- Kobe Bryant surpassed Shaq last night as the #5 scorer in league history. That's pretty crazy when you consider that a) Kobe is only 33 years old, and b) he did it in less games than Shaq despite not being near the force that Shaq was during his rookie and 2nd years (age difference not withstanding). We all know that Kobe actually does care about this kind of thing, but on the bright side, he openly stated his desire for ring number six instead of waxing poetic on rising the scoring list. Congrats to him.
- On the court, Kobe Bean and company dropped a 95-90 defeat to Philly on the road thanks to a huge 4th quarter from Lou Williams. South Gwinnett's own Williams put up 14 points in the 4th (to Kobe's 2) and finished with 24 on the night on just 12 FGA to lead the Sixers. Having seen Williams play since 7th grade, it's a pretty cool experience to see him in the mix for a 6th man of the year award and leading an upper-echelon team in scoring. LA got a 20/20 from Bynum and 28 points from Kobe (24 in the first half), but lost both the 3rd and 4th quarters and couldn't hold a lead.
- Regression to the mean. That's what you'll hear in reference to the Atlanta Hawks dropping yet another home game to an inferior opponent in Phoenix 99-90 last night. Steve Nash was a wizard as usual (24 points, 11 assists, 9 of 12 FG), but there's no excuse for losing that game, especially on a non-back-to-back.
- Elsewhere in the Association - Jeremy Lin! Wait, who? If you don't know about Jeremy Lin, he's the first Asian-American player to ever play in the NBA AND he's a Harvard graduate. Oh, and he had 28 points last night for the Knicks. He's certainly not as good as last night would indicate, but I've always liked his game, and on a team with putrid guard play, he'll likely stick. The Zombies snuck past Portland 111-107 in OT thanks, in part, to a questionable goaltending call on Lamarcus Aldridge that sent the game to OT in the final seconds of regulation. Kevin Durant finished with 33/7/5, Russ Westbrook had 28/11/8, but the best player on the court was Aldridge, who notched a season-high 39 points in the loss. This was a pretty impressive performance from Portland IMO because they played the entire game with Jamal Crawford at point guard (45 minutes opposite Westbrook, yikes) and were right there. Clips/Magic was really eventful 107-102 win for LAC. CP3 finished with 29/8/7 to lead the way, while Dwight notched a Dwight-like 33 and 14 for the Magic, but there were bigger stories. Chiefly, Chauncey Billups left this game late with an apparent achilles injury, and if it's anything substantial, he's gone for the year. Crushing news for the Clips no matter how badly I think Billups has played so far. On the bright side for Orlando, Jason Richardson (20 points) and Jameer Nelson (15 points, 12 dimes) looked like NBA players! And finally, Houston stole a road win in Denver last night thanks to 25 from Scola, 20 from Lowry, and 16 off the bench from Chase Budinger. The Nuggets were woefully short-handed without Nene and Afflalo, but the big blow was when Gallinari rolled an ankle in the 2nd half. Their big-time depth is being tested.
- Todd Haley to the Steelers as OC? That's the report, and the only reason I mention this is to wonder out loud how Todd Haley keeps getting these big-time jobs. Isn't it clear he's a mental patient? I'm confused.
- Kevin Love gets a 2-game suspension following the stomping incident with Luis Scola, and I think that's about right. Some were clamoring for blood, and some wanted him to get off scot-free, but I can't let him go without a suspension even if he's my guy.
What to watch for on Tuesday...
- NCAAB - #7 Florida @ #1 Kentucky - ESPN 7:00 - Biggest game of the night by a wide margin. Florida is enigmatic so far this year, but they'll get their biggest test on the road at Rupp. Good luck with that.
- NBA - Utah @ Indiana - NBA-TV 7:00 - Two really solid teams here, and Indy has it going right now.
- NCAAB - Purdue @ #3 Ohio State - ESPN 9:00 - I highly doubt Purdue is going into Columbus and winning, but Godspeed.
- NBA - OKC @ Golden State - NBA-TV 10:30 - Rough back-to-back for OKC off that overtime battle last night, and GSW can run with anyone when healthy.
Enjoy..
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