These are the guys with the ball in their hands on nearly every possession. They’re asked to get their teammates going while also finding ways to put the ball in the basket themselves. They’re not always successful, but tonight they certainly were as all three of these guys were dishing out dimes and sinking shots for their teams.
So while Dwyane Wade (26 points 11-13 FG’s), LeBron James (27 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists), and David Lee (25 points 11 rebounds) all came up big for their teams tonight, I’m going with the point guards for tonight’s trio of stars. Let’s get to it…
Third Star: Jeremy Lin (38 points, 7 assists, 4-5 three pointers, 12-12 FT’s)
With James Harden out, Jeremy Lin took center stage as the main ball handler for the Rockets and brought back memories of Linsanity with his performance against the Spurs. He worked the pick and roll magically, darting into the teeth of the Spurs defense to score at the rim and hitting rainbow jumpers over the outstretched arms of defenders all over the floor. In the 4th quarter he kept his team close before finally running out of gas in the closing seconds and overtime. Even though the Rockets lost this game, Lin deserves his props in this one. He was simply fantastic.
Second Star: Stephen Curry (27 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists)
On nights like this — where he’s active all over the floor and has all aspects of his game going — Steph Curry is just a joy to watch. Curry began the game bombing a three pointer and then showed that he could work the paint as well, hitting a variety of crafty lay-ins and floaters that had his teammates celebrating on the bench. And when he wasn’t flashing all the ways to get himself buckets, he was handing out assists by drawing the defense and then kicking to his teammates when working the pick and roll. Just an all around great night for Curry in this one.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOVV7YqdBxM?rel=0%5D
First Star: Tony Parker (27 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists)
I thought it was a mistake when the announcers said this was Tony Parker’s first career triple double, but it is the truth. Parker terrorized the Rockets all night to achieve the feat, working the pick and roll to perfection and using his speed to get into the lane at will. Of his nine made field goals, six came right at the rim as he abused his man in the open and half court to get easy shots in the paint. After establishing himself as a threat in the key, he kicked out passes to open shooters or dropped off passes to cutters while the defense swarmed him in an attempt to take away his shot. On this night, there was nothing that Parker couldn’t do and the Spurs rode him and his playmaking to an overtime win.
