.
And there is someone else who was the Lebron of pg’s before Westbrook. And that was Rose. But Westbrook is money. I love OKC now!!!
Oh, and I see that the sniper was following the Cavs around again last night. He picked Bron off and I didn’t know if he was going to get back up. The sniper then left and got Manu later that night.
Co-sign Juk’s. I heard rumor the NBA is going to stop the Cavs from picking Z up because there is a rumor that Washington stated in the deal they would buy Z out so he could sign back with the Cavs!!!
Dude HAS to work on his passing.
Mvp – Z is MVP, sorry brother 0-3. Same as you would say, the lakers are 4-1 without Kobe, so gasol is MVP, right? Right.
Juk- Don’t rain on my parade or DP’s lol!!!
But I think people get a little carried away when talking about him. Dude’s passing and defense really haven’t improved the way some people claim they have.
Nash is slowing down lately, them old legs struggle to make it through the season!! That is why he always has trouble in the playoffs making it anywhere!!!
But Carl Landry is definitely going to be missed by the Rockets. They need OFFENSE! Kevin Martin needs to get back to his 24 ppg self.
In my opinion, Lebron at 21 was a SLIGHTLY worse scorer, an equal rebounder, and a SUPERIOR passer… but he was also a slightly better man-to-man defender, a better dribbler, a much better shotblocker/passing-lane disruptor, a SUPERIOR leader, and far more versatile of a player.
So if you take all that into account, there was a far greater talent gap at 21 than just saying “better scorer, equal rebounder, worse passer”
Rose is better at running a team, but Westbrook is more aggressive and lightyears better on defense. Both of them are freakishly athletic?
The point guard position is stacked right now. You got Dwil and Chris Paul in the prime of their careers, then Nash, Kidd and Billups as the old, but still effective vets, then the young bulls in Westbrook, Rose and Brooks, then the young guns in Jennings, Curry, Lawson, and Evans. Come on man, if you love guard play, the League is nasty right now.
Bryan: Evans. It isn’t even half debatable to me. Curry is on a fast-paced, guard oriented team where he’s given the green light to shoot everything. Yet Evans still has better stats. C’mon now.
Rose has a better understanding of tempo and pace than Westbrook, but he’s not as aggressive at trying to attack opposing players. Westbrook is uber-aggressive, but he over penetrates, and jacks some bad shots. But, I love his hustle on the glass and on defense, particularly on defense. Dude does not quit on a play ever. Plus, Westbrook just plays angry, or at least it seems that way to me. Rose goes hard, but he seems to be easygoing or something.
I’ve been on the DRose bandwagon since he got drafted, but Westbrook might be overtaking him. I wish I could watch Steph Curry play more often, but I hate watching Warriors games, and they come on too late most nights.
Do you think Walt Bellamy is a better scorer than Hakeem Olajuwon?
If you do, ignore everything I said. If not, then stop bringing up the fact that Lebron scored 31.1 that season.
Use logic, not stats:
-the amount of firepower Durant has is SUPERIOR to the amount of firepower Lebron had. This means that there are more people who can score, and the ball goes to Durant less
-Durant is not a natural passer and ball dribbler, and in turn doesn’t have the ball as much. While this certainly makes Lebron seem better in this light, if they had the ball in their hands the same amount of times, you’d see Durant would score more points
-Just WATCh the two. Durant has the set shot, floaters, turnarounds, finger-rolls, layups, he has SO MUCH in his arsenal, along with a couple of iso spins and fakes that make him downright deadly. Lebron, at that age, would just run up to the rim, occassionally hit a jumper… but his offense was limited. Durant’s is not.
Perhaps if I could explain this to you in stat form, you’d understand
You should show T-Money the technique you use to deep throat Durant so he can avoid injury…
My bad, just playing.
Y’all keep having this argument about Durant and Bron as a scorer. The numbers say Bron is still the better scorer and was the better scorer at the same age. Watching the two play it feels like Durant is the better scorer because he does so much so easily.
I don’t know who is right, but it seems like a silly discussion to have constantly.
Lebron is BY FAR the more dominant scorer. Durant is a special, special player because of that J.
So, if Durant is the “best” scorer right now, where does Carmelo rank?
He’d be above Bron in my books, quite easily.
Melo would be slightly higher than Durant because of his post-up game I’d say.
If teams can’t STOP you getting yours 82+ games a season, I’d say you’re pretty efficient/effective.
Are you telling me LeBron can shoot 87% from the field long enough to rack up 81 points?
Again, Kobe obviously didn’t make 40/46, but regardless 46 shots to get 81 is incredible.
81 is incredible in itself.
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