Cavs 106, Trailblazers 94

First off, I’d like to say I honestly thought Craig Ehlo was in the game. The throwback unis the Cavs were wearing reminded me of the Cavalier teams in the early 90s.

That being said – LeBron was scorching hot, shooting 10-12 and scoring 31 in only the first half. It must’ve been the shoes – which were Knick orange and blue (he can deny it all he wants).  The first half had everyone happy in Cleveland – even Shaq kissed and hugged a fan in a front row after being fouled hard.

After LeBron took off in the first, coaches for Portland obviously decided to put more defensive pressure on James. It didn’t matter – the King got the rest of his team involved. They, in turn kept downing shots left and right. James finished with 41 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists, 2 short of yet another triple-double.

Meanwhile, the injury-plagued Trailblazers kept the game close until late in the 4th. You really have to give Brandon Roy a lot of credit. He’s really stepped up this year and has kept the Blazers in the hunt. He scored 34 points tonight on 14/23 shooting. Alongside many of their injuries, Rudy Fernandez was also inactive.

Spurs 97, Nets 85

Well, when Manu Ginobili dunks on two New Jersey Nets players…you know its going to be a long night.

After taking a first quarter lead (imagine that), the Nets just couldn’t find their groove. They were also without Devan Harris, who is recovering from a right wrist injury. New Jersey has now fallen to 1-19 on the road this season.

Interestingly enough, the story of the night was reserve center Iam Mahinmi. A D-league all-star, Mahinmi played 20 minutes of action tonight, getting another oppurtunity to shine on the Spurs. He certainly impressed, scoring 15 points and grabbing 9 boards. He also laid a monster block on Courtney Lee, and slammed it home on the ensuing fast break.

Congrats Greg Popovich, who moved up to 15th on the all-time wins list.

Lakers 95, Bucks 77

This game wasn’t pretty. On a night where Kobe couldn’t buy a shot and Gasol was out again with an injury, the Lakers still steamrolled the Bucks. Which is surprising – Milwaukee was on a 3-game winning streak on their road trip with momentum.

Yet Andrew Bynum brought the bucks down to earth. The New Jersey product finished with 17 points and 18 rebounds.Lamar Odom also stepped up with 17 rebounds and 9 assists. Shannon Brown led the Lakers with 19 points off the bench, including hitting a buzzer beater to end the 3rd.

As for the Bucks, they fell behind 24-8 in the first quarter and could not recover. It was a rough night for all starters, including Michael Redd – who was carted off in the second quarter after re-injuring his knee. Milwaukee starters only scored 24 points in the game…Hakim Warrick led the Bucks with 14 points.

TRBL Stat of the Night – Milwaukee’s 77 points were the fewest the team has ever scored against the Lakers, breaking the old mark of 82 on Feb. 25, 1973. Ew. (source- NBA.com)