AI finally got traded today. He is going to Denver. Great timing for Denver with Melo out suspended for 15 games. AI will carry them though this stretch, but then comes the real deal. This trade is fascinating. Many angles to it. First off, here's another western team strengthening at the cost of an eastern team. This is the last thing the west needed. Talent-wise, this puts Denver right at the top of the West. I would bunch them with Spurs, Suns and Mavs as a real contender. They might have even surpassed my Phoenix Suns in pure (offensive) talent because in addition to Melo and AI, they have a defensive center in Camby, a great athlete in J.R.Smith, a talented big guy in Nene and hustle players like Najera. All they lost was Andre Miller, who I think is an under-rated point guard. They protected Nene, whom I would guess Phily coveted badly. All this is fine and dandy, but chemistry is going to be the key issue. While the Nuggets and George Karl play a up-tempo offensive style that should suit AI and Melo, they still have to integrate the league's top and second leading scorer into the same offense. Also, both AI And Melo have a tendency to dominate the ball and take too many shots. Both are not known for other things like passing, rebounding and defense though AI does have a lot of assists in some games. May be he can be a true PG if he wants to. In any case, this makes Denver very interesting, if not very good. I cant believe how much fun their games are going to be especially against teams like the Suns and the Mavs. Lets see what happens.
Suns won their 15-th straight behind Amare's 28-10 in 28 mins. They got a boat-load of dunks and layups in the first half and the game was safely in the bag soon after. They play Denver tomorrow. Could be tough if AI plays and there's a lot emotion in the building, but surprisingly AI's agent is saying he'll not play tomorrow. The 15 game streak is awesome for the Suns, a franchise record. They did catch some breaks like beating the Heat without Wade, Warriors without Baron Davis etc., but still it's impressive because they won a tonne of games on the road.
Kobe and the Lakers lost to the Bulls. After a long time, Kobe fouled out of the game. Chicago is on a roll right now. These are the games the Lakers are going to have trouble without Odom.
Toronto @ Phoenix – 98-115
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 20-th (Wednesday)
Phoenix @ Denver – Could be a challenge for the Suns if AI plays.
Cleveland @ New Jersey – Another road test for the Cavs. Lebron VS. Vince should be fun too.
Miami @ Milwaukee – Who will score more? Wade or Redd?
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