Tricks or Treat?

Halloween night in the NBA. Find any treats last night? I found a couple.

Game of the night: Utah Jazz 120 VS Oklahoma City Thunder 99

To be honest, I just flipped a coin to determine the game of the night. Each game was dominated by one team. Out of four games, the closest game was a 16 point win for the Mavs over the L.A Clippers. The other 3 games were won by more than 20 points. The Utah Jazz stepped up in this game though winning their first game of the season against one of the best teams in the West in the Oklahoma City Thunder. Usually leading the way for Utah is Deron Williams but it was all about Paul Millsap. He posted seasons highs in almost every category across the board. 30 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal in just over 38 minutes on the floor. 12 of 19 shooting from the field and 6 of 8 from the charity stripe. He was doing everything for the Jazz. Hitting mid range shots, attacking the basket, grabbing rebounds, dropping dimes and getting in the face of Jeff Green all night. Deron Williams posted a double double with 16 points and 15 assists to go along with his 6 rebounds. Big Al Jefferson worked down the middle dropping 23 points, grabbing 10 rebound and had an assist, steal and block. C.J Miles came off the bench and produced 21 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and a blocked shot.

Oklahoma City's big three were the only ones that played decent for the Thunder. This is usually the case but they have someone that steps up different nights to help them get wins. Tonight that did not happen. Aside from the big three, the highest scorer was James Harden who had 7 on 1-7 from the floor and 5-6 from the free throw line. Kevin Durant led the way again for his team. He had 28 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist,  2 steals and 2 blocks. He turned the ball over 6 times in the loss though. (Maybe I should start a Durant turnover watch too?) Russell tried his best to overshadow one of the best point guards in the league. He added 22 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Still not as good as Williams' double-double but still good in it's own way. Jeff Green was the quietest one of the big three recording 17 points, 9 rebounds and an assist. If OKC is going to make a run at the Lakers, their role players need to show up more often and make sure that they win pivotal games with other Western Conference contenders. Especially home games.

Game Highs
                                      Utah                                      Oklahoma City
Points:                     P. Millsap- 30                               K. Durant- 28
Rebounds:               P. Millsap- 16                                 J. Green - 9
Assists:                  D. Williams - 15                           R. Westbrook- 5
Steals:                         6 tied - 1                                 R. Westbrook- 4
Blocks:                        3 tied- 1                                      S. Ibaka- 3

Miami Heat 101 VS New Jersey Nets 78

This is the other game I watched since it was early in the day and well it's the Heat. I haven't missed any of their games and I am trying to not miss any of the 82 games this year. Tough task ahead of me but I am ready for it. Back to the game. Chalk up another game that there has been a different scoring leader. It is tied 2-2 for James and Wade. James pounded the Nets for 20 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steal. Again, James is looking like the true leader of this team being the all around guy. Sure Wade's numbers were almost identical, 17 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and a block, but James is still looking like it is his team instead of Dwayne's. Chris Bosh has settled into his role as a third option on the team. He had 18 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and a block in the win. 3 other Heat players had over 10 ten points to add to the big three.
LBJ turnover watch: 25 in 4 games.

The Nets looked like... Well the Nets. Brook Lopez was the high scorer for the Nets scoring 20. He also had 5 rebounds. Rookie Derrick Favors played a good game against the 2nd ranked Heat. He had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. 10 of those rebounds were offensive. Very impressive for the rookie. He is starting to show signs of getting better and could break into the starting line-up very soon for the Nets. Avery, don't hold this rookie down. I know you have a couple of veteran guys in the starting rotation with Joe Smith and Travis Outlaw but there is no telling what Favors has in store. Let him grow into a big name player that he could be.

Game Highs
                                         Miami                                               New Jersey
Points:                          L. James- 20                                         B. Lopez- 20
Rebounds:                     L. James- 7                                         D. Favors- 13
Assists:                            2 tied- 7                                             D. Harris- 6
Steals:                             3 tied- 2                                          K. Humphries- 2
Blocks:                        J. Anthony- 4                                               N/A

Other scores around the league

Dallas Mavericks 99 VS Los Angeles Clippers 83
Golden State Warriors 83 VS Los Angeles Lakers 107

Fantasy Lines of the Night

PG: Deron Williams- 16 points, 15 assists and 6 rebounds
SG: Dwayne Wade- 17 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and a block
SF: Lebron James- 20 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals
PF: Paul Millsap- 30 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal
C: Pau Gasol- 26 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks

I went 3-1 last night to bring my total to 9-4 in two days. Here are my picks for tonight.

Portland over Chicago
Sacramento over Toronto
San Antonio over Los Angeles Clippers

Not that much going on in the league tonight. Maybe MNF will be better? We'll see.