Wizards 108, Timberwolves 99

Gilbert Arenas: suspended indefinitely for his “prank.”  Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood: traded to the Mavericks for Josh Howard, Gooden (Who they already traded), and James Singleton.  Antawn Jamison: traded in a three way deal to the Cavs for Big Z and Al Thornton (Clippers).

Four of the five projected starters this season for the Washington Wizards are now no longer with the team, but that was not a problem tonight for the new look WizKidz.  Andray Blatche, a last second starter after the Jamison trade, responded by putting up 33 points and and 13 rebounds.  Mike Miller hit all five of this three point shots on his way to 17 points and Josh Howard responded with 14 points and three steals off the bench.  JaVale McGee received his first start of the year, scoring 14 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and blocking 5 shots.  The Timberwolves were led by Al Jefferson’s 18 and Kevin Love once again excelled in his role off the bench putting in 13 points and 13 rebounds.  It is incredible how the Timberwolves could not beat a team, although on the road, that lost their two best players right before the trade deadline.

Spurs 90, Pacers 87

If I told you that Tim Duncan shot 4-23 from the field, would you ever think that the Spurs actually won?  Well tonight they did against the Indiana Pacers.  Tim Duncan may have finished with 8 points, but he grabbed 26 rebounds (11 on the offensive end)!  Tony Parker put up 28 points in his return from his hip flexor injury and Manu Ginobili added 18 off the bench.  Richard Jefferson, who the Spurs are actively shopping, had 13 points in 30 minutes.  Danny Granger did what he could for the Pacers, scoring 23 points.  Roy Hibbert had 14 points and Troy Murphy had 9 points and 16 rebounds.  The real question for the Pacers will be if they can trade Troy Murphy before the trade deadline tomorrow.  We will have to wait and see.

Grizzlies 109, Raptors 102

Down 5 points with 30 seconds left; not a problem for the Memphis Grizzlies.  Zach Randolph hit a lay-up with 1.7 seconds left tying the game at 97.  In the extra period Rudy Gay took over scoring eight of his teams twelve points.  Gay finished the game with 29 points.  Randolph (24) and O.J. Mayo (23) also scored more then twenty points in the win.  Chris Bosh led all scorers with 32 points while grabbing 10 rebounds in the process.  Bosh did however seem to injure himself late in overtime.  He was able to finish the game so hopefully the injury was more due to fatigue than anything.

Magic 116, Pistons 91

There was not much of a game in Orlando as the Magic came away with a twenty-five point win.  The Piston kept it close for three quarters mostly due to Rip Hamilton’s 36 points, but the Magic outscored the Pistons 33-14 to pull away for good.  Dwight Howard had a near triple-double with 33 points, 17 rebounds, and 7 blocks.  Vince Carter added 20 points on eight of twelve shooting.  In a rough and physical game Ben Gordon was issued a double technical for hitting JJ Redick near the face before arguing a call.  The Pistons are abysmal.  Rip Hamilton shot 12 of 18 for 66%.  The rest of the team combined to shoot 22 of 62 for 35%.  Not only are the Pistons a bad team, but the moves they made this past offseason have ultimately doomed the franchise for the next few years.

Bulls 115, Knicks 109

D'Antoni wondering if anyone, including himself, will be back next year.

With Nate Robinson’s locker cleared out at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks again found a way to blow a fifteen point lead in the second half as the Chicago Bulls sweep the home-and-home series.   The Knicks are trying to attain as many expiring contracts as possible in order to lure LeBron James from Cleveland.  Derrick Rose flourished in the Garden (corny I know) scoring 27 points.  Luol Deng added 23 points in the win.  Al Harrington, who could be a Bull in the near future, led the Knicks with 27 points and David Lee had 23 points and 12 rebounds.  Wilson Chandler, one of the few Knicks that will be around next year, had 26 points of his own.  After the game Al Harrington and Tyrus Thomas embraced half court, both knowing that they could be switching jerseys by tomorrow afternoon.

-JB