What you missed while freaking out that there are flying snakes…
The Clippers with the upset of the Hornets is our Game of the Night…
Spurs 106, Magic 97: The Spurs are legit. Not sure they can beat the Lakers in the playoffs, but if that’s the standard then no other team in the NBA may be legit. But the Spurs — if they can stay healthy — look like the one team in the West that can push LA. San Antonio racked up an 11-1 record against one of the softer schedules in the league, but Monday they faced off against Orlando and knocked off the Magic. And looked good doing it.
The Spurs got fantastic guard play — Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili combined for 49 points on 53 percent shooting, 5-9 from three and they had 19 assists. It was a counter to the Magic, who early on tried to establish Dwight Howard inside — and if you think he has one move you need to watch him again. He has developed some shots. He’s not Hakeem, but there are some different shots and he used them on Tim Duncan. Howard finished with 26 points and 18 boards.
But in crunch time the Spurs were making the plays. —Parker, Ginobili and Richard Jefferson all had key late threes. And just before that, Matt Bonner hit a shot from roughly El Paso. Then at the game’s key moment Ginobili shocked the world by going to his right got the and-one. Meanwhile the Magic were turning it over. The Spurs are back, baby
Pacer 93, Heat 77: If the Miami Heat played with the pace and off-the-ball player movement in the halfcourt offense that the Indiana Pacers have, they would be far more dangerous.
The Heat looked terrible in this one. Dwyane Wade was a surprise starter returning from injuring his non- shooting hand but he did not look right — he was 1 of 13 from the field for three points. The Heat offense was all isolation and looked listless. The defensive rotations were, frankly, pathetic.
The Heat had 4 points off the bench — all from Jamaal Magloire, who could be cut tomorrow to make way for Erick Dampier. The Heat were 4-20 from three. Credit the Pacers for playing some good defense and taking advantage of all the miscues. But the Heat are making a lot of miscues.
Celtics 99, Hawks 76: The first quarter was as good as the Celtics can play. The Hawks were flat, but the Celtics intimidating intensity was part of that. The Celtics shot 72 percent, their defense pressured the ball on the strong side (as they long have done) and contested every shot, it overwhelmed the Hawks — 39-13 overwhelmed. The Hawks settled in and played better as the game went on, but this one was over early. Really solid game for Shaq, he was too much for the Hawks inside from the start.
After the game, the Hawks closed their locker room to the media. They needed a team meeting after that ugly performance.
Thunder 117, Timberwolves 107: Don’t tell anyone, but Darko Milicic played really well down the stretch in this one. And Kevin Love had 24-17. Still wasn’t enough because the Thunder are just the vastly better team.
Suns 123, Rockets 116: Steve Nash was back and the Suns looked like the Suns again — an offensive rating of 124.2 (points per 100 possessions).
The Rockets were 0-12 from three in the first half of this game. They didn’t stop shooting it and attack the rim more, they kept launching threes. On some level you should applaud their determination in the face of adversity. Then again, you could say the same thing about the Confederates at Gettysburg. They finished with 26 threes, recalling the Rudy T. era.
The Suns did what they wanted and went on a 11-0 second quarter run, pulled away and never looked back.
Jazz 94, Kings 83: What you expected out of this game is what you got. The Jazz are just the better squad.
Nuggets 106, Warriors 89: Denver was attacking, which means Carmelo Anthony is attacking. He was an impressively perfect 17-17 from the free throw line and finished with 39. Al Harington was 5-7 from three. Denver and the Warriors have similar records, but it was pretty clear who is the better team here.
