Last night, in my mind, was a good night in the NBA. Miami is starting to look better and better with every game they play. Oklahoma City had a close game in the big D and the Lakers roll into Phoenix and show the Suns why they are the defending champs. Let's get it.
Game of the night: Orlando Magic 70 VS Miami Heat 96
Opening night for the team that made the biggest roster changes this off-season by bringing in "The King" LeBron James and all-star Chris Bosh. Basically rebuilding their roster. The stadium was packed full and was electrifying to start the game. The Heat definitely gave the fans something to cheer about. Dwayne Wade led the way again with 26 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. He went 9-20 from the floor hitting 2 three's as well. Two of those points were off of a beauty alley-oop lob from LBJ. Chris Bosh was pretty quiet again with 11 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and a blocked shot. Aside from the first night, James is looking more and more like the facilitator of the team. He was back to his near triple double numbers with 15 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds. He only had 3 turnovers with is his season best in 3 games. He now has a total of 20 for the year. Think I should start a LBJ turnover watch? I think so! LeBron had some fun seeing as it was close to halloween and had fangs on his mouth guard. (see picture) Good to see they can still have some fun.
Orlando looked horrible in the loss. Bad news Dwight, right now, you are not the best team in Florida. Sure you blew out the Wizards in your first game of the year but you got blown out by a Miami team that has no big name center to defend you. OK I see that you have worked on your jumper and your shooting over the summer, but why are you taking jump shots against Joel Anthony. Nothing against my fellow Canadian but really? Attack the basket. Your settling for outside shots when you should be dunking or getting lay-ups against these centers in the league who can't really guard you. Anyways, other than that you still had a decent night but it all happened basically in the first half. 19 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. Unfortunately, the rest of your team forgot to show up. Maybe they forgot that they didn't need to pour it on against the Wizards so that they would be ready for Miami the next night? The only other starter that scored in double digits was Jameer Nelson who barely got there getting 10 points. You know it's a bad night when the whole team gets 5 assists total. Ouch. Ryan Anderson had 12 points, 2 rebounds and a block off the bench. Two of the Magic's starters shot 0% from the floor. Not just one but two! As I mentioned, it was an overall bad night for the Magic. You'll get 'em next time. Right?
Team Highs
Points: D.Wade MIA- 26, D.Howard ORL- 19
Rebounds: U.Haslem MIA- 11, D.Howard & M.Gortat ORL- 7
Assists: L.James MIA- 7, 5 tied ORL- 1
Steals: E.House MIA- 3, D.Howard ORL- 2
Blocks: D.Wade MIA- 2, 3 tied ORL- 1
Oklahoma City Thunder 105 VS Detroit Pistons 104
This game could have been game of the night. Late finish for OKC to win the the game, the Thunder's big three at it again but it just couldn't live up to the hype between the Florida teams that clashed. Oh well Kevin, you still got my vote for MVP. Game time. I am actually a little disappointed that this game had to go down to the wire. I know Detroit is a veteran team and is going to grind away at most teams but they are not the Pistons of the past. I'm sorry to say that Tayshaun, Rip, Big Ben, Charlie V, T-Mac and Ben Gordon are all passed their prime and can't produce like they used to. However, Ben Gordon did have a game high 32 points in the loss but was too busy dribbling to even get up a shot to attempt to win the game. Jeff Green hit a lay up with 2.5 seconds left and Gordon dribbled it to half court as time expired. There is still time for a miracle heave from your end of the floor. Rodney Stuckey put up some good numbers with 24 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds.
Have you been Thunder struck yet? (Good AC/DC reference right there. Possible marketing ploy for Oklahoma City? Maybe) They start the season with two wins. This was an OK win if you ask me. The big three struggled shooting for most of the game but hit shots (and lay-ups) when they needed to. Jeff Green played hero tonight as he hit a lay-up with 2.5 seconds left in the game to put the Thunder up 105-104. The Pistons got the ball in but were unable to get up a shot attempt. Green finished with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and a blocked shot. Kevin Durant put up MVP type numbers again with 30 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals. He struggled a bit from the field going 9-24 though. It's OK KD, everyone is allowed to have an off shooting night. Finally, Russell Westbrook almost had a triple double posting 17 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 steals. What did I tell you? This guy is making a charge for the top spot for point guards in the NBA.
Team Highs
Points: K.Durant OKC- 30, B.Gordon DET- 32
Rebounds: S.Ibaka OKC- 10, B.Wallace DET- 8
Assists: R.Westbrook OKC- 11, R.Stuckey DET-9
Steals: J.Green OKC- 3, R.Hamilton DET- 1
Blocks: S.Ibaka OKC- 2, B.Wallace DET- 3
Los Angeles Lakers 114 VS Phoenix Suns 106
The rematch of the Western Conference finals comes only 4 days into the season. Lucky us. The new look (or should I say Amar'e-less?) Suns took on the reigning champs at home. Phoenix battled all night but couldn't get it done when they needed to. Steve Nash seemed absent out there scoring only 8 points and dishing out 9 dimes. Grant Hill had a team high 21 point for the Suns in the loss. Robin Lopez (see, he does exist, wasn't making that up when I made my predictions) had a strong outing scoring 18 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and blocked a shot. 7 of those rebounds were offensive too. He is turning into a beast in the middle. Wonder what it will be like when him and his brother square off? Guess I'll have to wait till January 12th to see it.
What more can you say about the Lakers? Only one word comes to mind. Dominate. To be honest I am not a Laker fan but as an analyst writing this blog trying to be unbiased, that is the only thing I can think of to describe the 09-10 champs. They play as a whole unit and have players that can beat you at every position. Kobe Bryant had a game high 25 points to lead his Lakers to victory. He added 7 rebounds and 3 assists to his stat sheet as well. Big Pau Gasol had 21 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds a steal and 2 blocks. This guy has been doing this for a long time. Lamar Kardashian, oops I mean Lamar Odom (sorry, had to) also stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal. The Lakers are still going to be the top team in the West this year.
Team Highs
Points: K.Bryant LAL- 25, G.Hill PHO- 21
Rebounds: L.Odom LAL- 17, R.Lopez PHO- 14
Assists: P.Gasol LAL- 9, S.Nash PHO- 9
Steals: R.Artest LAL- 3, 4 tied PHO- 1
Blocks: P.Gasol LAL- 2, H.Turkoglu PHO- 2
Other score from around the league
Indiana Pacers 104 VS Charlotte Bobcats 101
Sacramento Kings 100 VS New Jersey Nets 106
Atlanta Hawks 104 VS Philadelphia 76ers 101
Cleveland Cavaliers 81 VS Toronto Raptors 101
New York Knicks 101 VS Boston Celtics 105
Milwaukee Bucks 85 VS Minnesota Timberwolves 96
Denver Nuggets 95 VS New Orleans Hornets 101
Memphis Grizzles 91 VS Dallas Mavericks 90
Los Angeles Clippers 91 VS Golden State Warriors 109
(Is it just me or did a lot of teams score 101 points last night? Weird)
Fantasy Lines of the Night
PG: Rajon Rondo- 10 points, 10 rebounds, 24 assists and 1 steal
SG: Andre Iguodala- 27 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals, 1block
SF: Danny Granger- 33 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1steal, 2 blocks
PF: Amare Stoudemire- 27 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks
C: Pau Gasol- 21 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 blocks
Special Shout-out
Rajon Rondo- Dropping 24 dimes in one game. Nasty.
Basketball Pick 'em for October 30th
I'm starting a pick 'em section with who I believe will win between each team for the night. Here are my picks.
Atlanta over Washington
Cleveland over Sacramento
Portland over New York
Indiana over Philadelphia
Chicago over Detroit
Memphis over Minnesota
Houston over Denver
Charlotte over Milwaukee
New Orleans over San Antoni
Don't bet with these picks. If you want to lose your money, just donate it to me instead. Supporting a good cause.
Till tomorrow, PEACE!
6/9, not bad big fella, not bad at all.
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