Categories
Cleveland Cavaliers

Around the Rim: Beantown letdown


1. 30 X 9 = A place in history
We’re pretty sure it’s safe to say it now: “They’re baaaaaacckk.” With a 114-113 victory over Boston on Tuesday night, Cleveland improved to 27-20 on the season which might not sound too spiffy, but don’t forget these guys were 10-14 in mid December. Not surprisingly, the Cavaliers won because of another outstanding effort from LeBron James. Something about lining up across from the fellas in green brings out the best in LBJ as he became the only player besides the “ultimate playa” Wilt Chamberlain to score at 30 points on Boston in nine consecutive games, finishing with 33. Oh, and he also threw in 12 assists, nine rebounds and five steals. Even without Kevin Garnett in the lineup for the fourth game in a row, Boston had a chance late thanks to 24 points from Ray Allen and Paul Pierce’s 19.

2. Giant trade talks in Phoenix. Literally giant

So, the big rumor floating around the NBA is that Shaq will most likely be heading to Phoenix for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. Now, we understand why Miami wants to move the Diesel; we just don’t know why the Suns want to take on him and his enormous contract. Shaq is a shell of his former self and at this point he’s just hanging on for another ring anyway he can get one. Phoenix might have added another All-Star to their lineup, but this deal favors the Heat in a big way. Marion is one of the most underrated players in recent history, averaging 18.4 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.88 steals and 1.36 blocks over nine years. Along side a healthy Dwyane Wade, box scores won’t have enough space to hold all their stats! And one more thing Marion provides that should really please his potential coach-to-be is his durability. The Matrix has only missed five games in his entire career!

3. 76ers 1-8-7 the Wiz
Things went from bad to worse to holy $#!+ for the Wizards last night. Everything was lined up for an easy road victory against the 76ers but, suddenly it all went haywire as Caron Butler left the game with a strained hip flexor in the third quarter. Once he was out of the way, Philly proceeded to rip off a 17-0 run to erase a 12-point lead, snatching a 101-96 victory from the jaws of defeat. The other A.I. – Andre Iguodala – led the Sixers with 20 points while Thaddeus Young scored 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Andre Miller was smoking right along with 11 points and a season-high 14 assists, but Maurice Cheeks mysteriously benched him during the big run. It might have been a strange move, but at 19-30, nobody in Philly is going to argue with a winning strategy. Well, nobody except Miller.

Tuesday’s Player of the Day: LeBron James vs. Boston 42 min, 33 pts (FG: 11-21, 3FG: 4-8, FT: 7-10), 9 reb, 12 ast, 5 stl, 2 blk

Wednesday’s Game to Watch: Utah (31-18) @ Denver (29-18)
You knew that the Jazz wouldn’t remain on the outside looking in at the playoff picture for long and, sure enough, here they are rolling over opponents and resembling the team that went to the West Finals last season. This is definitely not the same Jazz squad that lost to Denver three weeks ago. Utah is riding a nine-game winning streak into the Mile High City where the Nuggets own a 20-5 record. Overall, Denver has won seven of their last 10 games, including their current three-game streak. The wild card in this game will be Mehmet Okur’s long range ability that can draw Marcus Camby out of the paint and away from the basket on defense.

Buzzer Beater: Who needs Tony Parker when you’ve got Damon Stoudamire? Okay, not really, but Stoudamire did pretty decent in his first action of 2008, scoring 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including a pair of treys, helping the Spurs roll over Indiana 116-89. San Antonio clamped down their patented defense in the third quarter, limiting the Pacers to just nine points, and the route was on. Tim Duncan led six Spurs in double-figures, scoring 19 points to go along with 15 rebounds and six assists in just 32 minutes of action.

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.