By: Holly MacKenzie
Okay, lets just jump right into this. I am (hopefully), at the airport right now awaiting my flight to Toronto for this Lakers/Raptors game. After the way that game finished last night, I am REALLY pulling for my guys to get the road win tonight. Also hoping the sting of that stupid last play and the loss will have subsided before media time.
Recaps are going to be a little shorter than usual today because, well, I am in a rush and still have not really packed. Eeek.
Great, great games on tonight. Even though the Detroit game killed me. KB with the triple-double. The bad kind. I somehow knew after our Bron-based talk yesterday and the big performance by LBJ Wednesday night that Kobe was going to go for some numbers. He did, he just had a whole lot of turnovers I’d like to forget. I’d take all of those turnovers time and time again to erase that last possession for the Lakers. Ugly. And, not just a little ugly, really ugly.
It will be fun to watch the guys who didn’t make the all-star game go off in the next few weeks to show they’ve been slighted.
Marion is doing it tonight against the Spurs.
Bell with a shot to the “man region” as Reggie says. Of course I can’t imagine how that feels but, it always astounds me how quickly one little shot can bring a big man downnnn.
What a difference a lack of LeBron makes. And the way he was dying laughing when Marshall forgot his jersey? That was hysterical and he full out cracks up the way that I do, grabbing whoever is beside me, rocking forward and laughing until tears are streaming down my cheeks. LeBron you make me smile even when you are sitting on the bench. Okay, the LeBron-love fest is STILL in effect, two days later.
The look on Duncan’s face after fouling Amare with 8.7 left was priceless. Guess it didn’t matter because Amare couldn’t get the free throw to go and the Spurs walk away with the win.
Okay, here we go! Have a great weekend, everyone!
Detroit 90 LA Lakers 89
In the tale of two halves, the Pistons were lucky to escape with the 90-89 victory against the LA Lakers. After leading by as many as 17 points in the first quarter, the Pistons got themselves in trouble in the second half as Kobe Bryant rebounded from a rough first half to outscore the entire Pistons team in the third quarter, 16-15. The Lakers as a team scored 27 points to Detroit’s 15 in the period and the Lakers held the lead going into the fourth. In the final period Bryant stayed hot, but the Pistons bench kept them in the game as the rookie duo of Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo added 10 points apiece. In the fourth, the game was a battle with the Lakers going up by two with 17 seconds left as Ronny Turiaf made one of two free throws. On the Pistons final possession, Rasheed Wallace would miss a three but, Tayshaun Prince grabbed the offensive rebound and knocked down a three-pointer to give the Pistons a one-point advantage with four seconds on the clock. On the Lakers final possession of the game, the Pistons crowded Bryant and Lamar Odom shot an airball, extending the Detroit home-winning streak against LA to nine games. Prince led Detroit with 22 points, Chauncey Billups had 16 points and 7 assists and Richard Hamilton added 14. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with a triple-double, but it was not one he will want to remember. Bryant finished with 39 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 11 turnovers as he committed half of LA’s 22 . Derek Fisher had 15 points and Ronny Turiaf added 12 points off of the bench.
Boston 96 Dallas 90
In a close game between the Celtics and Mavericks, Boston seemed to do all of the little things right in the final minutes to take control of the game and get the win. Without Kevin Garnett for their third straight game it was Rajon Rondo who was the star of the game, stealing a rebound away from Dirk Nowitzki in the final seconds of the game and scoring on a layup to put his team on top. Close throughout, the Celtics led 71-70 at the start of the fourth. Nowitzki tied the game at 90 by hitting two free throws with just under a minute left in the game. After the Mavericks missed on their next possession they sent James Posey to the foul line and he delivered by knocking down both. With the Celtics up by four it was Posey who stole the ball away from Jason Terry on the Mavericks final possession to take the game. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen scored 26 points each for Boston as Rondo finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, Posey had 13 and Leon Powe added 10. Nowitzki had 31 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists in the loss while Josh Howard had 19 points and Terry added 13.
Seattle 101 Cleveland 95
Maybe the Cavaliers were tired from their win against Portland Wednesday night, more likely they were a little lost without LeBron. After suffering an ankle sprain in Portland, James was absent from the game last night and the Cleveland defense was with him, at least for the first quarter. After giving up 40 points to the Sonics in the opening period, the Cavs were unable to complete the comeback as they dropped a 101-95 decision on the road. Cleveland never led in the contest as Seattle went up by as many as 22 points and led by 17 at the start of the fourth. In the final period the Cavs used a 20-6 run to cut the lead to three points with less than three minutes remaining in the game but, Kevin Durant had four quick points to keep Seattle on top and lead them to the victory. Durant finished with 24 points, Chris Wilcox had 18 points and 13 rebounds, Kurt Thomas scored 16 points and Jeff Green added 17. In the absence of James, Larry Hughes had 28 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals as Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 17 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, Damon Jones added 15 and Daniel Gibson had 13.
San Antonio 84 Phoenix 81
As usual, the San Antonio Spurs turned it on when they needed to and they pulled out the victory against the Suns. After trailing for most of the game, they shone in the fourth quarter outscoring Phoenix 29-21 and forcing back-to-back turnovers from Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire in the final minutes of the game to take control. After Manu Ginobili hit two free throws to give San Antonio a three-point lead, Tim Duncan fouled Stoudemire on a layup for the opportunity to tie the game, but Stoudemire would miss the free throw and Ginobili wound up at the line again where he hit his free throws and gave the Spurs the victory. Duncan finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds while Ginobili had 19 points and Jacque Vaughn added 17 for the Parker-less Spurs. Shawn Marion had 21 points and 10 boards to lead the Suns, as Stoudemire had 16 points and 9 rebounds and Nash finished with 17 points and 8 assists.
