Lakers got a great win against the Spurs at San Antonio. The Spurs are still VERY good, but they just look vulnerable these days. They always had problem with Kobe and the Lakers, but this years Spurs are having trouble with a lot of good teams. Timmy is probably starting to slow down just a bit and they just don't seem to go to him that often these days until the playoffs. The rest of the supporting cast might need an upgrade. Parker is a stud, but Ginobli is inconsistent, though he had a good game tonight. The Spurs can still win it all, but they need to play mistake-free to do it. They had too many turnovers today and they don't have that kind of margin of error anymore. They need another piece and Elson is not that piece though he looked like one earlier in the season. Timmy was great today shooting 10-18 for 26 points, but Kobe was just better with 34-6-8. This kid is beginning to scare me! He is truly becoming a mature leader and a special player. He shot 12-19 against a tough defense today and rarely forced any bad shots. He was very patient, composed and really trusted his teammates. He looked for them even in the clutch when he got double teamed. He is averaging 8 points less than last year on 8 less shots and is shooting a career high 47% from the field. It's almost like some "maturity switch" has been flipped since last years playoffs against the Suns. Philip has shown him that letting his teammates help him is a good thing and he has bought in.
T-Mac sat out the game today and the Suns won, though they struggled all night. Nash had ungodly numbers again, but the victory was a hard fought one. Now they have won 11 n a row. Deron Williams had a great game (31-3-10) for the Jazz to beat Detroit. Chauncey Billups returned from injury and had a 26 point game. C-Webb played 16 mins and shot 1-5. Bad loss for the Pistons.
The big news of the day was the trade between the Warriors and the Pacers. the Pacers traded scorers Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday for forwards Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy Jr. The deal also sent guard Sarunas Jasikevicius and forward Josh Powell to the Warriors, with forward Ike Diogu and guard Keith McLeod coming to the Pacers. Great trade for the Warriors. I am surprised Larry Bird went for it. Not only did the Warriors get more talented players, they also off-loaded some cap space because Dunleavy and Murphy are signed for more years than Harrington and Jackson. They also got some much needed outside and free-throw shooting in Sarunas. The only downside for the Warriors is that Jackson is kind of a head-case. Hopefully Nelly can keep him straight. At last the Warrior fan would not have Dunleavy to boo and Murphy has been equally bad this year. Hopefully the new scenery will help them too. This could actually work for Pacers too since their style fits these 2 players better. And Murphy has always been a good rebounder and a tough player until this year. With Jermaine O'Neal in the paint, he can actually play from the perimeter on offense and thats not as bad as it was with the Warrriors who had nobody in the paint. Apparently Bird also liked Ike Diogu and the pride of Arizona State is now going to Indiana. Not sure what kind of role he gets to play for them, but I hope he gets to shine in this league.
Due to this trade and injuries, the Warriors did not even have 8 players to suit up today. So they had to sign a NBDL player to a 10 day contract, bring up Patrick O'Bryant from the NBDL and suit up the injured Foyle just so that they didn't forfeit the game! Clippers won 115-109, but the Warriors put up a good fight. They just could not stop Elton Brand who had 27 points on 11-13 shooting.
LA Lakers @ San Antonio - 100-96
Utah @ Detroit - 100-99
Phoenix @ Houston - 100-91
Golden State @ LA CLippers - 109-115
Interesting games on the board for the Jan 18-th (Thursday)
LA Lakers @ Dallas - Another good one. Probably difficult for the Lakers to win since they ended Mavs streak last week and Dallas will be ready for this one.
Indiana @ Miami - Pacers wont have the new players available. Shaq will not suit up for Miami. So what's the point?
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