Avery Johnson might have gotten canned as the Mavericks head coach following three consecutive postseason humiliations, but the Little General is already back on his feet with a new gig.
Kinda boring if you ask us. We think he could sell a lot more cars if he promoted his store in a more exciting manner.
1. MVP?
Remember back when Andrew Bynum got injured and everyone said the Lakers were doomed to fall apart without their man in the middle? Well, that was 24 games ago and since then all Los Angeles has done is surge to the top of the West by winning 14 of their last 16 games, including Sunday’s 108-104 overtime victory against the Mavericks. Kobe Bryant tallied his 22nd game with at least 50 points by scoring 52 on the anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point outing. Bryant was unstoppable down the stretch, racking up 30 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Los Angeles could have avoided the extra period altogether had it not been for Dirk Nowitzki’s game-tying 3-pointer with two seconds left in the game. Nowitzki finished with 30 points, including nine in OT, while Jason Kidd put up 15 points, 11 assists and six rebounds in his seventh game as a Maverick. The Lakers are now just percentage points behind San Antonio for the best record in the conference.
2. Rockets boosters
Remember back when Yao Ming got injured and everyone said the Rockets were doomed to fall apart without their man in the middle? Well, that was three games ago and since then all Houston has done is win three consecutive games, including a 103-89 win over the Nuggets, bringing their winning streak up to 15 straight, the longest successful stretch by anyone in the NBA this season. Tracy McGrady scored 22 points to go with six assists and six rebounds as his club rushed out to an early lead and never relinquished any ground, leading by 19 points at one time. While McGrady is responsible for carrying Houston to the postseason, nobody is more currently more important to the team than Dikembe Mutombo who finished with just two points, five rebounds and three blocks, but remains the Rockets’ only true defensive threat down low. Denver’s dynamic duo was rather dull in the showdown. Carmelo Anthony scored 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting while Allen Iverson put up 17 on 7-of-22 from the field.
3. Familiar faces
Not even a midseason trade can get the helpless Bulls rolling. After combining to swap 11 payers back on February 21, Chicago and Cleveland got together with their new look lineups for the first time on Sunday and the Cavaliers walked away with bragging rights; after all, they didn’t trade away LeBron James. The league’s top-scorer finished with 37 points, six assists and six rebounds while newbie Ben Wallace grabbed eight rebounds and Wally Szczerbiak scored 17 off the bench to give Cleveland a 95-86 home win over the Bulls. Drew Gooden put together a double-double (11 pts, 10 reb) for his new club while Larry Hughes scored a team-high 23 points in defeat. The Cavaliers were able to survive a horrible night at the charity stripe where they missed 10 freebies (16-26). Of course, they’ll need to get used to such performances with Big Ben’s struggles from the line; on Sunday Wallace shot 3-of-8 from the free throw line.
Sunday’s Player of the Day: Kobe Bryant vs. Dallas 51 min, 52 pts (FG: 15-27, 3FG: 2-3, FT: 20-27), 11 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk
Monday’s Game to Watch: Dallas (39-21) @ Utah (38-22)
Despite obtaining one of the league’s best point guards before the trade deadline, Dallas has yet to prove it was the right move. Sure, the Mavs have won more than they’ve lost (4-3) since acquiring Jason Kidd from New Jersey, but they can’t seem to beat the best in the West. Big D has road losses to New Orleans, San Antonio and the Lakers since making the move and their wins are against sub-subpar competition (Mem, Min, Chi and Sac). The task doesn’t get any easier tonight in Salt Lake City where the Jazz are 25-3, including their current 15-game home winning streak.
Buzzer Beater: As we’ve mentioned, Kobe Bryant torched the Mavericks on Sunday to the tune of 52 points. Dallas coach Avery Johnson had this to say about Bryant’s latest scoring outburst.
We gave him a single look, then we double-teamed him, then we gave him a triple-team and he split the triple-team and scored,” Johnson said. “We tried to zone him, we tried to funnel him in the trap for a zone and he went the other way. He didn’t cooperate on any of our defenses.
“Obviously he milked the free throw line on us and he just had it all going.
1. Even the Blazers are punking out Miami
The Heat were easily extinguished by the Blazers last night as the Portland upstarts came through in the crunch. Meanwhile, the vets on Miami just let another game slip through their fingers, their fourth consecutive botched contest. Pat Riley appears to have finally accepted the fact that his squad is pitiful, 4-14 pitiful to be exact. Dwayne Wade did all could, coming up one assist short of a triple-double, but Brandon Roy torched the Heat for 25 points while Travis Outlaw chipped in with 20 off the bench to go with one humongous slam dunk in the 112-106 victory. Shaq’s performance continues to decline in the twilight of his career, but he still managed to give a facial to Portland center Joel Przybilla, just not in the manner you’d think. Less than a minute into the game, Shaq sent Przybilla to the floor and then proceeded to smash the ball into his face, bloodying his nose, as the Diesel stumbled over the top of the fallen Blazer. Enjoy this face-smashing view from the cheap seats.
2. They just got (everybody now) MIC’D UP!!
The Nuggets and Mavericks got together last night for a contest that saw Denver take a 122-109 victory, giving Dallas their sixth loss in nine games. But the play on the court was only half the story, coaches Avery Johnson and George Karl became the guinea pigs for the NBA’s latest experiment. The coaches in general don’t seem too happy about the league’s decision to mic up coaches, which is mandatory, and players, which is optional. So, how exactly does the average fan benefit from the latest multimedia move? Well, you get tremendous insight that you never had access to before. Besides the newly implemented and binding media timeout interview with coaches, there are all sorts of other juicy sound bites for your pleasure. Check out this stuff and just try to keep your mind from melting.
“Let’s go, enjoy this thing,” Karl said at the start of the game.
“Good hustle men, keep it up,” Johnson said during a timeout.
“Let’s go. Let’s go, let’s go,” Stackhouse said, clapping his hands on the court.
“Way to go, Stack,” Johnson was later shown saying following a basket by his microphone-wearing swingman.
3. Now Jason Kidd probably has a headache
Wait, wait, wait; you mean to tell us that Jason Kidd might have actually had a migraine headache on Tuesday? That’s not possible, it was a power play to highjack the Nets’ cash or to get traded. Remember, he was “on strike.” Or maybe not. Kidd laid out his side of the story and, guess what, it makes sense. He had a headache and he didn’t play, simple as that. Give the guy a little credit, he’s a veteran and a professional when it comes to the game of basketball. Heck, the guy is 34 years old and he’s 1.3 rebounds away from averaging a triple-double for the sorry franchise. We don’t doubt that he might want out of Jersey, nobody could blame him for that, but Kidd has never given any indication of being a complete numbskull like, oh we don’t know, Stephon Marbury.
Thursday’s Player of the Day: Josh Smith vs. Minnesota 45 min, 28 pts (FG: 11-19, FT: 6-7), 7 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 7 blk
Friday’s Game to Watch: Utah (13-6) @ San Antonio (16-3)
Less than a week ago things were looking grim for the San Antonio Spurs after Tim Duncan was carried off the court by his teammates. Four days and a huge win over Dallas later, Gregg Popovich is saying the Big Fundamental has a 50/50 shot to be in the starting lineup against the Jazz. Duncan’s return only adds to Utah’s uphill battle. The Jazz are 13-6 and went to the Western Conference Finals last season, but the franchise hasn’t won a game in San Antonio since Feb. 28, 1999 – 19 consecutive losses. But you can’t count out the Jazz based on history alone because even if Duncan logs some minutes, he’ll have his hands full trying to stop the NBA’s player of the month for the West. Carlos Boozer averages 24.9 points, 11.4 boards and 2.9 assists for the Northwest Division leaders.
Buzzer Beater: With 2.2 seconds left on the clock following Marko Jaric’s layup, it appeared that Minnesota was about to grab their third win on the season. But appearances can be deceiving, just ask Joe Johnson who nailed a jumper at the buzzer to give Atlanta the slightest of victories, 90-89. While winning is normally good enough, when you barely eek out a win against the most pathetic team in the league, even a buzzer-beater leaves you bummed out.
25-30 point win? Don’t flatter yourself Joe. You do know that your team’s average margin of victory during its eight wins is just 7.5 points, right?
It sure looks like Mavericks coach Avery Johnson was drinking his milk over the summer. Why do we say that? Well, (A) he shot up from 5-foot-11-inches to well over the head of 6-foot-5-inch Josh Howard. (B) Because he’s standing on a milk crate and there’s no milk in it. (C) He’s got the evidence all over his face and (D) the ad tells us so.
We know that Johnson is from Louisiana and he can be difficult to understand at times (even when reading quotes), but the milk dudes did not just make him say “Coaching my team to the top was a tall order,” did they?
Maybe we’re being a little picky here, but they do know that Avery’s Mavericks committed two of the biggest choke jobs in NBA postseason history over the last couple of years, right?
Links:
[CBS11TV.com]: Mavs Player-Coach Combo In `got milk’ Ad
[Mavs.com]: got milk? Avery Johnson and Josh Howard sure do
