The Post Up: LeBron Rules

By: Holly MacKenzie

LeBron helped to make his match up with the Mavs an entertaining one, despite horrible shooting from both teams. Bron’s dunk at the end of the game was just ridiculous. To get to the basket like that and then just throw down the dunk to seal the game was awesome.

The whole first half reminded me of the “Jordan Rules”, and also made me realize how much the game has changed and how much more brutal the game must have been in the past. The beatings that stars could take on a nightly basis must have made their bodies break down much quicker and bring on more fatigue in comparison to how the game is played and what is allowed today.

Apparently the Heat have called Smush’s agent and said they need him and he is welcome in Miami. I never thought I’d see the day when Riles is counting on Smush Parker to swoop in and provide some relief.

How funny was the TNT halftime show during the Cleveland/Dallas game? I was cracking up with Charles and his dogs named “Mango” and “YooHoo”. Those guys are great.

Drew Gooden’s beard-growing contest is getting out of control!

Since we are having another snowy night, one channel has decided to cut out and of course, it is the Clips/Suns game. I’m trying to watch as much online as I can, but the feed isn’t coming through very well. Still, I can see they are up by 30 and killing the Clippers. I think some guys are setting out to prove the announcers from the Lakers game wrong.

Seattle only down one to Boston at the half?! Exciting stuff. I love seeing Delonte West play well. He works hard and every time I’ve seen Seattle play, he has been one of the first out to shoot and he stays there forever, knocking down everything. How great would it be for Seattle to take down the Celtics?

I was going through a ton of papers and files last night, half of it notes and papers from my undergrad degree and the rest basketball articles and clippings and old SLAM’s. I spent half of the night re-reading most of the issues and reliving some of my favorite NBA moments through the articles. I can’t believe my boy Kobe has been in the league for 11 years. It’s got to be pretty fun to be playing with Derek Fisher again after the two were drafted together and then won their rings together. I also can’t believe LeBron has already been around for 4 years.

Boston has now matched their win-total from last season.

Cleveland 88 Dallas 81

LeBron James led the Cavaliers over the Dallas Mavericks with a 24-point, eight-rebound, seven-assist performance, but it was not an easy night for him as Dallas knocked him around every time he made a move to the basket. James was relentless and the first half was all Cleveland as they got to the foul line, had points in transition and led 47-38 at the break. The Mavericks got things going in the second half, and cut the Cleveland lead to one early in the fourth quarter. James hit a three to keep the Cavaliers up and Cleveland stayed in front the rest of the way as they survived a Dallas run that saw them cut the lead to 81-79 with just under five left to play. The Mavericks tried to cut the rest of the lead by shooting three’s and they came up short while James sealed the game for Cleveland with a dunk that came as he drove down the lane and hammered the ball through the net with 1:10 on the clock. Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for the Cavs and Larry Hughes added 17 points and 9 boards. Dirk Nowitzki overcame a rough first half to finish with 19 points and 20 rebounds in the loss, and Josh Howard added 19 as well. Jerry Stackhouse and Jason Terry scored 11 points apiece, but Terry shot only 3-12 from the floor as each team shot only 36% for the game

Boston 104 Seattle 96

In Ray Allen’s return to Key Arena for the first time since being traded, the Boston Celtics were almost stunned by the Sonics as it took them the entire game to shake Seattle off and leave with the victory. Thanks to a season-high 37 points from Paul Pierce (26 scored in the second half), the Celtics were able to pull away from the Sonics in the fourth as they scored 18 points in the first five minutes of the period. Whenever the Sonic’s posed the threat of taking the lead, Boston had someone step up and score, usually draining a three. Pierce finished 10-11 from the free throw line where the Celtics shot 27-36 as a team while Seattle attempted only 23 free throws, hitting 18 of them. While Allen struggled from the floor and finished with only 10 points on 4-13 field goals, Kevin Garnett had 23 points and 14 rebounds and Eddie House added 13. Kevin Durant led Seattle with 25 points as he did his best to keep his team focused and in the game. Delonte West had 19 points and 8 assists, Chris Wilcox scored 13 points and Wally Szczerbiak had 14.

Phoenix 108 LA Clippers 88

From beginning to end the Phoenix Suns schooled the Clippers in their 108-88 victory last night. After losing to the other team in LA on Christmas day, the Suns were not going to leave LA without a win. Thanks to a 59-40 halftime lead, not only did they get the win, they got to rest their starters for most of the second half as they went up by as many as 36 points in the third quarter. Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with 30 points and 15 rebounds as he held Chris Kaman to 9 points and 9 rebounds. Kaman went 1-11 in the first half and scored seven of his nine in the second, most with Stoudemire on the bench. While the Suns were hot from the floor, shooting almost 53% from the floor, the Clippers shot a miserable 37%. In addition to Stoudemire’s big night, Steve Nash had 9 points and 12 assists while Grant Hill and Leandro Barbosa scored 16 points apiece. Corey Maggette had 21 points to lead LA in the loss as Cuttino Mobley and Al Thornton each added 14