East 141, West 139

It’s amazing how much defense can make a game better.
For three quarters, the game was filled with lack less D, nice alley oops, a three by Dwight Howard, which actually looked pretty smooth I might add, but never in those first 32 minutes I was truly into the game. Shooter and I watched it together and we were both enthralled by a few plays, but again never were truly into the game.
However, there were a few things that did catch my interest before …

Chicago 104, Houston 97
One team is on the rise as the other is on the decline.

Houston (24-19) has not played their best ball in January. The Rockets are 4-6 after starting 20-13, and a loss at home to the Chicago Bulls (20-22) is a clear cut sign of a troubled team. However, let’s not take away from the Chicago Bulls. After Vinny Del Negro was publicly announced to be bamboozled, the Bulls have been great and Derrick Rose is playing like we thought he would. Rose dropped 20 points, but …

Bucks 113, Raptors 107
Despite 44 points and 12 rebounds from Chris Bosh, the Raptors still lost a close game.  This game basically proves that the Raptors, despite being in the playoff mix, are NOT a good team.  These guys just don’t play defense and that includes Bosh.  When you give up over 100 points per game, you usually don’t win.  The Bucks were led by 27 and 12 from Andrew Bogut who carried the team with Delfino who had 22.  The Bucks committed just 7 turnovers all game and shot …

Spurs 109, Thunder 108
This was a featured game in our podcast this past week and it didn’t disappoint.  If you look at the box score you may have thought the Thunder were out of this game by the first after being outscored 35-18 but they fought back to cut the lead to 12 at half.  In a 3rd quarter romping the Thunder actually pulled ahead by 1 but the game went to OT where Jefferson put the game away for the Spurs who are now 24-13. 
Blair had himself a career …

Tomorrow is Christmas and people are waking up early to see what Santa brought them.  Here at NBAtoday, these are a few players we’d love to see Santa give us to be on our Fantasy team:

1. LeBron James – If LeBron James fell to my team especially in a keep league, I would be happy for years to come.  Wherever LeBron James ends up next year, he will continue to put up numbers like he is doing this year: 28 ppg, 8 rpg, and 7 apg.
2.  Carmelo Anthony – Here …

Celtics 98, Bucks 89
The Celtics (17-4) come up clutch in the fourth quarter to outlast the Bucks (9-11) 98-89.  With the score tied at 71 going into the fourth, the Celtics were led by Rajon Rondo who scored all eleven of his points in the final period.  He also dished out 13 assists, was one rebound short of a triple-double, and recorded 5 steals.  Kevin Garnett led Boston with 25 points.  Kendrick Perkins had a solid game scoring 15 points on 7-8 shooting.
Perkin’s counterpart, Andrew Bogut, played well dropping 25 …

What a month of a basketball! If the rest of the season is anything in comparison to the basketball we’ve seen as fans through November, this may turn out to be one of the most exciting seasons we have had in recent memory.  From rookies stepping it up, to veterans with clutch performances when their teams needed it, November was an exciting time to be an NBA fan!
Let’s hand out the awards, shall we…
Player of the Month: Eastern Conference -LeeeeBron. Its hard to argue when you are shooting 52% from …