Lakers versus Suns Game Kicks Ass!
February 24th 2008 15:55
Okay people gather around! Three playing dates have passed since the All-Star break. Let’s take a look at how NBA teams are doing.
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First off, let’s start with our "most irritating team of the week", the second-worst team in the East. The New York Knicks were alright in their game at Washington when they tallied a franchise record 23 points in overtime! En route to beating the Wizards via 113-100 count. Zach Randolph top scored for NY with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Jamaal Crawford added 21 markers. Nate Robinson, Quentin Richardson, and David Lee were all a point shy from having five Knicks scoring in the 20’s with all three of them with 19 points apiece.
That sure was a great game for New York but they quickly fell back down to earth with a resounding thud in the following day.
The Knicks came to Philadelphia and got massacred by the Sixers in a humiliating 124-84 defeat! How could an NBA team be so great in one day and be ridiculously horrible the next?! New York fell to a deficit as high as 46 points, turned the ball over 16 times in the first half (25 in total), they let the Sixers hit the century mark before the end of the third quarter, etc.
Isaiah Thomas may not be at the Garden but the “Fire Isaiah!” chants certainly followed him. He should give the Knicks head coaching post to someone else so as not to tarnish his legacy even further.
Losing is unavoidable in any sport but losing like this deserves no excuses. Thomas was pointing to the trading deadline as the reason why his players were not in the best of moods to play basketball. Are they playing in the pros or what?! His team looked more like a bunch of sissies. The Knicks just played ugly-ass basketball!
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The Houston Rockets is currently the hottest team in the league! Ten straight wins – wow! I’ve never heard them stringing a double-digit streak since the Hakeem Olajuwon era. Rick Adelman and his players could be doing something right because this winning run is happening.
We heard rumors about a possible Tracy McGrady - Yao Ming break-up early in the season because this tandem can’t seem to get it done. Good thing that thing didn’t happen because the Rockets found a rather simple solution to their problems just before the mid-season break – a solid defensive game.
The Rockets have held their last seven opponents below 90 points – now that’s what I call defense!
One example of such defensive intensity from the Rockets was displayed in their game at Cleveland against LeBron James and the Cavaliers where Houston won 93-85.
A great player cannot be stopped. The same rings true for James who finished with a triple-double performance: 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists. But the thing with Houston was how they were able to “control” him.
Shane Battier was the one who manned the LeBron job but not without the great help of solid team defense. The Rockets have great communication on D thus forcing James to settle for jumpers early in the game missing at a higher rate. Houston took control of the game right from the start by slowing down the Cavs main man early in the game thus giving themselves a cushion that served them in good stead.
Just recently, the Rockets were home at Houston where they have just taken out the league’s worst team in the Miami Heat 112-100 for their tenth straight win.
Much credit must go to head coach Rick Adelman. Known more for his offensive approach to the game, he was able to incorporate an effective defensive mode in the Rockets that’s why they are reaping success right now. Things are now looking up for the Rockets who figures in the tight race for the playoffs in the hyper-competitive Western Conference.
McGrady and Yao must both stay healthy from here on in so as not to hinder their chances for a post-season run. By that time let’s be aware that the Rockets could be a lot more dangerous offensively and they should be peaking just in time for the playoffs.
_____________________________ _____________________________ _
Meanwhile, some of the top dogs in the Eastern Conference seem to be experiencing difficulties of being consistent after the break.
The Boston Celtics absorbed back-to-back road losses to the Denver Nuggets and the Golden State Warriors. These were the Celtics’ first defeats to Western teams after being unblemished before the mid-season break.
Kevin Garnett is back from an abdominal strain but the Boston is starting on the wrong foot with those losses. They got beat in the Nuggets game and Baron Davis took them out in the clutch in front of an SRO crowd at the Oracle Arena.
The Orlando Magic went up and down by routing the rusty Detroit Pistons at the Palace but lost their following game against another Eastern Conference contender, the Toronto Raptors.
Head coach Stan Van Gundy is obviously dissatisfied so far with how his team has fared in its last two games.
The “real” Detroit Pistons failed to show up thus Van Gundy never truly saw any indication that they can beat Detroit in the playoffs. The game at Toronto showed how difficult it is, even for a team like Orlando, to win back-to-back games in two days as they were outgunned by the Raptors.
Talking about the Pistons, they again lost in their game in Milwaukee. The top team in the Central Division (Pistons) were beat by its cellar-dweller! Pretty weird and confusing but that’s how it went.
We mentioned that the Cleveland Cavaliers were derailed by the Rockets. Well, the Indiana Pacers sure cannot do it to the Cavs.
LeBron James made his second straight triple-double on the road in two days! Coach Mike Brown’s MVP finished with 31 points, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists to lead Cleveland in a 106-97 win at Indiana.
_____________________________ _____________________________ _
Of course, this recap isn’t going to be over without taking a peek at the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns.
Both of these clubs are in a highly billed match-up in the Pacific Division fighting for that automatic top four seed in the playoffs. After the high-profile trades that they underwent before the deadline, this scenario between these two very popular clubs will be a spectacle to follow and watch.
The new chapter kicked off last Feb.20 when the Suns hosted the Lakers. LA just came out from a 122-93 beating of the Atlanta Hawks and is coming into Phoenix looking really good now that Pau Gasol is playing magnificently with his new team and Kobe Bryant is really in full focus. Why? Shaquille O’Neal is making his Phoenix debut and he really wants to spoil it. That’s why.
It was 130-124 with the Lakers winning. Bryant finished with 41 points, Gasol added 29 points and Lamar Odom also had 22 markers for himself. As for the Suns, Amare Stoudemire had 37 points and 15 rebounds, Steve Nash totalled 26 points and 8 assists, Grant Hill and Leandro Barbosa each scored 17 points, and Shaq contributed 15 points and 9 rebounds in 29 minutes. This was O’Neal’s first game since being inactive for almost a month.
The game was really cool making the Lakers TV analysts plead to basketball gods to give them Lakers vs. Suns in the playoffs. Very colourful and emotional this is how NBA rivalries should be. If this match-up does materialize in the post-season, it will certainly be a blockbuster hit.
The Suns lost but head coach Mike D’Antoni and star point guard Nash are still excited about the prospect of having Shaq on their side. Considering that this is O’Neal’s first game back, he was still able to put up respectable numbers and helped the team hang around with the Lakers until the end. All the Suns need now is to work their way to playoff level condition and they will soon harness the true rewards with having the big guy on their side.
As for the Lakers, we can see all too clear that this team is back in the championship hunt. Just wait until Andrew Bynum gets back and they will be near impenetrable!
_____________________________ _____________________________ _____
First off, let’s start with our "most irritating team of the week", the second-worst team in the East. The New York Knicks were alright in their game at Washington when they tallied a franchise record 23 points in overtime! En route to beating the Wizards via 113-100 count. Zach Randolph top scored for NY with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Jamaal Crawford added 21 markers. Nate Robinson, Quentin Richardson, and David Lee were all a point shy from having five Knicks scoring in the 20’s with all three of them with 19 points apiece.
David Lee is floating. So is the blow hot-blow cold Knicks.
That sure was a great game for New York but they quickly fell back down to earth with a resounding thud in the following day.
The Knicks came to Philadelphia and got massacred by the Sixers in a humiliating 124-84 defeat! How could an NBA team be so great in one day and be ridiculously horrible the next?! New York fell to a deficit as high as 46 points, turned the ball over 16 times in the first half (25 in total), they let the Sixers hit the century mark before the end of the third quarter, etc.
Isaiah Thomas may not be at the Garden but the “Fire Isaiah!” chants certainly followed him. He should give the Knicks head coaching post to someone else so as not to tarnish his legacy even further.
Losing is unavoidable in any sport but losing like this deserves no excuses. Thomas was pointing to the trading deadline as the reason why his players were not in the best of moods to play basketball. Are they playing in the pros or what?! His team looked more like a bunch of sissies. The Knicks just played ugly-ass basketball!
_____________________________ ____________________________
The Houston Rockets is currently the hottest team in the league! Ten straight wins – wow! I’ve never heard them stringing a double-digit streak since the Hakeem Olajuwon era. Rick Adelman and his players could be doing something right because this winning run is happening.
We heard rumors about a possible Tracy McGrady - Yao Ming break-up early in the season because this tandem can’t seem to get it done. Good thing that thing didn’t happen because the Rockets found a rather simple solution to their problems just before the mid-season break – a solid defensive game.
T-Mac and the Rockets: Emulating the Pistons?
The Rockets have held their last seven opponents below 90 points – now that’s what I call defense!
One example of such defensive intensity from the Rockets was displayed in their game at Cleveland against LeBron James and the Cavaliers where Houston won 93-85.
A great player cannot be stopped. The same rings true for James who finished with a triple-double performance: 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists. But the thing with Houston was how they were able to “control” him.
Shane Battier was the one who manned the LeBron job but not without the great help of solid team defense. The Rockets have great communication on D thus forcing James to settle for jumpers early in the game missing at a higher rate. Houston took control of the game right from the start by slowing down the Cavs main man early in the game thus giving themselves a cushion that served them in good stead.
Just recently, the Rockets were home at Houston where they have just taken out the league’s worst team in the Miami Heat 112-100 for their tenth straight win.
Much credit must go to head coach Rick Adelman. Known more for his offensive approach to the game, he was able to incorporate an effective defensive mode in the Rockets that’s why they are reaping success right now. Things are now looking up for the Rockets who figures in the tight race for the playoffs in the hyper-competitive Western Conference.
McGrady and Yao must both stay healthy from here on in so as not to hinder their chances for a post-season run. By that time let’s be aware that the Rockets could be a lot more dangerous offensively and they should be peaking just in time for the playoffs.
_____________________________ _____________________________ _
Meanwhile, some of the top dogs in the Eastern Conference seem to be experiencing difficulties of being consistent after the break.
The Boston Celtics absorbed back-to-back road losses to the Denver Nuggets and the Golden State Warriors. These were the Celtics’ first defeats to Western teams after being unblemished before the mid-season break.
Kevin Garnett is back from an abdominal strain but the Boston is starting on the wrong foot with those losses. They got beat in the Nuggets game and Baron Davis took them out in the clutch in front of an SRO crowd at the Oracle Arena.
The Orlando Magic went up and down by routing the rusty Detroit Pistons at the Palace but lost their following game against another Eastern Conference contender, the Toronto Raptors.
Head coach Stan Van Gundy is obviously dissatisfied so far with how his team has fared in its last two games.
The “real” Detroit Pistons failed to show up thus Van Gundy never truly saw any indication that they can beat Detroit in the playoffs. The game at Toronto showed how difficult it is, even for a team like Orlando, to win back-to-back games in two days as they were outgunned by the Raptors.
Talking about the Pistons, they again lost in their game in Milwaukee. The top team in the Central Division (Pistons) were beat by its cellar-dweller! Pretty weird and confusing but that’s how it went.
We mentioned that the Cleveland Cavaliers were derailed by the Rockets. Well, the Indiana Pacers sure cannot do it to the Cavs.
LeBron James made his second straight triple-double on the road in two days! Coach Mike Brown’s MVP finished with 31 points, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists to lead Cleveland in a 106-97 win at Indiana.
_____________________________ _____________________________ _
Of course, this recap isn’t going to be over without taking a peek at the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns.
Both of these clubs are in a highly billed match-up in the Pacific Division fighting for that automatic top four seed in the playoffs. After the high-profile trades that they underwent before the deadline, this scenario between these two very popular clubs will be a spectacle to follow and watch.
The new chapter kicked off last Feb.20 when the Suns hosted the Lakers. LA just came out from a 122-93 beating of the Atlanta Hawks and is coming into Phoenix looking really good now that Pau Gasol is playing magnificently with his new team and Kobe Bryant is really in full focus. Why? Shaquille O’Neal is making his Phoenix debut and he really wants to spoil it. That’s why.
It was 130-124 with the Lakers winning. Bryant finished with 41 points, Gasol added 29 points and Lamar Odom also had 22 markers for himself. As for the Suns, Amare Stoudemire had 37 points and 15 rebounds, Steve Nash totalled 26 points and 8 assists, Grant Hill and Leandro Barbosa each scored 17 points, and Shaq contributed 15 points and 9 rebounds in 29 minutes. This was O’Neal’s first game since being inactive for almost a month.
Lakers vs. Suns in the playoffs is gonna be a classic!
The game was really cool making the Lakers TV analysts plead to basketball gods to give them Lakers vs. Suns in the playoffs. Very colourful and emotional this is how NBA rivalries should be. If this match-up does materialize in the post-season, it will certainly be a blockbuster hit.
The Suns lost but head coach Mike D’Antoni and star point guard Nash are still excited about the prospect of having Shaq on their side. Considering that this is O’Neal’s first game back, he was still able to put up respectable numbers and helped the team hang around with the Lakers until the end. All the Suns need now is to work their way to playoff level condition and they will soon harness the true rewards with having the big guy on their side.
As for the Lakers, we can see all too clear that this team is back in the championship hunt. Just wait until Andrew Bynum gets back and they will be near impenetrable!
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