Another "DNP" for Nash and another "L" for the Suns. One of the reasons Nash won the MVP 2 years back was because of how bad the Suns played when he was out for a few games. Sometimes you appreciate things only when you don't have it and realize how much you miss it. That might be happening to Nash again now. The Suns are 2-2 without him the last 4 games. On top of that, Boris Diaw also missed this game. Chicago won this one with a great run in the money quarter. They outscored the Suns 37-19 in the 4-th. The "young 3" of the Bulls were great today. Hinrich had 29, Gordon 27 and Deng had 29. I am really impressed with the Bulls and Hinrich. They are well-coached (Scott Skiles is a hard-nosed, defensive minded task-master), fundamentally sound and they move the ball real well. Hinrich in particular runs the offense real well. He is not a great point guard or a phenomenal shooter, but he plays under control and just seem to knows what's going on all the time. But I am hurt whenever I see Deng knowing that he could have been a Sun! The Suns traded that pick away to save some money. He could have been a perfect fit for this offense with his athleticism and length. Imagine Deng backing up Marion !
Shaq and D-Wade did strut their stuff today against the Spurs. D-Wade is something else in the fourth quarter. It's amazing how he steps up in the money quarter almost on a whim. He just pulls up and starts shooting those long jumpers from the center of the court and they always seem to go in in the 4-th even if the same shots are off target in the other 3 quarters. The guy had 20 of his 26 points in the fourth and controlled this game. Shaq had a strong 16-7 night as well. The Heat have also gotten Eddie Jones back now and he is contributing on both ends of the floor as always. I thought the Heat were done this year, but looks like they might have a deep playoff run in them again. As for the Spurs, another bad loss with Timmy having a bad day. Manu had 26.
Kobe and the Lakers lost again though Kobe put on a show on national TV just like Wade. He had 36 points on a variety of jaw-dropping plays, and even though LeBron had a mediocre game, the Lakers couldn't close it out. Good win for the Cavs. They have major issues on offense. LeBron is not yet a complete offensive player like Kobe. He is still young and improving. So they get stagnant on offense sometimes and they don't have enough dependable shooters around him. Larry Hughes is good, but can't shoot. Same with Eric Snow. So when they double LeBron, he doesn't know what to do and the offense just stalls. This is the problem with defensive-minded coaches. They just don't cut the offense loose. They have some talented offensive players, but they don't play them because they are not good defensively or whatever. Today, they were saved by Sasha Pavlovic. He is the only guy who was willing to take the initiative and create some plays on offense instead of just standing there and watching LeBron. He had 21 points and I hope coach Brown use him more. There's some talk by LeBron about running more and I think they need to do it. LeBron is unstoppable in the open-court and he is still a couple of years away from being the same in the half-court. Daniel Gibson started today and hopefully thats a good sign for the offense.
Clippers got crushed at Indiana. Indiana seems to be doing well with the new lineup. More well defined roles and mature play seems to be paying off. Gilbert Arenas claimed he will score 50 points against the Blazers on Feb 11-th. He came out today and shot 3-15 for 9 points! Thats shocking to see Gil not drop 50. The Wizards lost and coach Eddie Jordan ripped his team for a lack of leadership outside of Antawn Jamsion. I guess he didnt' like Gil calling his shot like that and I don't blame him. Also, we all forgot about Jamison this year and they have now lost a bunch of games without him. Atlanta has now won 5 straight road games with a close 106-105 win at Golden State. Josh Smith had 29-10 and had some ridiculous dunks! The Hawks have a good young nucleus with a lot of lanky, wiry thin, young athletes. The arms on Marvin Williams seem to extend from Atlanta to Miami or something! What's the wingspan on that dude? Speaking of ridiculous dunks, the dunk of the day was by Andre Iguodala against Dallas.
San Antonio @ Miami - 85-100
LA Lakers @ Cleveland - 90-99
Chicago @ Phoenix - 116-103
LA Clippers @ Indiana - 80-94
Interesting games on the board for Feb 12-th (Monday)
Golden State @ Denver - Could be relevant for the 8-th spot on the West though the Warriors usually stink on the road.
Atlanta @ Utah - Atlanta has won 5 straight on the road. Can they keep it going at Utah? Me think not!
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