Tuesday, January 15, 2013

1/15: A Disaster of Epic Proportions

Greetings! Let's get to the lead story, and get it over with ASAP...

  • A 5-point quarter. A 20-point half. The NBA record for futility due to a 37-point display in the first 36 minutes. 58 points for the game. 29% shooting. A rebounding disadvantage of 20 for the night. A 39-point loss. All of these things happened in the Hawks game in Chicago last night. I could write 1,000 words on this here, but that's all you need to know. Completely and utterly indefensible, and really an atrocity.
Moving on...
  • More (and lighter) NBA talk! Break up the Wizards! Three straight wins capped by a 120-91 domination of the Magic last night. Nene led the way with 19 and 11 for Washington, but they got 18 each from Kevin Seraphin and AJ Price plus another encouraging game from John Wall. Nice work. Rajon Rondo posted a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists in an impressive performance. He's certainly on the short list of triple-double candidates, but it's a big game nonetheless. The Clippers went on the road to Memphis (a very tough spot) and absolutely annihilated the Grizzlies 99-73... without Chris Paul! The Clips D held Memphis to a laughable 30% shooting, and if not for the Hawks embarrassment, Memphis would be getting front-page news. Dallas has won 3 straight games after a 113-98 win over Minnesota. Darren Collison led the way with 23 points and 9 assists for the Mavs, and things may be turning the corner for Dallas a bit. In an upset, Utah toppled Miami 104-97 despite a 32/4/6/3/2 from Lebron James. The Jazz crushed the Heat on the glass (40-23) and got a big-time 23/11 from Al Jefferson in the win. Miami actually shot a blistering 54% from the field, but with the rebounding disadvantage coupled with 14 turnovers, they couldn't generate enough possessions. Finally, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 77 points as the Thunder won 102-90 in Phoenix. Durant's 41 points came on 15-30 shooting while Westbrook shot an impressive 14-24 in the game. Total domination from those two. 
  • On the college hardwood, the two top-5 teams in action both won easily on Monday night. Louisville went on the road and beat UConn by 15 points. They were led by 23 points from Russ Smith, and the Cardinals shot 50% as a team. In the late game, Kansas used their defense to beat Baylor by 17. Ben McLemore (17 points, 8 rebounds) was the best player on the court, but KU managed to win despite shooting just 37% from the field because they held Baylor to 23% from the field. The Bears shot just 13 of 56 on the night. Yikes!
  • Rob Gronkowski is out for the year for New England. This isn't shocking after he exited the divisional playoff win over Houston early, but Gronk is on the shelf until next year. New England has proven they can win without him, but you have to take their Super Bowl odds down a peg with this news. He's one of the elite players in football, and that can't be ignored.
What to watch for on Tuesday (in chronological order)...
  • 7:00 - NCAAB - #20 Notre Dame @ St. John's (ESPN2) - The Johnnies have taken a step back this year after the loss of a million seniors, but they'll still have MSG rocking here with the Irish in town.
  • 9:00 - NBA - Blazers @ Nuggets (NBATV) - Denver is finally getting some home games and they are dangerous (14-2) in that building. Ty Lawson and Dame Lillard match-up in a battle of young, scary point guards.
  • 9:00 - NCAAB - Wisconsin @ #2 Indiana (ESPN2) - I'm in the tank for Bo Ryan, but in Bloomington, they're probably in trouble. The talent disparity is pretty large here.
Enjoy!

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