Line Of The Night — 11/13/2007-11/14/2007
Line Of The Night:
LeBron — 39 points, 14 assists, 13 boards, 2 blocks
A monster night and this stat line does not even include all of the intangibles. The game seemed completely out of reach with under a minute to go, but the Cavs did not give up. After Orlando missed some free throws down the stretch, the Cavs found themselves down three with not a whole of time. Stan Van Gundy instructed his players to foul before the Cavs could get off a potential game-tying shot. It backfired in a real way. LeBron was one step ahead of the game, as he launched a three IMMEDIATELY after catching the ball. Then he conquered perhaps his lone remaining deficiency — clutch free throws. 1-2-3, OT.
The Cavs succumbed during free basketball, but it was not LeBron’s fault. The man needs some help. Virtually none of his teammates did anything of note down the stretch and in OT.
Near Triple-Double Of The Night:
Andre Iguodala — 15 points, 12 boards, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Big Dirk Like Whut — 21 points, 12 boards, 8 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals
A couple of big nights in Dallas’ win over Philly on Tuesday from two guys in different stages of their careers. Iggy is trying to prove he can be a team leader at any time — pre-season, regular season, a single game, whatever — while Big Dirk can only care about one platform — the Playoffs.
Andrei Kirilenko — 11 assists, 9 boards, 8 points, 5 steals
He’s not a real person. He is a Russian machine sent here to conquer America by first infiltrating the NBA.
Contraction Club Of The Night:
Miami Heat, 76 on Tuesday vs. Charlotte
There’s at least a team a night in the infamous CC this year! Seemed like the volume went down last year, but looks like the numbers are unfortunately creeping back up. Miami laid this egg on the eve of D-Wade’s return, only to lay another the next night against the previously winless Sonics. At least they broke 80 (90 even!) against them.
Seattle Sonics, 76 on Tuesday vs. Orlando
DisneyWorld was unkind to the SuperDurants, leaving them at 0-8. It took a visit to South Beach to finally get this guys a W. Win or no win, they have clearly lost traction on the League Pass rankings. We’ll turn our focus back to Durant a little later in the year perhaps, but for now we have to watch teams that matter.
Dirty Jerse Nets, 69 on Wednesday vs. Boston
With most of the 0’s falling out of the win/loss columns of the NBA standings, it looked like it might be the Ceatles turn to taste defeat as well. It was the second night of a back-to-back against tough Dirty Jerse team whom they had just beaten only a few days back. Getback time? This first half was as ugly as they get, and if the Nets had ANY life in them, they probably could have ended it right there. If you have a KG-led team down, you better finish the job, ’cause his undying energy will inevitably shine through eventually. In the second half, the C’s managed to turn it into a blowout, and there was even some excitement in the form of the rookie-on-rookie, fat boy vs. slim kid, Big Baby Davis vs. Sean Williams match-up.
Philly Sixers, 76 on Wednesday vs. New Orleans
This Philly team is horrid. Honestly, completely blow it up, deal Andre Miller, free Louis Williams, and start the quest for one of these college freshman beasts.
Eat Your Breakfast Of The Night:
Unbeknown to most, Rudy Gay is actually a highly skilled chef specializing in Argentinian cuisine. EAT YOUR BREAKFAST LUIS SCOLA!!!! A nice “Welcome to the NBA” meal courtesy of Rudy Gay.
Starbury vs. Isiah Of The Night:
You thought it couldn’t get any worse for the Knicks, right? Well, with Zach Randolph’s grandma’s death already weighing heavily on him, and robbing the team of it’s premier player, things got even crazier on the team flight to Phoenix. Apparently there was a talk/confrontation/altercation of some sort between Starbury and Isiah which resulted in the news that Coney Island’s finest had lost his starting job. Then, supposedly, Starbury had this to say:
“Isiah has to start me. I’ve got so much (stuff) on Isiah and he knows it. He thinks he can (get) me. But I’ll (get) him first. You have no idea what I know.”
Wow. More evidence related to Isiah’s sexual harassment suit? Perhaps evidence of Isiah reneging on a large wager with Michael Jordan, resulting in their blood feud? Or maybe more info on want REALLY went down between Isiah and Magic back in the day? We may never know. But after Starbury flew back to NY, and then BACK to Los Angeles the next, things seemed back to normal, at least in the Knicks version of that word. No suspension, just Starbury back on the bench and speaking his mind:
“This is not my battle to fight. I’m here to play basketball and I’m just going to concentrate on that. I’m leaving it internal like Isiah said. I would expect that everyone would respect that… I plan to tell them (his teammates) that this is something that has to do with Isiah and myself.”
Then whose battle is it? What in the hell is he talking about? Damn, if the NY media can’t uncover what’s going on behind the scenes here, then maybe the Feds are involved… Isiah and Starbury as a modern day Boris and Natasha?
Get It? Of The Night:
SportsCenter, always looking for the next big “Outside The Lines” controversy, tried to stir one up after this one liner from the upcoming Phil Jackson comedy tour:
On his team’s ability to guard the Spurs on Tuesday:
“We call this a ‘Brokeback Mountain’ game, because there’s so much penetration and kickouts,” Jackson said. “It was one of those games.”
Get it? After the media maelstrom that followed, Jackson would later apologize, not missing the chance to further his schtick:
“But in retrospect, it wasn’t really funny. When you take it out of context, it wasn’t funny. It was a poor attempt at humor and I deserved to be reprimanded by the NBA. If I’ve offended any horses, Texans, cowboys or gays, I apologize.”.
Along with GLAAD, who released a statement condemning Big Chief Triangle’s statements, word has it that that Rudy Gay is fuming mad.
Career-High Of The Night:
Rashad McCants — 33 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
BAD PUN ALERT! BAD PUN ALERT!!! Apparently Rashad McCan? Finally healthy, McCants is showing his pure ability score will translate to the NBA game. He was the clear go-to guy in his game, scoring almost half of these points in the 4th quarter. The T-Wolves got their first win and maybe found Al Jefferson’s P-N-C for the next 10 years.
If Dwight Howard is going to hit free throws? GAME OVER… Jamario Moon for Prime Minister… Ron Artest back on the scene… McGradles out for a week with a strained elbow… The hard-to-master intentionally-miss-the-free