by Holly MacKenzie / @stackmack
Pretty quiet Tuesday on the slate last night, but of the four games played, two were close. In my opinion, the game of the night was in Miami as the Heat escaped with a 110-106 victory after Ronny Turiaf bobbled a perfect pass from Steph Curry and turned over what would have been an easy, easy bucket.
That one hurt.
And I know people will/have said that Curry should know his personnel and that Turiaf doesn’t have the best hands, but what are you supposed to do with 8.8 seconds remaining when you’ve got a guy who is wide open by the basket? He had to make that pass, didn’t he? In my mind, he made the play that he thought was the easiest. Even thought it didn’t work, I can’t fault him for it.
A rookie trying to make the right play is okay with me.
After Turiaf turned the ball over, Carlos Arroyo sealed the Miami victory by making two free throws. Dwyane Wade had 35 points on 15-for-23 shooting to go with six rebounds and 12 assists. QRich and Beasley each added 15 points and Jermaine O’Neal scored 14 points to go with 12 boards, but he had an epic fail late, missing two free throws with 8.8 seconds remaining, giving the Warriors an opportunity to take the game.
The Warriors had just eight guys in uniform, even after calling up Reggie Williams and signing him from the D-League. Anthony Morrow had 24 points to lead Golden State while Curry added 18 to go with eight assists while CJ Watson had 20 points and six steals. Seriously, the D-League has been a Godsend for the Warriors and it’s been really nice to see so many guys show they belong in this league when they do get their chance.
Let’s not forget Kelenna Azubuike, anyone. My original favorite D-League call up. Yup.
Loving rookies and D-Leaguers, the Warriors are a no-brainer for me to root for. Throw in Ronny Turiaf and Raja Bell and, well, yes. Just yes.
In Detroit, the Pistons hung around but fell apart late, dropping the 105-100 decision to the Celtics. New Celtic, Nate Robinson led the charge, scoring 14 points in just 15 minutes of action. While Boston trailed early in the fourth they used a 16-4 run to move past the Pistons and get the W. It was a disappointing night for Detroit as Ben Wallace badly missed two free throws down the stretch, making it 2-for-20 from the line for him in his last five games. Wallace also left the game with a knee injury.
In OKC, the Thunder found themselves in a battle with the Sacramento Kings, but they prevailed thanks to a 39-point performance from Kevin Durant and a 30-point, 13-assist double-double from Russell Westbrook. The Kings hung around and Tyreke Evans (27 points, six rebounds, five assists) and Carl Landry did (17 points) their best, but the Thunder walked off of their home floor with the 113-107 victory. Really hope you caught Westbrook’s crazy 3-pointer to beat the halftime buzzer. I don’t even know how the guy managed to get a shot off, let alone make a three. Looked like he took some contact, too.
Also: To state the obvious, Evans is really, really, really good. He’s putting up 25/5/5 and somehow we’ve almost become used to it already. Crazy. Crazy good.
In LA, the Lakers played a crappy first half against the Pacers before flipping the switch at halftime and then rolling to a 122-99 victory, thanks in large part, to a third quarter that saw LA outscore Indiana, 38-17. Yup, that’ll do it. Pau Gasol finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds, Kobe scored 24 — including a beautiful shot to beat the buzzer– and Jordan Farmar scored 24 off of the bench. Troy Murphy led the Pacers with 17 points and 13 rebounds while Dahntay Jones scored 16 off of the bench.
Okay, time for me to retire because every second word I type is a typo. Hate that! Before I go, is anyone else having trouble getting used to Carl Landry in his Kings uni? I still expect him to be in Rockets red every time I see him.
