Tag: al jefferson

Categories
Denver Nuggets

Around the Rim: Fight to the finish


1. No Answer for Iverson
The race for the Northwest Division crown reached a fever pitch with the recent reemergence of the Utah Jazz. But right behind Utah in the standings sits the Nuggets and the Blazers who just happened to be in action against one another on Monday night. It took overtime and 53 points between Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony, but the Nuggets snuck out of the Rose Garden with a two-point victory, increasing their lead over Portland to two games. The Answer’s 14-footer sealed the deal for Denver and broke the heart of Brandon Roy who spearheaded the Portland attack, scoring 26 points to go with seven rebounds and eight assists. Utah’s one game lead over Denver could evaporate into thin air on Wednesday when the team’s get together for the second of four meetings this season. On Jan. 17, Linas Kleiza dropped 41 points on Utah while Marcus Camby grabbed 24 rebounds and blocked 11 shots in a Denver victory.

2. Turkog-loser

Hedo Turkoglu is doing an awfully good job at make Eastern Conference coaches look like fools. Since being left off the list of All-Star reserves last Thursday, Turkoglu shot a combined 19-of-31 from the field, including 4-of-7 behind the arc, going into Monday night’s game against the Mavericks. Dallas kept Hedo in check offensively, but he recorded his first triple-double with 13 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds. Too bad it was in defeat. Josh Howard scored 28 points, helping the Mavericks to a 107-98 victor after letting a 19-point lead shrink to three in the fourth quarter. Dirk Nowitzki finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists as Dallas snapped a two-game losing skid.

3. Canadian celebration
The Raptors rocked the Heat last night by 32 points, but blowouts are as common as bikinis in South Beach these days. As usual, there were no highlights for Heat fans, but Toronto fans on the other hand were like fat kids in a candy store. Chris Bosh scored 24 points, Andrea Bargnani had 22, Anthony Parker finished with 18 and Jose Calderon went off for a double-double. But the cherry on top of the sundae came in the beginning of the second quarter when T.J. Ford stepped on the court for the first time since taking a nasty fall on Dec. 11. The little guy had a decent return with four points and four assists in 18 minutes of action.

Monday’s Player of the Day: Al Jefferson vs. Houston 38 min, 33 pts (FG: 14-26, FT: 5-5), 16 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 3 blk

Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Boston (36-8) @ Cleveland (26-20)
If the Cavs plan on making it back to the NBA Finals, they better get prepared to run into Boston along the way. So far, the home team has dominated the series this year with Cleveland grabbing a five point victory on their home court and the Celtics winning by 10 in Beantown. Tonight the Cavaliers will have more than home court advantage to benefit from because Boston will likely be without Kevin Garnett agains. Sounds like a lot for Boston to overcome considering the Cavs are 8-2 in their last ten games, but, so far, the Cs are doing all right being Ticket free. Boston is on a two-game roll, coming off a big win against Dallas last Thursday with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen scoring 26 points apiece.

Buzzer Beater: If chicks really do dig the long ball then Kyle Korver is getting some mad love from the Salt Lake City groupies right about now. Korver knocked down six 3-pointers, leading the Jazz to a team record for treys in a game, converting 14-of-22 in a 110-88 defeat of New Orleans. Mehmet Okur hit four while Deron Williams nailed three 3-pointers in the record-setter. The Hornets weren’t bad from downtown either, making 10-of-18.

Categories
New Orleans Hornets

Around the Rim: Buzzzing right along


1. It’s a nice view from above
If you’re anything like us then you probably have to slap yourself every morning when you see New Orleans sitting atop the Western Conference. But the Hornets recent swarm appears to be legitimate after winning their ninth consecutive game by annihilating the Nuggets 117-93. Chris Paul came up one rebound shy of recording a triple-double with 23 points, 17 assists and the aforementioned nine boards. This game was over for Denver before the first quarter buzzer even buzzed and by halftime they were staring up from a 23 point hole. The Nuggets had a good excuse though with Carmelo Anthony riding the pine.

2. Same faces, new places

There’s about to be a few very excited real estate agents thanks to the recent decisions of several nomadic NBAers. The biggest news comes out of New Jersey where the human triple-double Jason Kidd confirmed the rumors that he wanted a trade before the Fed. 21 deadline. Dallas and Denver already inquired about obtaining the All-Star’s services. Next up is the news that Don Nelson and Chris Webber will be reuniting in Golden State 15 years after things went horribly wrong between the duo in C-Webb’s rookie campaign. Talk about a whacky, whacky world! If time has mellowed these guys then this experiment could pay off come playoff time. Last but not least, we’ve got the buyout of Damon Stoudamire’s contract with the Grizzlies. The Spurs appear to currently be atop the long list of possible new zip codes for the former Rookie of the Year.

3. Rode-oh-no road trip
The slumping Spurs began their annual extended road trip on Monday in Utah and things didn’t go according to plan for the champs. San Antonio fell behind early, trailing 27-19 after the first quarter, and spent the remainder of the game chasing the Jazz. The Spurs made it close late as they drew within three points with a minute remaining in regulation, but Utah got a timely 3-pointer from Kyle Korver to help secure a 97-91 victory. Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer scored 23 apiece and Deron Williams finished with 11 points and 14 assists. Utah made an astonishing one-day leap from not being in the playoffs to owning a home court, first round seed (No. 4)! For the Spurs, it’s one down and eight to go. D’oh!

Monday’s Player of the Day: Chris Paul vs. Denver 38 min, 23 pts (FG: 7-20, 3FG: 1-2, FT: 8-8), 9 reb, 17 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk

Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Atlanta (18-22) @ Phoenix (32-13)
Phoenix hasn’t lost to an Eastern Conference foe since Dec. 10 when the Heat somehow grabbed a road win in the desert. Yea, the Suns are still scratching their heads over that one too. Their only other loss to the East came in Atlanta when former Sun Joe Johnson was horrid from the field (3-17 FG), but Marvin Williams and Josh Smith both recorded double-doubles, leading the Hawks to victory. Last time Johnson visited Phoenix, he racked up 17 of his 32 points in the fourth and the result was a nine point Hotlanta victory. The Hawks have lost five of their last six, but they have way too much talent to be counted out.

Buzzer Beater: Hedo Turkoglu and Al Jefferson’s time in the spotlight has finally arrived. The duo became perhaps the oddest duo to ever combine for the NBA Players of the Week awards. Jefferson deservedly won the award for the West while playing on the worst squad in the league and Turkoglu won the East honor by somehow becoming the biggest offensive threat on a team with Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis. Anyways, nobody shined brighter so, congratulations fellas, you’re having the Best Week Ever!!

Turkoglu guided Orlando to a 3-1 week, including wins over Eastern Conference leaders Detroit and Boston. Leading the Magic in scoring in all four games, Turkoglu averaged 25.5 points on .492 shooting from the field and .500 shooting from three-point range. Turkoglu tallied a game-high 27 points, including the game-winning three-pointer as time expired in Orlando’s 96-93 win over Boston on Jan. 27.

Jefferson led the Timberwolves to a 3-1 week, averaging 28.8 points and 12.8 rebounds. Minnesota defeated three playoff teams from a year ago and its lone loss came by one point at Boston, owner of the NBA’s best record. Jefferson posted three point-rebound double-doubles, including a 40-point, 19-rebound effort in Minnesota’s 98-95 win over New Jersey on Jan. 27.

Categories
Orlando Magic

Around the Rim: Poof!! The Magic make Boston disappear


1. Hedo to the rescue
Kevin Garnett strained an abdominal muscle during his reunion with the Timberwolves on Friday night and on Sunday the Orlando Magic took advantage of the injury. The Big Ticket missed his first contest as a Celtic, giving the Magic a perfect opportunity to beat Boston for the second time this season; which they did thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Hedo Turkoglu. Orlando survived a fourth quarter Celtic rally to escape with a 96-93 victory on their home court. Turkoglu led all scorers with 27 points while Dwight Howard finished with 18 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks. With K.G. sidelined, Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 24 points and nine rebounds. Ray Allen scored 17 as Boston suffered its second loss in three games, bringing their once insurmountable lead over the rest of the league down to just 3 ½ games.

2. When All-Stars collide

When it comes to scoring, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are the absolute best the NBA has to offer and the duo didn’t disappoint under the Staples Center lights on Sunday afternoon. LeBron James, the league’s top scorer, finished with 41 points, including 14 in the fourth, to lead Cleveland past the Lakers 98-95. Kobe Bryant, No. 2 in points per game, scored 33 points to go with 12 rebounds and six assists, but the Lakers fumbled away an opportunity to tie the game as they failed to get up a shot following a timeout. After briefly grabbing the top record in the Western Conference, the Lakers fell into a tailspin, losing their third consecutive game and four of their last five games. The Cavs, on the other hand, are rolling, winning 10 out of 12 games.

3. Unfamiliar positions
Before the season, somebody would have slapped you silly if you said Utah and Houston would be on the outside of the playoff race looking in when the end of January rolled around. Nonetheless, that’s where the two clubs are currently sitting. When they hooked up on Sunday, Utah took advantage of Yao Ming’s absence (upper respiratory infection), beating the Rockets 97-89 to win their eighth game in nine tries and taking one more step toward entering into the postseason picture. Carlos Boozer (13 pts, 10 reb) and Deron Williams (17 pts, 12 ast) both finished with a double-double while Andrei Kirilenko finished with 17 points. Tracy McGrady looked like an All-Star even though the fans left him off the Western Conference’s starting five, scoring 21 points to go with nine assists and six rebounds.

Sunday’s Player of the Day: Al Jefferson vs. New Jersey 42 min, 40 pts (FG: 13-21, FT: 14-17), 19 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk

Monday’s Game to Watch: Denver (26-17) @ New Orleans (26-17)
Nobody is playing better right now than the Hornets and point guard Chris Paul is starting to get some serious MVP love because of it. The Bugs’ biggest win of the season came on Saturday night when they destroyed the Spurs by 24 points, 102-78, in San Antonio. The victory further solidified the Hornets as the best in the West, giving Nawlins its eighth consecutive. Since Dec. 19, they are on a 16-2 roll with Chris Paul averaging 20.6 points, 10.5 assists and 2.59 steals for the season. The Nuggets are still without Carmelo Anthony (sprained left ankle), but have played extremely well without their superstar. Before losing to the Mavericks by five points on Sunday, Denver won two straight without Anthony. Losing Melo is huge, but the Nuggets are stacked with talent and if Allen Iverson starts rolling, they can hang with anyone in the league.

Buzzer Beater: The Timberwolves were one of the laughingstocks of the NBA just a few weeks ago. How quickly things can change. On the ever growing shoulders of Al Jefferson, the T-Wolves took another step toward respectability with a 98-95 win over New Jersey. Jefferson recorded a career-high 40 points to go with 19 rebounds and suddenly Minnesota is on a mini hot streak, winning three of their last four. Minny might technically hold the worst record in the league (8-35), but there is no way anyone can argue they are currently worse than doormats like the Heat (losers of 14 out of 15) and the Sonics (lost 14 straight).

Categories
Toronto Raptors

Around the Rim: Fire away Jose!


1. Runnin’ down a dream
Toronto still has a long way to go before taking control of the Atlantic Division, but they took a giant leap forward on Wednesday night. Jose Calderon led the Raptors past the Celtics with 13 assists and 24 points, including an old fashioned three-point play that ended the night’s scoring and gave Toronto a 114-112 victory in Boston. The Raptors played one of their best games of the season, hitting 40-of-69 shots, including 15-of-21 from behind the arc and a perfect night from the charity stripe (19-19). While the Raptors are peaking, winning six of their previous eight, the Cs seem to have hit the wall, losing four of eight since starting the season with a 29-3 record. But with an 11-game cushion still separating them from second-place Toronto for division honors, they can afford a mini slump.

2. Lighting strikes twice in Minnesota

Eclipses used to be rare occurrences, but nowadays anytime Minnesota takes the hardwood against Phoenix the Suns get overshadowed. For the second time in three tries, the T-Wolves have knocked off the Suns, this time with a convincing 117-107 victory in which the Minnesota lead grew to 21 points in the second half thanks to a career-high 39 points from Al Jefferson. The results of this loss are felt conference wide because thanks to a 96-91 victory over Portland, the New Orleans Hornets now own the best record in the west at 29-12 (.707). Nope, not a misprint; those New Orleans Hornets. Coincidentally, Nawlins also owns the league’s longest current win streak with six consecutive. But getting back to the Minnesota/Phoenix shocker, something about the Suns turns Jefferson into an absolute beast. In the pair of upsets, Jefferson has averaged 35.5 points and 17.5 rebounds.

3. Tale of two halves
After being bullied in their own gym for the first 24 minutes of play, the San Antonio Spurs came out of the locker room and took back their court. With a 31-12 explosion in the third quarter, San Antonio turned a nine-point halftime deficit into a 10-point lead going into the final frame before going on for a 103-91 victory. Tim Duncan went to school on the Lakers front court, finishing the night with 28 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and three blocks while Ime Udoka scored 18 off the bench, including three-of-four shooting from behind the arc. But Udoka still didn’t steal Manu Ginobili’s substitution thunder as he filled the box score with 12 points, six boards, four assists and a whopping eight steals. Kobe Bryant finished with 29 points and 12 rebounds.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Al Jefferson vs. Phoenix 35 min, 39 pts (FG: 15-29, FT: 9-14), 15 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl

Thursday’s Games to Watch: It’s a very special “Pick Your Poison Thursday.” Due to the fact the NBA is virtually devoid of serious competition tonight, we’re giving you free reign to watch any crummy contest you desire.

San Antonio (27-13) @ Miami (8-32)
Unless it’s the Heat playing the Sonics then Miami has about a snowball’s chance in South Beach of grabbing a W. Even against Seattle we’re kind of leaning toward the new kid on the block.

Indiana (19-24) @ Milwaukee (16-26)
These teams are still battling it out to see if either can grab one of the bottom end playoff berths in the East, but so are the Nets, Hawks, Bulls, Bobcats, Sixers and even the Knicks. In other words, YAAAaaaawwwwnnn.

New Jersey (18-23) @ Golden State (25-18)
Normally we’d have no problem making this our “Game to Watch”, but considering the Nets are on a six game slide and the Warriors just dropped a home game to the Timberwolves, we just couldn’t do it.

Buzzer Beater: Orlando obliterated the Grizzlies in Memphis last night, winning by 27 points, 112-85, hitting a team-record 18 3-pointers. Only four Magic players failed to hit a trifecta in the contest – Dwight Howard, Adonal Foyle, James Augustine and Pat Garrity (Augustine and Garrity played just three minutes apiece). Led by Hedo Turkoglu (6-8 3FG), the Magic connected on 18-of-33 long bombers. In fact, things were going so well from downtown for Orlando that fouling didn’t even stop the rain as Rashard Lewis converted a four-point play after superbust Darko Milicic made contact at the top of the arc.

Categories
Boston Celtics

Around the Rim: Kevin Garnett carries his club into the record books


1. Big Three hit the big two-seven

Kevin Garnett needed four stitches to close a gash over his right eye sustained against the Lakers on Sunday, but the cut wasn’t enough to stop the Big Ticket from punching Boston’s ticket into history. Scoring 11 of his 26 points in the final seven minutes, Garnett lifted Boston to their 27th win of the season in just 30 games with a 97-93 victory over Houston. The 27-3 mark matches five other squads, including the 1995-96 Bulls that went 72-10, as the only teams to accomplish the feat. The Rockets sorely missed their leading scorer down the stretch as Tracy McGrady missed his fourth consecutive game with an injury to his left a knee. Unfortunately, McGrady is expected to miss about three weeks with a “deep bone bruise,” leaving Houston rapidly sliding down the standings out West.

2. On again, off again

The Orlando Magic looked poised to join Boston, Detroit and Cleveland as one of the Eastern Conference’s elite teams after they rushed out to a 14-3 start. But as quickly as they rose to contender status, they quickly rejoined the mass of mediocrity by dropping eight of their next 12, and just when the Magic men looked to be climbing back to their feet, putting together a four-game winning streak, the Nets come to town and demoralize Orlando with a fourth quarter knockout. New Jersey trailed by 10 points after 36 minutes, but outscored Orlando 30-18 in the final period and squeaked out a 96-95 victory. Dwight Howard scored 13 points in the loss, marking the fourth time in five games that the superstar has failed to reach 20 points.

3. LeBron-ckets red glare
LeBron James welcomed in the New Year by giving the Cleveland crowd of 20,562 in attendance his own version of a fireworks celebration. James went out of the first half against Atlanta like a lamb, scoring just four points, but he came roaring out of the locker room like a lion, guiding his cubs to a 98-94 win. LBJ continued to improve as the game went on, scoring 32 of his 36 points in the second half with 19 coming in the fourth quarter and 12 coming in the last 1:50. The Cavs are still sitting two games under .500 (15-17) and are a full 10 games behind Detroit in the Central Division standings after the Pistons won their 10th consecutive game by dismantling the Wizards in D.C. by 13, 106-93. Detroit (25-7) has now won 17 of their last 19 games, climbing to within three games of Boston (27-3) for the league’s top record.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: John Salmons @ New York 43 min, 32 pts (FG: 13-18, 3FG: 1-2, FT: 5-5), 11 reb, 6 ast, 6 stl, 1 blk

Thursday’s Game to Watch: San Antonio (21-8) @ Denver (18-12)
Despite their recent struggles (5-5 in their last 10 games) and injuries, San Antonio is still sitting atop the Western Conference standings thanks to a rejuvenated Tim Duncan. Known for sacrificing his numbers in exchange for teammate’s productivity, Duncan has been single-handedly taking over games for the Spurs lately, averaging 19.6 points, 14.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per game over his last five games. However, the Spurs are surprisingly soft on the road this year with a 5-6 record. The Nuggets are 12-5 at home where Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson both average 26.0 points per game. Marcus Camby (14.2 rpg, 3.66 bpg) draws the unappealing assignment of defending Duncan, but perhaps nobody is more prepared for the challenge than the league’s defending Mr. Defense.

Buzzer Beater: The game between the Timberwolves and the Trail Blazers was delayed for over half an hour on Wednesday night when a pair of gaps developed in the Target Center court. So, while the entire arena waited for a couple dollops of putty to harden in the floor, players and fans alike had plenty of time to complain about the delay.

Timberwolves forward Al Jefferson, for one, couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. He walked over to Blazers swingman Travis Outlaw, a fellow native of Mississippi, and said, “We’re from Mississippi man, we play on glass.

Eventually Portland would run all over Minnesota, winning 90-79 for their 14th victory in 15 contests.