Before leaving work last night I checked my fantasy team that happens to have Deron Williams on it. It was in the 2nd Quarter and the Jazz were down by 18 with D-Will not playing terribly well. I was chalking this up to a typical Bad Jazz night (as recent losses to Denver, Phoenix and Golden State show how bad the Jazz can be in this early season) until I saw the NBA TV highlights after dinner (corndogs, of course). Surprised doesn't begin to explain how I reacted to news of the vicious comeback on the South Beach A-Holes thereby cementing their Bad Azz Jazz moniker.
And they did all of this with limited Al Jefferson usage. Millsap connected on his first 3 three point shots of the season enroute to 46 points on 68% shooting (Milli was 2-20 career from the arc). Who does he think he is? The Power Forward version of Monta Ellis? The cool thing is that all of his 3's were shot in the final 40 seconds of the 4th quarter. And he scored 11 points in these final 40 seconds to push his squad into OT:
The Heat should be able to defend a bit better than they did and there's no doubt that they eventually will figure it out. I read somewhere that the Jazzholes scored 84 points in the last 29 minutes. CB-4: Do you know how to defend the block? D-Wade: is your defense only tied to taking chances on steals and help defense blocks? LeBron Raymone James: weren't you the 2nd best defender of the NBA for the 08/09 season? Like Canadians say: C'MON GUY!
New York 80, Milwaukee 107
I'm pretty sure that the Knicks are better than THIS (38% shooting). 7 Seconds or Less style basketball should result in something more than 80 points in a game. The Bucks do play decent defense and Bog-nuts probably popped Amar'e near his Oakley Blades-covered eyeholes a few times limiting him to 4 measly boardbounds in 26 minutes of
On the Bucks end of things, it looked to me like they just showed up and played a pretty good game. And I need to check out Basketbawful to see if there's a term for someone like Luc Richard Mbah a Moute who puts up "meh" stats, plays a decent amout of minutes, but contributes to with a + 26 plus/minus. Thank Jeebus there are ways to measure guys like this. Unless Bawful has a pre-made name, I'm calling him a Glue Gun Guy.
Denver 113, Indiana 144
Did Don Nelson sign on as a special assistant to George Carl? 147 points per 100 possessions is a rather insane number that I'm not sure we'll see again for a long time. But with Golden State using the "Smart" approach of valuing defense, is there any other team out there who could allow such numbers to a non-playoff team? It just had to be the Nuggets when you think about it.
The Pacers took 3 less shots during the game. They also made 11 less free throws. Yet then won by 31 points. Excuse me Mr. John Hollinger, but how do the numbers work out like that? I guess that when you toss in 64.6% from the field, this can happen.
The Pacers shot 20 for 21 in the 3rd quarter and blitzed Denver with a 54 to 27 point margin. What the heck did Jim O'Brien say to those guys at half time? Dunleavy scored 31 with a plus/minus of +34, Josh McRoberts dropped 2 entire points and was +25. There are times when crazy creates connundrums, and JR Smith, Carmelo Anthony, and Al Harrington couldn't do anything to stop that Indiana train. The Nugs could have really used Birdman to lay down some smack. Just kidding.
Cleveland 93, New Jersey 91
Will the LBJ chip-on-the-shoulder-Dan Gilbert-letter/promise fuel the Cavs to an 8th seed this season? At an improbable 4-3, I like what I see. I can see the battle for playing time/production/stats between Mo Williams and Ramon Sessions (named after LBJ's middle name) causing an issue but Byron Scott seems to be utilizing his fast don't lie backcourt, heck, lineup very well. You don't go on the road and win games by 2 points without having some heart as a team. Hickson had a double double, Varejao's hair went crazy on the court, and Jamison rose from the dead to score 15 and grab 8 off the bench (Antawn had 19 points for the year up until last night).
I'll comment on the Nets when someone tells Devin Harris and Travis Outlaw to pass the frigging ball to Anthony Morrow aka the best pure shooter in the game. Avery Johnson better grow a sac and tell Travis to stop gunning so much.
OK, that's all I got for today.
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