by Adam Figman | @afigman
Something tells me most of y’all weren’t too focused on NBA basketball last night. Understandable. Hell of a night of college hoops. Duke fell to Arizona; Kemba brought UConn past SDSU; Florida beat BYU in OT; and Butler’s crazy run continued. And the Mavs, TWolves, Hornets and Jazz all did the damn thing last night. Well, kind of. Here’s what went down on the professional side of town:
Early in the second half it looked like one of the League’s worst teams (playing sans Kevin Love) might steal one from one of the League’s best, but then the Mavs turned it on, rallying behind Dirk Nowitzki (30 points, 11 boards) and Jason Terry (18 points). The two dropped 19 collective fourth quarter points, utilizing the pick-and-roll to confuse Minny’s D and have their way on offense. In the loss, Anthony Randolph upped Dirk by providing 31 points and 11 rebounds, which means the TWolves officially have another up-and-comer that could be awfully valuable in years to come. Whether or not Minnesota ever harnesses all this young talent into a winning season is anybody’s guess, but at least the talent is there to be harnessed.
This was a wild one in Utah, one that unfortunately looks like it’ll do more long-term damage than good for the Bees. First, the game: These two battled down to the end of regulation, when Emeka Okafor converted a ridiculous bank shot (see below) that forced OT, where the Bees took care of business and sent the Jazz packing. The negative is David West went down after a dunk late in the fourth, and the replay showed that his knee took a painful, painful twist that required West be removed from the court in a wheelchair. Let’s just say his knee bent in ways a human knee isn’t supposed to bend. DWest is a vital part of his squad and will be a huge factor if the Hornets are to have the slightest chance of upsetting a better team in this season’s Playoffs, so we’ll have to wait and see just how much time the New Orleans forward will be kept off the court. He’s scheduled to have an MRI later today.
Last Call: Emeka Okafor, for the tie:
