Player of the D.A.Y.

By Sam Rubenstein

Oh my God the Player of the D.A.Y.! I should be an honorary Indiana Pacer I’ve been so delinquent with this. Of course, if my original purpose was to have an objective eye on the NBA race, well… it looks like it’s Kobe out front, Chris Paul making a bid, and LeBron always in the picture. KG has lost some momentum. Been pretty busy with other work-related and “life” stuff the past few weeks, but here goes. I have to backtrack all the way to the Thursday night before the All-Star break. Don’t worry dear reader, I do this more for ME than for YOU. As opposed to everything else, where I am just a humble public servant.

Games played on Valentines Eve: The big game was Dallas vs. Phoenix with no Kidd or Shaq involved. Old school, Nash vs. Dirk, and it was the two-time MVP over the reigning MVP with 24 points and 13 assists in the win.

All-Star Break… fun with consequences…

Games played Tuesday the 19th: Deron Williams winning the battle with Baron Davis and leading Utah over Golden State. Honorable mention to Allen Iverson, getting to the free throw line 20 times in a win over Boston.
Wednesday the 20th: Chris Bosh picked the wrong night to go for 40 against Dwight the newly minted golden boy and the Orlando Magic. Kobe led the Lakers in a thriller – yes, just like that weird Naomi Campbell commercial with the lizards – 41 points in a 130-124 race to the finish line against the Lakers blood rivals, the Suns.

Thursday the 21st: Manu Ginobili had one of his 40+ point explosions, which are becoming more of a trend than a freak outing. So it was against Minnesota.  That’s still better than T-Mac beating up on Miami.

Friday the 22nd: Oooooh Jamal Crawford lit up the MSG stage with 43 points on a Friday night. That’s weird, cause the Knicks don’t exist. They are like Jacob’s cabin on LOST, they’re only there if you want to see them. Right now, I do not. There was the Phoenix-Boston Finals preview, which really looks nothing like a Finals preview anymore. There were some big performances in big games like Yao’s 28 and 14 against the Hornets, LeBron doing everything against Washington, but I’m going to go with Ben Gordon leading the Bulls with 37 as they rang up 135 points of the Nuggets, which fanned the flames of firegeorgekarl.com.

Saturday the 23rd: Michael Redd had the monster game against the Nuggets, who might have taken the crown from Memphis of “Team that distorts other team’s best player’s stats the most.” On the heels of the Ben Gordon game, Redd loses out. Instead I’ll go with Manu Ginobili again, 30 and 12 in a win over New Orleans. I don’t think I’m a big Ginobili fan, but maybe I am?

Sunday the 24th: The day of the Detroit statement game to Phoenix and everyone else. That was the big game of the day, and it was a throwback to two years ago, when the Pistons would be up by 30 and the starters resting by the third quarter. I know every PG seems to put up monster numbers with Steve Nash guarding them, but Chauncey Billups had 14 and 11 in 20 minutes, and it was an easy 14 and 11. This could have been a 30-20 game if he played his usual minutes.

Monday: DeShawn Stevenson, 33 points and a three at the buzzer to beat a better team, New Orleans. Pretty obvious.

Tuesday: The new look Cavs with Ben Wallace in the mix could not stop Mo Williams from scoring 37. In related news, this was the night I discovered my car battery was near death. Mo Williams wins the award, I left the dome light on and only have myself to blame.

Wednesday: Sorry to overlook Mike Bibby turning his new team into a winner with 24 and 12 against his old team, but it seems as if I have a New Orleans bias. The Hornets got yet another virtuoso game from Chris Paul with 25 and 15, Aggrey was there.

Okay… we’re good. Stop worrying, the AAA guy gave me the juice.