Nuggets 119, Thunder 90

Forget that the Nuggets held the surging Thunder to twelve points in the 3rd quarter.  Forget Carmelo Anthony’s 30 points, Nene’s 20 points, and J.R. Swish’s 18 points off the bench.  Forget the fact that the Nuggets kept Kevin Durant under the 20 points mark for only the sixth time all season.  All that matters is that Renaldo Balkman (my favorite player) is finally back from his back injury.  In this 30 point blow out, my dude put up 2 points (1-4 FG, 0-3 3FG), 2 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block in six minutes.  The Nuggets need to keep putting teams away so Balk can get ready to contribute in the postseason.  The bright spot for the Thunder was Serge Ibaka’s 15 points and 13 rebounds.  The Thunder are improving, but they are not ready to head into Denver and come out with a victory.

Cavs 111, Nets 92

G and I (JB) were pumped that we had tickets to game.  It took about 45 minutes to drive from our house to Exit 16W, the exit for the IZod Center.  From there it took almost an hour to go from the exit to the IZod center due to all the LeBron James hoopla.  James did not disappoint scoring 26 points, dishing out 14 assists, and grabbing 7 rebounds.  J.J. Hickson fed off Yi Jianlian’s inability to grab a rebound, picking up loose balls and finishing with easy dunks.  Brook Lopez and Terrence Williams led the Nets with 21 points.   The most unbelievable statistic of the night was that Yi Jianlian actually finished with 10 rebounds.  I guess he was able to accomplish this because although he started, he continued to play during the garbage time.  In all honesty if Yi grabbed the rebounds he should have instead of leaving Brook Lopez under the basket and running down court he could have had 20 easily.  I think Nets are trying to inflate his stats so they can ship him out this offseason.

Grizzlies 104, Hornets 100

The Grizz were down nine points in the fourth quarter as Mike Conley decided to take the game over.  Conley had 26 points, but scored nine of them in the fourth quarter as the Grizz did just enough to pull out  a win in New Orleans.  Zach Randolph chipped in with 23 points and 10 rebounds.  Did I ever mention how much I like the way Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton are playing?  They are playing like five year vets instead of rookies five months into the season.  Thornton led the Hornets with 24 points and Darren Collison had another double-double (17 points and 14 assists) while registering five steals.  I know this is a long long way away, but if Chris Paul chooses not to resign with the Hornets (and I think he will) after next season, the Hornets will have a very good point guard waiting in the wings.

-JB