Still choking after all these years.
1. Missed it by that much
The rooks came out to play last night and gave the Bad Boys all they could handle, outscoring them by eight points over the final 24 minutes, but it wasn’t enough to get the SuperSonics their first win of the season. Kevin Durant struggled again from the field (7-20) but managed to finish with a team-high 19 points while Georgetown’s Jeff Green racked up 17 points and eight rebounds off the bench. But unless you have a guy named Michael on your team, a 15-point deficit at the end of the first quarter is usually pretty tough to overcome. Paced by Rip Hamilton’s 32 points and Antonio McDyess’ 1996esque 15 and 15 double-double, the Pistons held on for a 107-103 victory. And if a 0-7 start, the worst in franchise history, isn’t bad enough, the Sonics can look forward to an upcoming road trip that includes five games in seven days.
2. Badda-Boom! Badda-Ming!
Life is good for Yao Ming. In 2008, the big fella is set to earn close to $14 million in salary alone, on Friday he got the better of end of the deal in the Yao-Yi showdown and on Sunday against the Bobcats he put up a season-high in points. Yao had 34 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks as the Rockets squeaked by Charlotte 85-82 in the Bobcats den. Houston is now 6-1 on the year behind Yao’s double-double average (22.3 pts, 10.8 reb) and his 2.7 blocks per game. Memphis and the Lakers are the only two tune-ups left on the Rockets schedule before they head to San Antonio for a big-time, early-season face-off against the champs.
3. Wizards break losing spell
The Wizards finally got off the losers’ bench as all five starters finished in double figures as Washington rolled over Atlanta 101-90. It took a while for Washington to grab that first victory of the season after losing their first five games, but Atlanta has a way of making every team look like winners (unless you happen to be the Suns or Mavs). Gilbert Arenas was 5-of-15 from the floor for 18 points, but Caron Butler (24 pts, 8 ast) and Antawn Jamison (23 pts, 15 reb) more than made up for his off shooting performance. Unfortunately for Washington, Miami also grabbed their first victory, so the Wiz still own a share of the title “Worst Team in the East.”
Sunday’s Player of the Day: Richard Hamilton @ Seattle 41 min, 32 pts (FG: 11-21, 3FG: 3-6, FT: 7-9), 4 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl
Monday’s Game to Watch: Cleveland (4-3) @ Denver (4-3)
2003 was a pretty good year to be drafting superstars. Well, at least the bookends of the top three selections panned out successfully and on Monday we get to see the old friends renew their rivalry once again. The Nuggets are riding a two-game win streak after dropping three consecutive games. The duo of Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson have led the team in points and assists in every game thus far while Marcus Camby ranks in the top five in rebounds (14.3) and blocks (3.14) per game. LeBron James is coming off the wrong end of a Finals sweep and his team has been a bit funky so far, but other than that, he’s already in postseason form. Last night in a win over the Clips, LBJ had 22 points, five rebounds, eight assists and six steals while Big Z went 18 and 17 upside their heads in a 103-95 win.
Buzzer Beater: Last week, Gilbert Arenas was begging for your vote. No, Agent 0 wasn’t trying to do early All-Star campaigning. He was trying to become the ” Best Celebrity Blogger” at this year’s Weblog Awards and he needed your help to do so. Well, enough NBA fans responded to the Hibachi’s pleas and he just beat out Wil Wheaton of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame by .9 percent of the vote. We’re happy for Arenas’ big victory, but what makes us even more excited is seeing that Mark Cuban only rang up a measly 630 votes (2.4%). Listen Cubes, quit trying to be the best celebrity dancer or the best blogger and just get your boys to stop being the best postseason floppers in the Association.