Wednesday, January 5th, 2011 at 8:50 am  |  118 responses

Post Up: Put Your Hands Up

Knicks shock the Spurs, while the Heat keep cruising.

by Adam Figman | @afigman

New York 128, San Antonio 115

The Spurs, in the opening night of a three-game road trip, seemed like they might’ve spent a little too much time thinking about their matchup with Boston (tonight) and not enough on the Knicks, who were up first. New York came out firing hot, scoring 72 first-half points and finishing with a 54.9 percent shooting rate. For what it’s worth, San Antonio put up tons of points as well, but the Knicks kept a narrow lead for the majority of the 48 minutes and created some separation in the final stretch. Oddly, with about three minutes remaining and only a 10-or-so point differential, Coach Popovich took out all of his starters, either as a punishment for their weak effort or an attempt to save some energy for tonight’s game. The Knicks were led by the (suddenly) usual three dudes: Wilson Chandler (31 points, 9 rebounds), Amar’e Stoudemire (28 points, 9 rebounds) and Raymond Felton (28 points, 7 assists). They’ll have some solid momentum as they begin a road trip in Phoenix on Friday, and, well, let’s just say I wouldn’t want to be the Celtics right about now. Something tells me the Spurs are coming out real, real serious tonight.

Miami 101, Milwaukee 89

Here’s an interesting element to the way the Heat play: For long stretches of time, they often look like an incredibly average basketball team. You watch a few quarters of this, and you think, Man, with a solid strategy and some great shooting, anyone can beat these guys. Then they turn it on. No group can go on a quick scoring run like these guys can. Not a one. And that’s exactly what they did in the fourth quarter last night, negating three mediocre quarters and earning an easy victory. The W marks 19 of 20 for the Heat, who were led by Dwyane Wade and his 34 points.

Chicago 111, Toronto 91

As much as Orlando has been winning as of late (six in a row), they still can’t crack the top 3 in the East—and the Bulls are to blame. Chicago has now won five straight (and 14 of 16), and the Raptors just couldn’t keep up against the red hot home team. Luol Deng dropped 24, and six Bulls scored in double figures during the victory.

Memphis 110, Oklahoma City 105

Don’t really know what’s going on here. The Thunder haven’t really looked bad—they’ve won plenty and are among the top teams in the West (they’re in fifth as I write this)—but it’s hard to watch them on a nightly basis, or look at a couple of the teams they’re behind in the standings, and not think, You know, they could, or should, be better. I won’t speculate as to what exactly the issue is or where the blame should go—maybe you guys have some thoughts—but I’ll definitely be paying attention moving forward. This one was pretty close, but the Grizzlies held the Thunder off in the final minutes, getting huge nights from Zach Randolph (31 points, 16 boards) and Rudy Gay (27 points).

Dallas 84, Portland 81

A slightly different story than that Spurs-Knicks game here. In a defensive struggle, the Mavs edged the Blazers and looked as though they found themselves a solid Caron Butler replacement, too. Deshawn Stevenson, that is, who scored 18. Dallas hosts the Thunder tomorrow night in what should be a good one.

Atlanta 108, Sacramento 102

The Hawks took a 14-point lead into halftime, and though the Kings threatened in the final minutes—some Tyreke Evans buckets held with that—Atlanta hung on for the win. Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson combined for a cool 60 spot, while Evans led the Kings with 29. I know they need to do what’s best for Tyreke’s health, but given all of these losses, it’s tough to imagine just how bad Sacramento would be if Evans elects to go with season-ending surgery—which, at this point, seems kind of inevitable.

LA Lakers 108, Detroit 83

The Lakers might not have solved all of their problems just yet, but they did put them on hold for the time being, cruising to an easy victory against a severely less talent Pistons squad. After a back-and-forth first half, LA came out energized and focused, and their opponents just didn’t stand much of a chance. And I’ll end this shindig with a congrats to Mr. Kobe Bryant, who, with 17 points of his own, passed Dominique Wilkins for 10th on the all-time scoring list. Respect.

Actual Stats: Zach Randolph: 31 points, 16 rebounds, 2 steals.

Moment of the Night: Not much went right for the Spurs last night, but they did get a hell of a posterization from DeJuan Blair, who banged on Ronny Turiaf something fierce. Ronny’s frustration led to a chest bump, then a T, but it didn’t help us forget what took place seconds before. Check it:

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  • JTaylor21

    DBlock, when I say KD’s overrated, I’m not implying that he’s garbage, I mean he’s a great player but he’s not as great as people think. If you think about; is he really even better than Melo? Didn’t bron drop 27ppg in his second season and put up 31.4ppg in his third. So when people act like what KD did last year was groundbreaking, take a look back a couple of years and you will see that he doesn’t even come close to young Bron’s numbers. KD- Great player but not a once in a generation type player.

  • JTaylor21

    Whatching T-Mac play, he reminds you every now and then how great he was in his prime and the endless possibilites he could have achieved career wise. Dude’s passing ability is downright filthy, he still possess a great handle, he’s jumpshot is still good and he has a little lift left in those cranky knees. In his absolute prime, dude was the best player in the L hands down. No one in the L could do what he did; the mix of scoring ability, court vision, ball handling ability, and shutdown defensive skills (when he felt like playing D of course) was unmatched. Damn I miss 100% healthy T-Mac and I shed a tear whenever I think of what could have been.

  • http://Philosophervision@blogspot.com The Philosopher

    @JTaylor21:
    Keep procuring that knowledge to the masses. Doing your thing.

  • http://sjfklfsl.com Jukai

    Who woulda been better without injuries: T-Mac or G-Hill?

  • http://Philosophervision@blogspot.com The Philosopher

    Tracy.

  • JTaylor21

    Jukai, that’s really hard to pick. I mean GHill was putting up Larry Legend type numbers at 6-8, so it would be really tough. I would take T-Mac though because he was a better scorer, passer, and finisher while GHill was a better rebounder and probably mid-range shooter. T-Mac though wins out because you just can’t find many 6-8 ambidextrous SFs (dude could finish with his left as well as his right) who could do the things he could do on a nightly basis.

  • http://sjfklfsl.com Jukai

    JTaylor: Was T-Mac a better passer than Hill? I mean, my memory says yes, I remember T-Mac passing like a point… but Hill’s assists numbers are much better than T-Mac’s. Hill put up 7 assists a game at one point. Hill’s defense is also much better than McGrady’s.
    McGrady was a ludicrously better scorer though, like, ten points a game better scorer.
    It’s a hard one. I was going to give it to T-Mac, but after looking at the numbers, I guess I’d have to give it to Hill.

  • TheNewYorker

    Tracy because of his athleticsm and ball handling.

  • http://twitter.com/smileyoufckers Bryan

    I remember both and the answer is Tmac, and that’s not even close to a slight on Hill. Both HOF level talents, but Mac just had that cold blooded feel to him. Never had enough talent around him.

  • http://Philosophervision@blogspot.com The Philosopher

    Great question, Jukai.

  • http://sjfklfsl.com Jukai

    I gotta say, after all my defending Nash, I just might stop. He has p*ssied out in three straight games. If he doesn’t want to be the man, I can see why he doesnt want to be traded.

  • http://Slamonline.com Nbk

    I would take grant hill every single time. Defense, rebounding, and basketball iq are all IMO more important than mcgrady’s superior scoring and playmaking ability. (grant was also better in the confinds of an offense. Mcgrady’s was a product of the iso generation. Or the Michael Jordan effect)

  • http://www.twitter.com/HurstySYD Hursty

    Kap – John Salmons seasonal stats:
    14 pts (1.3 3′s), 3.5 boards, 3.3 assists, 1 steal, 0.3 blocks, 2 turnovers.
    Over the last month:
    16.6 pts (1.7 3′s), 3.8, 3.6, 1.1, 0.3, 2.1
    2 reasons for his improved numbers:
    1, getting healthy, remember he missed all of training camp and pre-season from injury.
    2, Jennings’ injury and Doolings and Boykins inability to create for team-mates, means Salmons is forced to do more.
    Plus, if you actually WATCH the Bucks games, you’ll see he’s moving better and is more explosive.

  • Justin

    LOL@comparing Durant to Bird. You do come up with some good ones JTaylor. Why don’t you make the comparison after Durant has been in the league 5 more years? Also, when you say “You people act like you haven’t seen a 6’10″ player like this” and then bring up Larry Bird, you’re sort of helping Durant’s cause. You have to go back and find a player who’s been retired for close to 20 years to find another player like Durant?

  • Justin

    In his prime, and when healthy, I think TMac was a very good defender and could have been a great one. He also had more of a scorer’s mentality while Grant Hill could look to score but also looked for teammates a bit more. I remember when he first came into the league and people were making the inevitable comparisons to Michael but as it turned out his game was more like Scottie Pippen’s. Overall a very tough call but I’ll give a slight edge to Hill

  • http://www.slamonline.com Anon e Mouse

    Damn missed a great conversation here. You all must have forgotten what G Hill was really about. Just my opinion but I’d take Hill by a long margin. That comparison is like Duncan (Hill) to Garnett (TMac). Hill had much better fundamentals and yes he was athletic as hell! @ Bryan please go back and look at some highlights cos if TMac is Cold blooded the we should just call Grant Hill “The Reptile”. Seriously dude just because you are a nice guy doesn’t mean you’re any less cold blooded.

    Oh and I agree with much of Eboys summary of the Knicks. I said in another post that I’d be happy just to get to the playoffs and be competitive in round 1. Don’t expect to get any further but the experience will be huge for us after the wilderness years.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Saying that the gap between Duncan and Garnett is huge looks completely ridiculous right now.
    Now that KG has been teamed with a real coach(Eff you Flip) and solid teammates, his team is a constant championship contender.
    It appears that when Garnett fans like myself complained that Duncan kept having more team success because he had a better TEAM it was correct. When given talent, Garnett has produced and Duncan has ALWAYS had more talent than Garnett.
    Provide some proof that this is incorrect.

  • mister-8

    I always find this who’s better question funny. You guys say Tmac is better, okay. But would you rather go to war with Tmac or GHill? I would always pick GHill (and so would a large number of coaches I think), he’s just a winner in my book, Tmac….not so much.
    Also…I do think Nick Young would help the Bulls.
    As a last note: I would like to thank god for league Pass…can’t describe what it’;s like to suddenly be able to watch ALL basketball games overhere in Amsterdam, 15 years ago, I had to pick up the “herald tribune” fore boxscores….THANK YOU!

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