Bulls 108, Hornets 106 (OT)

The Chicago Bulls are over .500 – this is after an amazingly disappointing start that left Vinny Del Negro at the absolute cusp of being fired. And the weirdest thing about it is that they are winning away from home!

On Friday in Narleans, the Bulls overcame a horrendous fourth quarter to pull off a road win over the Hornets. Luol Deng dropped 26 points, including a putback that avoided a disaster with only 0.2 seconds left in regulation. The overtime period was not quite as exciting due to grand total of only 10 points combined by each team scored in five minutes. Not a whole lot going out there.

Nevertheless, All-Star point guard Derrick Rose (there, I admit it) scored 18 points and hit two free throws in the OT that put daaaaaa Bulls ahead for good.

All-Star snub Joakim Noah had 13 points and 18 rebounds.. he should have made it, no matter how ugly he is and how much I hate him.

Thunder 101, Nuggets 84

Very, very nice win for the Thunder.

As much as I might not have been rooting for it, the Thundercats have overcome their recent struggles and defeated the Nuggets – one of the best in the West. Denver came into the game with a nine-game win streak, and the Thunder walked over them like the fans had to walk over snow to get into the arena.

Kevin Durant had 30 points, which gives him at least 25 points for the 20^th straight game. When will this streak end? Will this streak ever end? Is he the most unguardable player in the history of the NBA? (haha)

Spurs 104, Grizzlies 97

Looks like The Ref was right: the Grizzlies are not ready to win on the road yet.

UGH! I really wanted the Grizzlies to win this game even though I didn’t even pick them to win in our podcast predictions. The Grizzlies are the kind of team that you can’t root against (ok, maybe that’s pushing it), but the Spurs on the other hand are a team that bores me.

San Antone won because they took 14 more shots than the Grizzlibears. That’s the reason. The Grizzlies had only five offensive rebounds and the Spurs had 13. That was the difference in this game. Marc Gasol only grabbed six boards, and Zach Randolph did get 13 rebounds, but he was the only one on the boards for Memphis. Meanwhile, the Spurs had a balanced attack on the rebounds, it’s like that was the scouting report.

Lakers 99, Sixers 91

I offered the wrap-up of this game to G since it involved his beloved Sixers, but he immediately declined, and for good reason.

Philly had a chance to make up for a lost season by beating the Lakers in what I still consider a rematch of the 2001 NBA Finals. I don’t care how many years ago that was (hmm.. 2010 minus 2001 = 9!). Then again, it was a rematch of the guard battle from that same year: Kobe vs. A.I.!

At least G can look back at the memories of Game 1 of the 2001 Finals , because this game was still owned by LA. Kobe led the Lake Show with 24 points and the ALL-STAR Pau Gasol had 19 and 10. Yes, he is an ALL-STAR!

A.I was ready for the battle on this night as he scored an All-Star (?) worthy 24 points, looking like the Iverson of old. It’s pretty cool to see these two battle, even though Iverson is out of his prime and Kobe is still in his.

Timberwolves 111, Clippers 97

The Clippers have now lost games to the Nets and Timberwolves in the last 72 hours. They just happen to be by far the two worst teams in the NBA. Ouchies.

The Clippers seemed to have packed it in after Blake Griffin’s news of being out for the season and Chris Kaman’s All-Star snub. They obviously won’t be making the playoffs despite hanging around for the first few months of the season, but they are now just embarrassing themselves.

And that’s hard to do, even for the Clippers.

BANG BANG!

Wizards 81, Nets 79

As you know, I have Nets season tickets and as a result, I was obligated to see the Nets play the Wizards. But alas, the Nets are coming off a nice home win over the Clippers and looking for two in a row against a team that is playing for pride. As the game started, I was explaining to my girlfriend how bad the Wizards bench is despite a pretty decent starting squad.

Yeah, well that bench won the game – me and my stupid mouth.

The Nets led virtually the entire game, despite a lackluster offensive effort. However, after the Nets tied it with a Brook Lopez bucket with about 15 seconds left, the Wizards held for the last shot. That’s when former Net Earl Boykins nailed a jumper with 0.4 seconds left to give the Wiz Kids the game.

I have no beef with Boykins, but I was hoping that the Nets would have played some closer D against the 5’5’’ guard. So NJ loses again, and I go home unhappy, again.

Couldn’t they give me one winning streak above a single game?

-Shooter