Another night in the NBA and another road loss for the Jazz. What gives? They are so good at home with a league-best home record, what is it about the road that turns them into a different team? And, dropping one to the Bulls. Nice one, Utah.
Speaking of Utah, Mehmet has been playing great lately. Keep it up.
Speaking of the Bulls, Drew’s beard is so ridiculously out of control. I am terrified of it as much as I love it. I really, really hope this bet goes on at least until the postseason.
The Bulls are now only 1/2 game back from Atlanta in the eighth spot. The East is crazy!
Coby! Coby! Coby! Exciting to see Phil throw Coby Karl into the game in the second quarter with the score close. He got the job done and was solid. The best part about watching him play is hearing the crowd give him some serious love.
Although it was in a loss it was nice to have TJ Ford score 28 points and continue to look more and more comfortable on the basketball court.
Everyone watch the entire Suns bench, players and coaching staff included clear out when Shaquille O’Neal appeared to be about to dive for a loose ball in a repeat performance of Sunday? I haven’t seen an entire bench clear out so fast since that crazy night at the Palace. Funny to hear Hill call it the play of the game. With the Suns up by 39 on two separate occasions, he may have been right.
Nick Young….Big game. I’ve liked the kid for awhile but I don’t watch the Wizards as much as I should. He looked great against the Bucks and his big dunk and then the tech was funny too.
Funny story about Michael Ruffin and the Wizards. Since he was a former Wizard, the guys bought tons of boxes of girl scout cookies from his daughter and they were all over the locker room for the guys.
On a personal note, I want to share with you all my little piece of excitement. While I was pumped up for the Kobe Bryant Blog Day, I had no idea until I received a facebook message last night (thanks Ryan!), that the awesome people over at www.KB24.com had linked to the Post Up yesterday. Yes, the Post Up. Out of all of the blogs in the world mentioning Mr. Bryant, guess who’s name was at the top of the page, directly under Kobe’s picture and above both Sam Mitchell and Chris Bosh. Okay, don’t guess, check it out! Definitely the highlight of my week.
Big night ahead with 11 games scheduled. Can’t wait to see if Houston can get 20. I’ve got a feeling Bron is going to have a big night (although, really that is pretty much every night), I’m looking forward to Golden State and Toronto and of course, the Spurs face New Orleans. Let us watch Chris Paul go to work.
Chicago 108 Utah 96
While the Jazz have dominated opponents with ease at home, their struggles on the road continued last night and Chicago took advantage defeating them 108-96. With a two-point lead after the first quarter, the Bulls put in a strong second quarter, outscoring the Jazz 30-19, as they took a 55- 42 lead into the break. They would continue to roll in the third, going up by as many as 17 points before the Jazz would try to come back. While Utah tried to get things going on the offensive end, even a strong game from Mehmet Okur couldn’t help them as the Bulls went into the fourth quarter up, 86-71. While the Jazz would cut the lead down to ten in the fourth, the Bulls had an answer for each Utah push and they were able to keep their double-digit lead the entire quarter. The Bulls were led by Drew Gooden and his 24-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist, 3-block night while Ben Gordon scored 19 points, Luol Deng had 14 points and Kirk Hinrich added 13 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Williams had 20 points and 10 assists for the Jazz while Mehmet Okur scored 24 points and pulled down 18 rebounds. Carlos Boozer added 10 points and 9 boards and Ronnie Brewer added 14.
Washington 105 Milwaukee 97
Still without Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas, the Wizards continue to find ways to win. Last night, the Milwaukee Bucks were their latest victim, falling 105-97 to a Washington team led by Antawn Jamison and Nick Young. Thanks to hot-shooting the Wizards led 57-44 in the game before the Bucks came charging back in the third to outscore Washington 33-22 in the period and cut the deficit to only 79-77, going into the fourth. In the final quarter, Young stepped up when the Wizards needed him, getting a three-point play to break an 83-all tie. Young got a second three-point play in the quarter, this time in the final minutes to keep his team up by double-figures as they were able to hold off the Bucks and grab the win. Jamison had 23 points for the Wizards while Young finished with a career-high 22 points. Brendan Haywood had 15 points and 5 blocked shots and Andray Blatche also added 15 points. Michael Redd had 26 to lead the Bucks while Charlie Villanueva scored 24 points to go with 16 rebounds, Andrew Bogut had 23 points and 12 rebounds and Royal Ivey added 9 points.
Portland 103 Minnesota 96
In a close game that saw neither team lead by more than seven points, the Trailblazers were able to come out victorious against the TWolves, defeating them 103-96 in Minnesota last night. While the score was close throughout, it was the TWolves who held the 79-77 lead at the start of the fourth quarter. They would not lead for long however, as the Blazers went on a 12-2 run in the period to take a 99-90 lead with 1:20 seconds remaining in the game and grind out the victory from there. Brandon Roy led Portland with 27 points and 9 assists while LaMarcus Aldridge scored 20, Martell Webster and James Jones added 13 points apiece and Steve Blake added 11. Al Jefferson had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota, Ryan Gomes scored 16 points, Rashad McCants added 18 off of the bench and Craig Smith scored 15.
Phoenix 132 Memphis 111
Coming off of a big win against the Spurs on Sunday, Phoenix welcomed Memphis onto their homecourt and then proceeded to hand them the 132-111 defeat. With the Grizzlies struggles on defense, the Suns were able to find their offense and roll to the win, never trailing and going up by as many as 39 points along the way. While the Grizzlies finished the game shooting 41% from the floor, they gave up 60% shooting to the suns and were only able to keep them under 30 points in the final quarter with the starters watching the game from the bench. Amare Stoudemire had 29 points and 13 rebounds for the Suns as Raja Bell scored 20, Leandro Barbosa and Gordan Giricek scored 18 points apiece and Grant Hill added 17. Rudy Gay scored 20 points for the Grizz, Mike Miller and Darko Milicic scored 12 points apiece, Kyle Lowry had 11 points and Mike Conley Jr. added 10 points.
Indiana 114 Seattle 107
After dropping their last three games, the Pacers were happy to face Seattle and try to get back on track. The game was not as easy as they had hoped, but behind 32 points from Mike Dunleavy, they were able to hold off the Sonics in the fourth quarter. After trading leads throughout the first three quarters, the Pacers went into the fourth up four, 86-82. While the Sonics would struggle to cut the deficit, Indiana went on a 6-0 run to stretch their lead to nine and Seattle would be unable to get any closer. While Dunleavy finished with 32 points he shot 10-16 from the floor in the game. Danny Granger scored 23 points, Troy Murphy added 19 and 9 boards and Travis Diener scored 11 points while dishing 9 assists. The Sonics were led by Kevin Durant’s 27 points while Jeff Green and Nick Collison each scored 15. Chris Wilcox added 13 points and Luke Ridnour scored 12 points to go with 8 assists in the loss.
LA Lakers 117 Toronto 108
After giving up 46 points to Kobe Bryant in Toronto, he was the top priority for the Raptors in LA last night. Unfortunately for Toronto, Bryant still got to 34 points and the Lakers knocked down 15 three-pointers on the night as they used a strong final quarter to gain some distance and take down the Raptors, 117-108. While the game was close into the fourth quarter, the Lakers were able to settle down and extend their lead as Sasha Vujacic knocked down a three-pointer to put them up by double-figures with seven minutes on the clock. Another three, this time by Derek Fisher sealed the outcome for the Lakers, putting them up 113-104 with less than one minute remaining. While Bryant finished with 34 points, he also added 7 rebounds, 7 assists and four steals. Lamar Odom scored 20 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, Derek Fisher added 18 points, Jordan Farmar scored 10 and Pau Gasol added 12. The Raptors were led by TJ Ford’s 28 points off of the bench as Rasho Nesterovicadded 18 points and 8 rebounds, Anthony Parker scored 21 points and Andrea Bargnani had 15.
