What happened while you were partying/rioting about health care reform...
Hawks 119 Spurs 114: This was a classic. Two teams that had answers for every big shot the other one hit.
Al Horford was considered a strange All-Star pick but he looked like it in this game. Monster plays down the stretch including a massive block on Ginobili and several key putbacks. The guy has a sense for big games and is a magnet for the basketball.
The Spurs can’t feel too badly about this one, though. Duncan was back to doing his thing, including a shot off the glass that I’m fairly certain was in direct violation of physics.
But when Ginobili scores 38 and Duncan scores 29 and your team loses, that’s probably not a good thing either.
Rockets 116 Knicks 112: So much for revenge of the T-Mac. In shocking news, dynamic small guards (Kevin Martin) can slice up a D’Antoni defense (Knicks) like swiss cheese.
But if you’re looking for a revenge story? How about Jordan Hill, who put in big minutes down the stretch for the Rockets to help them get a win after being buried in New York for the first four months of the year. Hill’s the perfect type of player for the Rockets and another facet of the steal Morey pulled off.
If Aaron Brooks was just a little more efficient he’d be in discussion as a top NBA point guard.
Pacers 121 Thunder 101: Didn’t see this coming. The Thunder looked like a bunch of 21 year-olds who had to wake up earlier than usual on a Sunday morning to play basketball in Indiana. They also looked like they sucked.
The Pacers, on the other hand, played like this was their superbowl. Earl Watson nailed a pull-up 35 foot three. I haven’t seen a shot like that since... ten minutes earlier when I saw about five of those attempts in one of the NCAA games (none connected). Roy Hibbert has become a legit player, it’ll be tense seeing if he turns into a top-level center.
Kings 102 Clippers 89: It’s March! College kids are living out the brief highlights of their entire existence, flowers are blooming, and the Clippers are completely mailing in their games. Time marches on.
Cavs 104 Pistons 79: You convince yourself that Detroit still has some muscle, until games like this. The Cavs manhandled them inside. Leon Powe had 16 points and 7 rebounds. That’s a bad sign. The Cavs’ offense wasn’t even that good in this game. They just completely shut down every angle, attempt, and set the Pistons tried to deploy.
Ben Gordon’s season from hell continues.
Lakers 99, Wizards 92: Kobe outscored the Wizards 20-15 in the second quarter, and that pretty much decided this one. Even by his own standards it was a good night for Kobe. When his long jumper is falling -- he was four of seven from three-point land and hit some long twos for good measure -- he is impossible to guard. Of course, the Lakers, up 28 early in the third, get bored and the Wizards closed hard to make this one seem closer than it was, but it was never in doubt. That’s 11 losses in a row for Washington.
Suns 93, Trail Blazers 87: You would have thought this would have been one of the more entertaining games of the day. Man, would you have been wrong. The Blazers did what they wanted, slowing the pace way down (90%), barely turning the ball over (4 times) and holding the Suns to 38 percent shooting. But they shot just 36 percent themselves, and that was not enough. Nor was it fun to watch.