It was a light night in the NBA with just three games on the schedule, if you missed them while you meditated on the zen of being a Buddhist monk meth dealer, here are the big takeaways from the Tuesday.
1) C.J McCollum gives Portland big win, but Blazers also lose Evan Turner to a broken hand. This became a brilliant Dirk Nowitzki vs. C.J. McCollum showdown with the game on the line — a game both teams could use as both are trying to chase down Denver for the final playoff slot in the West. While it was no study in defense, it was dramatic — there were six lead changes in the final 38 seconds of the game.
With everything on the line, first Nowitzki did this:
Then C.J. McCollum answered with the game winner.
McCollum finished with 32 and owned the final stretch of the game, while Damian Lillard had 29. The win was crucial as it left Portland just one game back of Denver for the final playoff slot in the West, while Dallas has 3.5 games to make up.
But Portland’s win came at a cost — Evan Turner fractured the third metacarpal in his right hand on this play.
No report yet on how long Turner will be out, the timeline will depend upon if he needs surgery and other factors. That said he’s going to be out a while.
This is a blow — in their last 10 games the Trail Blazers are nine points per 100 possessions better when Turner is on the court. Portland had started to play better defense since Turner and Noah Vonleh were inserted into the starting lineup, now Moe Harkless is going to be asked to step up. It’s not what a team chasing a playoff slot needs to hear.
2) Hornets will take win, even if it’s against Nets. The Charlotte Hornets had lost seven in a row and fallen out of the playoff picture in the East. Teams on a losing streak need a slump buster — a win, regardless of how pretty it looks.
Enter the Brooklyn Nets. The NBA’s worst team came to Charlotte and the Hornets took advantage, leading most of the way but winning just 111-107 (Brooklyn had a late 8-2 run to make it more interesting than it should have been). Kemba Walker had 17 points but on 4-of-20 shooting, fortunately for the Hornets they got a boost from Jeremy Lamb and Marco Belinelli off the bench. It was a fairly balanced Charlotte attack, and while it wasn’t a thing of beauty it was good enough and it was a win. One the Hornets needed. However, they are going to have to play better on Thursday when James Harden and the Rockets come to town.
The play of the game went to Marvin Williams.
3) Phil Jackson takes another dig at Carmelo Anthony. If you read one thing out of Tuesday, it should be Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report’s analysis of the dynamic between Knicks president Phil Jackson and the star he wants to trade in Carmelo Anthony. The core idea of the piece: Jackson misjudged Anthony’s will to win, and Jackson overestimated his ability to transform ‘Melo’s game as he had done with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
Phil Jackson read the piece and came back with a dig at Anthony.
Whether Jackson really believed he could mold Anthony is up for debate, and if Jackson did know that why give the star five years and a no-trade clause in that last deal? Was this order from James Dolan on high that Jackson had to accept?
Consider the tweet another step in the mind games of Jackson trying to trade Anthony — Jackson needs to get ‘Melo to waive that no-trade clause, hence the effort to undercut the star and make him unhappy and want out. The problems for Jackson in trying to make an Anthony trade are threefold: 1) Anthony likes it in New York and is only going to waive that trade clause for a destination he really likes, meaning a contender where he can play with a good friend such as LeBron James or Chris Paul; 2) Anthony has a 15 percent trade kicker, so he makes even more money if he gets dealt (Anthony could waive that kicker, but again is only likely do that for a place he wants to go); 3) The teams where Anthony would be interested in going have little interest in giving up much to get him, certainly not the kind of star power Jackson wants in return.
I’d still be shocked if Jackson finds a deal that meets all the criteria by the Feb. 23 trade deadline. Which means we get to relive all this again in June and July.
