I’m convinced that Don Nelson no longer has any idea how to coach this team.  Ten games into the season and Nelson has used 7 different starting lineups it seems.  Newly acquired Raja Bell is having wrist surgery and will be out for the remainder of the season; I guess he really doesn’t like Don Nelson and the Warriors.  So with Bell out the Warriors used just 7 players and all 7 of them scored in double digits including a team high 23 from Monta Ellis.  The thing I don’t get about Nelson is how he can play Stephen Curry for 3 minutes two games ago and then started him tonight and he scored 14 points, had 7 assists and 5 rebounds.

As far as the game goes, the Cavs shot out of the gym with an astonishing 58.2% FG on the night.  Shaq sat out tonight’s game and will likely sit out tomorrow too because of some shoulder trouble, but this opened up a starting spot for Cavs PF JJ Hickson to step it up.  And he did, big time.  Hickson went 9-9 from the floor with 21 points and 9 rebounds.  Mo Williams had a great game as well with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.  LeBron James made his teammates better ALL NIGHT dishing out 12 assists to just 2 turnovers.  In addition to the assists he scored 31 points and had 5 rebounds.

Player Who Made Their Teammates Better for the Night: LeBron James.

Thunder 100, Heat 87

Kevin Durant followed up his 40 night performance vs. the Clippers the other night with a 32 point performance on the road tonight.  The Thunder are a confusing team, they keep winning big road games against playoff caliber teams but they can’t be the Clippers and Kings.  Russell Westbrook also had a great game with 24 points and 7 assists.  The Thunder were 21-22 from the free throw line on the night which was huge because the Heat were just 20-30.  This was just a poorly played game by the Heat on all ends; they had 15 turnovers and shot just 5-18 from downtown.  The Heat are definitely a playoff team but it just goes to show that if D-Wade doesn’t play well (6 turnovers and 6-19 shooting) this team just doesn’t get the wins they need vs. teams they should beat at home.  As a whole the Heat were out-rebounded by 5; 41-36.

Skinny legs Durant takin' it to the whole.

Clown of the Night: Michael Beasley.  Beasley shot 3-9 with 8 points in 23 minutes.  That wasn’t even the worst part; Beasley had NO REBOUNDS in those 23 minutes.  In college Beasley averaged over 12 rebounds per game.  Now I know the NBA isn’t college but he needs to be more aggressive on the boards.

Suns 111, Rockets 105

Even when Steve Nash shoots 2-10 the Suns still manage to win, on the road nonetheless.  Nash scored 12 points but dished out 16 assists with just 3 turnovers.  With all those assists from Nash the Suns were able to manage shooting over 50% from the field.  Amare Stoudemire led the way with 23 points and Grant Hill continued to impress leading the team in rebounds with 7. 

The Rockets had just 7 turnovers for the game but still lost.  Normally when you see a stat like that with a team taking care of the ball you expect them to win.  Tonight that wasn’t the case.  Aaron Brooks almost went assist for assist with Steve Nash as he dished out 13  to just 1 turnover, but unfortunately for the Rockets he shot just 5-18.  Carl Landry provided much of the Rockets offense tonight going 13-18 from the field with 27 points in 30 minutes off of the bench.  The Rockets mediocre roster is beginning to catch up with them I think and they stand at 6-5.  They really don’t have a consistent go to guy until T-Mac returns and I think that will hurt them in the long run.

Clown of the Night: THERE WAS A JARRON COLLINGS SIGHTING!  Unfortunately he made all 3 shots he took and had 6 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in just over 12 minutes.  I didn’t believe this when I first saw it; I must be dreaming and this is definitely a career game for Jarron Collins.

- The Basher