- Normally I wouldn't lead with a single regular season NBA game... but when Lebron James goes for 51/11/8 on the road against an East contender in Orlando... it's worth leading with... 17-25 shooting, 14 of 17 FTs, and a ridiculous 23 point, 9/9 FG first quarter... but a big story? Miami nearly blew this one... Orlando cut the seemingly insurmountable lead to 3 on the final possession until Ryan Anderson hoisted a miss with the clocking running down... Dwight Howard shot 3 of 13 from the line, really inexcusable and it curtailed what would've been a dominating performance (he had 16 rebounds)... just kind of a crazy game...
- The All-Star reserves were announced last night... We'll hit the East first... Horford/Garnett/Bosh/Pierce/Johnson/Allen/Rondo is about right... I had originally included Felton in my picks, but he's tailed off a bit, and Ray Allen's shooting numbers are legitimately out of this world... so no beef here.... to the West... Duncan/Gasol/Blake/Dirk/Manu/Williams/Westbrook.... well... that was underwhelming as a Kevin Love supporter... how in the world does a guy who is 1) Leading the league in rebounding with a ridiculous 15.5 per, 2) 6th in the league OVERALL in PER (the best overall statistical measure we have of performance), 3) Top 10 in the league in win shares while playing with a terrible cast (really tough to do), and 4) Likely being the first guy since Moses freaking Malone to average 20/15 for a season... He's having a better season Duncan (blasphemy from me, but it's true), he's having a better season than Gasol, he's having a better (if not infinitely less exciting) season than Blake Griffin, and I'd have him in over Manu and Westbrook if it camed I've long since thought David Stern should announce his injury replacement along with the reserves.... it's absurd...
- Spurs 89, Lakers 88... Still taking a breath from the rant above... here we go... Antonio McDyess hit a tip-in at the gun to pull this out for SA... for them to win, on the road, with Duncan/Ginobili combining to shoot 8-29 is pretty impressive, but you can see some elements of how riveting of a series that can (and hopefully will) be come May... they know how to defend Kobe, LA gets eaten up by dribble penetration, and on the other end, SA doesn't have the pure length to deal with LA up front especially with Duncan in a slightly diminished capacity...
- Andy Pettitte is retiring... just a couple thoughts... first of all, I don't believe it... maybe it's the Clemens thing where he'll just keep being lured back in, maybe even midseason... secondly, I always liked Pettitte... he's done the best job of anyone EVER in managing steroid allegations by getting out in front of them, admitting it, and moving on... and he's been a fantastic pitcher at times... nice career...
- Larry Drew II transferring from UNC... as you may know, I've been a harsh critic lol... at any rate, never want to see a kid leave mid-season, especially on a team that's likely headed for March, and he's still a contributor...
- College Hoops Roundup - Ohio State stays unblemished... Michigan actually led at half in this game, and I was generally happy with the fight I saw there, but too much Jared Sullinger (19 and 15), and you can't win on the road shooting 4 free throws (making only 1).. There was a shake-up in the Pac 10 race... Washington took a bad 12-point loss at Oregon State, and then Arizona knocked off Stanford on the road to take over the conference lead... Derrick Williams is a beast.... and locally, Georgia Tech is a maddening entity.... they shot 27% on the road at Miami last night... 27!... in losing yet another inexplicable road game despite Glen Rice's breakout with 28 points... they were only even in this one because of 28 Miami turnovers, but at 3-5 in the league now... lights out
What to watch for...
- Clippers @ Hawks - 7:30 SportSouth - the Blake Griffin traveling road show hits town... that's enough to watch this one right there....
- Mavs @ Celtics - 8:00 ESPN - This is a really nice matchup... Dallas has Dirk going again, and they're playing better basketball, but I'm not sure they have the weapons to score consistently against Boston...
- Jazz @ Nuggets - 10:30 ESPN - Can't imagine this will generate too much buzz for ESPN... but two 29-win teams in a decent game... it's gotten alot quieter in Denver in recent days, and they're a very good 21-5 at home... like them here..
That's it for today... stay tuned for the Super Bowl preview tomorrow Dr. Jack-style... until then...
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