- New York 106, Boston 104 - What a way to start the NBA season... Carmelo Anthony took over the 2nd half with 20 of his game-high 37 points to save the Knicks from a potentially bad loss to the undermanned Celtics... he knocked down 2 free throws with 16 ticks left that proved to be the difference... for Boston, Rajon Rondo was insane (31 points, 13 assists, 5 steals), but it wasn't enough despite a big-time surge for them after a 34-23 first quarter.... on the bright side for Boston, I did like what I saw from Brandon Bass (finished with 20 and 11) and without Pierce, they can't really be expected to beat the Knicks in MSG...
- Miami 105, Dallas 94 - If you read the boxscore, this game may have seemed competitive, but it certainly wasn't... Miami led by 30+ in the second half before calling the dogs off, and this was a dominant performance from Miami... Lebron led the way with 37, 10, and 6 and Wade added 26, 8, and 6... it's pretty encouraging for the Heat that they crushed Dallas without a single other player notching double-figures (Bosh had just 4 points on 9 shots)... Dallas just didn't show up... getting killed on the glass 51-31, shooting 38% and committing 17 turnovers... Dirk had 21, but wasn't his typical self, and outside of Jason Terry's 23 points, I can't think of a single Mav that had an above-average game... one more note for Miami, the play of Norris Cole, their rookie PG from Cleveland State, was pretty impressive... I could see him stealing minutes from Chalmers
- Chicago 88, LA Lakers 87 - What a game here... LA led the entire 2nd half, and when Kobe hit an "onions"-type triple late, it looked as though the Lakers had this one won, but after a bad Kobe turnover and a circus layup from Derrick Rose, the final take by Kobe went begging and that was that... I really thought Kobe should've pulled up for a jumper (or dropped it off to Gasol) on the final play, but that's semantics of one play... Derrick Rose had a really quiet 22 points, and Chicago was pretty balanced offensively.... for the Lakers, I thought Kobe looked good (28 points, 7 boards, 6 assists) and proved that, at least in spurts, he's still Kobe despite the wrist injury... This wasn't the best execution offensively on either side, and there were some "what is Mike Brown doing?" moments, but for LA to compete all the way here without Bynum is probably a good sign...
- OKC 97, Orlando 89 - Kevin Durant is good... 30 points for my MVP pick, and with the 19 points that James Harden added, it proved to be enough... but this game was certainly won/lost on the back of Orlando's poor shooting... 37% from the field and 28% from 3-point land for the Magic, and they just can't win with 4 of 20 shooting from Turkoglu and Richardson... oh, and the Chris Duhon problem reared its ugly head... I've always been a Duhon defender, but it's tough to explain a -17 in the 17 minutes he played... Dwight Howard dominated the first 5 minutes of this game with an array of moves, but finished with just 11 points as he continued his misery on Christmas...
- LA Clippers 105, Golden State 86 - This was a much closer game than this until Chris Paul decided to end things.... Paul went on a personal 6-0 run, followed by a couple of successful pick-n-rolls with Blake Griffin to end this thing... Paul finished with 20 and 9 assists, Griffin added 22 points and 7 boards, and the Warriors couldn't match... Really weird game from DeAndre Jordan who put up 8 blocks, but shot just 4 for 12 from the line and was the victim of "hack-a-Jordan" in the 3rd quarter... on the Dubs side, Curry and Ellis shot just 8 of 31 and they'll have a hard time beating anybody with that type of production from those 2... one note about the Clippers... Chauncey Billups was flat-out jacking here... 19 shot attempts and 10 three-point attempts... it was visibly weird to see him shut the offense down to hold the ball, jab fake and take contested jumpers... Gonna need that to stop...
Elsewhere...
- Green Bay 35, Chicago 21 - This one kind of went how you'd think... Aaron Rodgers went for 283 yards and 5 TDs, and while Josh McCown was better than Caleb Hanie's been, he simply can't match that.... on the bright side? This win by GB clinches a playoff spot for the Falcons... let's get it...
- With little to no other news, I'll do a blind recommendation... if you like fantasy sports, please check out draftday.com... It's one of the coolest ideas I can remember seeing for a diehard sports/fantasy fan...
What to watch for...
- NFL - Falcons @ Saints - 8:30 ESPN - All eyes on this NFC South battle, and while the Falcons clinched a playoff spot on Sunday, they are playing for seeding now, and this is always a rivalry worth tuning in for... I think Brees has his way a bit (as usual) with the Falcons secondary, but with Grimes returning for this one, it'll be a bit more difficult... Go Birds, and, as always, throw the ball to Michael Palmer...
- NBA - Rockets @ Magic - 7:00 NBA-TV - Regular season hoops!!! The first look at the ultra-deep Rockets, and with Orlando on a back-to-back, they could legitimately be looking at 0-2...
- NBA - Lakers @ Kings - 10:00 NBA-TV - 2nd leg of a back-to-back for the Lakers against the fresh legs of Sacto... Interested to see Jimmer debut, and to see the Cousins/Gasol matchup...
One thing to plug... the NBA League Pass free preview runs through January 8th, so if you like hoops, it's paradise... Enjoy...
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