Post Up: Blake’s World

by Adam Figman | @afigman

Happy belated Turkey Day, SLAM Fam. Admit it, you missed The Post Up during yesterday’s day off. You did! I can tell. Well, just because you were able to spend your Thanksgiving night on a couch struggling through a post-meal coma doesn’t mean every professional hooper had the same fortune. The NBA overlords scheduled a pair of, um, decent match-ups for Thursday’s NBA on TNT lineup. Let’s get to it.

Atlanta 116, Washington 96

After a series of surprising losses, the Hawks were finally able to get back on course with an easy runaway against the Wizards. Josh Smith put up 20 points, 14 boards and 5 assists, while Joe Johnson led the team in scoring with 21. Washington just looked off, shooting 38.6 percent from the floor as they fell behind big—and later cut Atlanta’s lead down to 20 in garbage time. That’s never a good sign. ATL will look to keep the momentum rolling Saturday against the suddenly-surging Knicks.

L.A. Clippers 100, Sacramento 82

Once the Jets-Bengals game ended—assuming my educated estimation (read: complete guess) is correct—this was the only nationally televised athletic event being shown at the time. Gonna go out on a limb and say it didn’t convert too many non-NBA fans into believers, which is unfortunate. The Clippers jumped out to a 15-point lead after three, and held on for a relatively smooth W. Eric Gordon dropped 28, while Blake Griffin (see below) was, as usual, a motherfuggin monster. ‘Reke Havoc didn’t live up to his nickname, going 2-13 from the field and scoring only 8. I can’t imagine the Clips making much of a playoff push these next few months, but they definitely didn’t appear to be at Worst in the League status last night—for what it’s worth.

Performance of the Night: Blake Griffin: 25 points, 15 rebounds, 5 dimes, 1 steal.
Moment of the Night:
Uhh…lots of turkey? Yeah, that’ll have to do. Anton will hold you guys down all weekend, and yours truly will be back Monday following a break dominated by leftovers and League Pass. We promise, no more days off. (Until, like, the next important holiday. Isn’t Secretary’s Day coming up? Take Your Child to Work Day?) Peace!