What you missed while running the Iditarod…
Grizzlies 107, Thunder 101: You can add the Oklahoma City Thunder to list of teams that would like to avoid the Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs.
This was the kind of game the Thunder really could have used Kendrick Perkins because the Grizzlies had 15 offensive boards and controlled the play in the paint. Still this game was tied midway through the fourth, but for the second night in a row Mike Conley and Zach Randolph were the ones making the plays down the stretch. Shane Battier had a good game at both ends and did a solid job on Kevin Durant, and Tony Allen is just making plays for Memphis.
Trail Blazers 89, Magic 85: Dwight Howard was sitting out for a night because he’d been a bad, bad boy. Talking back the to those nice, kind refs who just don’t notice as guys take whacks at Howard all game long. But we digress.
The Magic put up a fight without their best player, clawing all the way back from 14 down in the third quarter. But it wasn’t just the lack of Howard that was the problem. For one it was the 18 turnovers, 21.4 percent of their possessions (Gilbert Arenas led the way with six). Then some ugly late-game possessions — they had chance at a transition three down four with 8 seconds to go and Hedo Turkoglu passed up a good look to throw it to Earl Clark for some inexplicable reasons, and from there their slim chances faded to black.
Clippers 92, Bobcats 87: Bobcats just cannot generate offense right now (with Stephen Jackson injured and Gerald Wallace traded). An offensive rating of 96.5 (points per 100 possessions) is not going to do it. They did a good defensive job on the Clippers — who had a balanced attack — but when they needed buckets late they were hoping D.J. Augustin would create something. Nice game from Boris Diaw — 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting, eight rebounds, eight assists, and a steal in 41 minutes on Monday — if he did that consistently it would be a big help. But he will not.
Knicks 131, Jazz 109: Al Jefferson said after the game the game: “We don’t look like a team trying to make the playoffs.” You expected the offense to struggle with Deron Williams gone, but the Jazz played terrible defense in this one. Terrible. Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire combined for 65 points on 31 shots.
Bulls 85, Hornets 77: Credit the Hornets for putting up a fight — no Chris Paul, on the road on the second night of a back-to-back. Aside that, this was a pretty ugly game to watch — the winning team shot 38.3 percent. The Bulls won by closing the game out on an 8-0 rum
Mavericks 108, Timberwolves 105: Wolves were up 11 in the first half but by early in the second half the Mavericks had fought all the way back and were up two so you expected them to pull away and… not so fast. The Wolves made a real fight to the end, they were up a point with 2:15 left. But Dirk Nowitzki knocked down some free throws, Jason Kidd came with a steal, there was a Jason Terry three, followed by a Kevin Love miss and so on and so on….
Rockets 123, Kings 101: This fast became a route in the second half. Rick Adelman won what may be his last game in ARCO, er, Power Balance Arena. He won a lot of games there back in the day.
