What you missed while watching the longest shot you will see this year….
Nets 93, Grizzlies 88: The Nets won because of their tremendous bench play? Yes. The Nets bench outscored the Grizzlies bench 56-12 and it was guys like Kris Humphries off the bench that sparked a rally from 13 down in the third quarter to get the Nets the win. New Jersey is now 4-1 since Mikhail Prokhorov called off the Carmelo Anthony trade talks.
Magic 111, Pacers 96: Roy Hibbert had a great first month of the season and has fallen apart since. Dwight Howard is a rough guy to get right against. Hibbert had 4 points, 2 boards, and was -22 in less than 15 minutes. Howard had 19 points and was a +20.
Sixers 107, Raptors 94: Marreese Speights was a beast with 17 second quarter points to keep the Sixers in it early, then they pulled away in the third quarter behind strong play from Andre Iguodala. The Sixers dominated the glass against the soft interior of the Raptors and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds — meaning the Sixers go a second chance on 41.5 percent of their missed shots.
Nuggets 109, Pistons 100: You would think if one franchise had the institutional memory to know you don’t leave Chauncey Billups open late in a tight game it would be Detroit. How many games did he win for the Pistons that way? He cost them one in this one.
Billups hit four three pointers in the final three minutes and that sealed the Nuggets wins. Will Bynum took over late for the Pistons and had 17 fourth quarter points, but he was trading twos for threes with Billups late and that didn’t cut it.
Spurs 112, Jazz 105: The Jazz just get no defensive presence in the paint from their big men and that is hurting them badly lately. Tony Parker was getting into the lane early (10 first quarter points) and throughout the game other Spurs got shots inside without much resistance.
I still say Chris Paul is the best point guard in the game. Charles Barkley thinks it’s Derrick Rose. But if you want to make a case for Deron Williams, I listen and nod a lot. I hate to argue against him.
Thunder 118, Timberwolves 117 (OT): Let us marvel at Kevin Durant, he of the 47 points and taking over late. He of the beautiful step-back shot that was the game winner. He of the 18 rebounds. He deserves our awe.
The Wolves had their chances. Corey Brewer missed a tying free throw in overtime but it was tipped out top and Luke Ridnour ended up with the ball and five seconds left — and he acted like there was 0.5 left. Rather than settle down enough to get a good shot he rushed it, Russell Westbrook contested and made him double clutch and he missed badly. The Wolves had other chances. But in the end it was too much Durant.
Bucks 98, Hawks 90: The Bucks owned the fourth quarter. Haven’t typed a sentence like that in a while. But there you go, they won the quarter 34-15 and the game with it. It was the Bucks bench that did it — Earl Boykins was creating shots for everyone and had 9 fourth quarter points, as did Carlos Delfino. Former D-Leaguer Garrett Temple added six in the fourth quarter and played well. When things got tight what did the Hawks do? Stop moving the ball and rely on a lot of Josh Smith jumpers. You can guess how that went.
Rockets 96, Clippers 83: Chuck Hayes did as good a defensive job on Blake Griffin as anyone has all season long. Hayes is strong enough to take away the muscle moves of Griffin where he just overpowers players and that turned Griffins’ usual 3 footers into 7 footers, and the result was a lot of misses. A lot of teams have tried to be physical with Griffin but it usually just leads to a lot of fouls. Hayes matched him and it was the key to the win.
Bobcats 114, Suns 107: This was a two point game with four minutes to go, and then Boris Diaw made a couple plays. He hit the 18-foot jumper, he drove the lane and created the open look for Gerald Henderson (who had a couple nice shots late). Meanwhile Channing Frye made a couple bad fouls late (and they were both fouls, sorry Frye). Suddenly the Bobcats were in total control late.
D.J. Augustin is like a new player under Paul Silas, and it changes who the Bobcats are. In a good way.
Hornets 112, Warriors 103: Chris Paul had 17 dimes and his setting people up is part of the reason New Orleans shot 62.2 percent. Teams don’t really lose when they shoot 62.2 percent.