Jazz 97, Cavs 96

Well, that was a good career move.

Sundiata Gaines, the rookie from Queens, NY, sunk a long three point shot over Anthony Parker with no time remaining to lift the Jazz over the LeBron Cavaliers. Oh, and it was his first 3 point shot he made during his (very) short career. Not a bad night for 9 minutes of playing time – he shot 3-3 altogether and finished with a career high 9 points. Gaines was signed to a 10 day contract after Deron Williams injured his wrist.

I mean, look at this…this is BEAUTIFUL.

Despite a 22-4 run led by King James himself, the Cavs failed to put the game away thanks to very poor free throw shooting.  I have to hand it to LeBron though – he did lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals, so it is safe to say he carried this team on his back into Utah. James finished with 36 points on the night, including a clutch offensive rebound and 3 pointer to put the Cavs ahead with a minute to go.

If Zydrunas Ilgauskas hit both of his free throws with 5 seconds left, we would all probably be watching triple OT of this game. Instead, we got to watch a D-league product step it up and bring down the house with his first buzzer beater.

HRBL Stat of the game – I’m going to harp on this stat because it really is telling on how well a team performs – AST/TO ratio for the Cavaliers tonight – .761 – At that point, you are asking to lose the game.

INCRBL – Kyle Korver’s shot over the hoop with 10 seconds left to set up the Gaines game-winner. AND the Jazz uniforms…I’m not a big fan of this throwback movement everyone’s inclined to do so they can sell more jerseys, but I love the old-school Jazz logo.

Bulls 96, Celtics 83

With the Celtics missing Kevin Garnett, Marquis Daniels, and Rasheed Wallace, they had to come down to earth at some point.

Loul Deng made sure it happened in Boston Thursday night. He led all scorers with 25 points and the Bulls managed to hold on and defeat the Celtics at TD BankNorth Garden. All Bulls starters finished in double digit points, and Joakim Noah notched another double-double in the road victory.

Compared to the Bulls, the Celtics just looked flat. Coming off a blowout win over the lowly Nets Wednesday night, they could not get the ball to drop, especially from three. Brian Scalabrine, known for standing on the three point line, only shot 1-5 in limited minutes due to foul trouble.  Ray Allen was also off, going 0-4 from beyond the arc. As a team, 23.5 percent 3PT shooting isn’t going to help you get a win.

Key to the game tonight was hustle -  from Noah’s 4 blocks to Tyrus Thomas’s dive for a loose ball onto the media tables, “Tommy points” were being handed out to the visitors left and right. Other than Kendrick Perkins swatting 5 shots  – he probably had the best game out of anyone in green – it didn’t feel like the C’s could keep up with the pace of the Bulls.

HRBL stat of the night – Bostons AST/TO ratio – .094 Not good.

-Duts