Noteworthy: 11/26/2013

Reaction:
Nets won last night and Jason Kidd's reaction shows that their 2-point win against the lowly Raptors was one of those rub-the-forehead-in-relief victories.

Switching Places:  While Obama is in L.A., the Lakers went to D.C. and lost a close one.

John Wall hooped pretty well and backed up the idea that if you're going to ignore two wide open teammates on a fast break, you better do a 360 or something.



Overshadowed
Arron Affalo is quietly having a really nice year averaging 22 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast, and a sniper-ly 2.7 threes/game.  Last night he scored 26 points on 4 threes, and 2 steals as the Magic beat the Hawks.

Why aren't people really noticing double-A?  Probably cause he has a rookie teammate dunking over multiple members of the other team.



Quote
Warriors won last night, ending their 3 game losing streak, against the Pelicans.

New Orleans' coach, Monty Williams, described his team's one point loss pretty well, saying "all those 'my bad' plays just added up tonight".  That is a really hip way of describing perfectly the struggles of a team whose all-star point guard is turning the ball almost four times a game.  Also, a barely-20 year-old Anthony Davis is still learning how to become this team's leader and command the ball down the stretch in close games all whilst sporting a unibrow, so the Pelicans have got plenty of growing up and probably waxing to do.

Noteworthy: 11/25/2013

How are you doin', Champs?



Dwyane Wade hammin' it up while Lebron is getting interviewed.  Hmm, so much for all that pressure of 3-peating eh?

Just One:  Roy Hibbert is leading the league in blocks, but he only had one last night.  Out of nowhere and really fierce, but just one block.




The Suns are pretty blog-worthy:
Not content to let Gerald Green have  all the highlights and the mentions on the ole blogblog.

Miles Plumlee had a two-handed rejection and then fast break yammed it.  Also, one of the Morris twins literally dunked it on the tippytop of Birdman's head.



Not sure if this is already a thing, but I feel like 'good grief, Markieff' is a pretty fun chant for when Markieff Morris comes stomping down the lane.

Brandon's
Two guys, Jennings and Knight who share the same first name and were traded for each other this past off-season played each other last night.  Other than those facts, not much in common between the two. Brandon J. had a well-rounded double-double (15 pts and 13 asts) and was able to restrain himself from getting too shot happy despite playing against his former team.  Brandon K was just coming back from retweaking his hamstring, so it was just nice to see him running the Bucks offense again.

95-96 finals teams except theyre both bad right now

Jazz and Bulls both badly needed a win for their really loyal fan bases.  Since the game was in Utah, glad that the Jazz pulled together the win.  More sad times for Bulls fans who saw Joakim Noah airball one of his free throws that could have won it in regulation.

Reminder:
Paul George is more than just a hyper efficient offensive talent who has the length and agility to guard any player in the league for 48 minutes.

He can also throw down a pretty nice fast break dunk.



I'm a fan:
I've been a Koufos supporter since he came into the league a couple years ago.  I think he throws a mean outlet pass, and I'm glaf he finally got an opportunity to start and play key minutes against the Rockets last night.  Made me proud to be an OG  member of the Koufos bandwagon as he grabbed13 rebounds and scored 8 points in place of the injured Marc Gasol.

Party Poopers:
Nuggets go to Dallas and beat the Mavs as Dirk passed Kevin Garnett on the all-time scoring list and Reggie Miller on the all-time free throws made list.

Niiiiice:  So still early in the season, but the Blazers just won their 11th game in a row.  Two dunks by Lillard to celebrate.

  
Other:  This is Andrew Bogut's tweet about why he's not playing in tomorrow's game against the Pelicans..Two Former Pac-10 guys (Derrick Williams, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute) were traded for each other last night.

Noteworthy: 11/24/2013

Tough Loss, Guys: Joe Johnson had his best game of the season scoring 34 points on 12 of 18 shooting and knocking down  8 threes.  Sad to say that all those swishes were not enough as the Nets were beat by the Pistons who got 27 points from Rodney Stuckey.

The Bulls got whooped at Staples as they played their first game without Derrick Rose.  They didnt lead once and put up a grand total of 9 points in the fourth quarter.  Tom Thibideau got a lot of fight out of these Bulls last season when they expected Drose to be out, but the team that got walloped by the Clippers yesterday afternoon definitely looked like one that hadn't quite yet recuperated from learning that their best player was done for the season.

Is this really fair?



In case the timing and pass looked too perfect than my answer is thats cuz the pass was thrown by one identical  twin (Marcus) to another identical twin (Markieff). Almost want to say that this is biologically too dominant of a tandem but the Suns are 7 and 7, so maybe its not all about genetics.

Gettin' Kind of Old?

Not for me, but I feel like I've seen Gerald Green do about one of these every other game.

A super rare behind-the-back-through-the-leg-of-your-own-teammate assist

Impressive but as a fan of the solid chest pass, I have to ask for what reason was Jared Dudley trying that pass on the baseline and how come Deandre Jordan who is so good at catching lob passes while running at a gazillion miles an hour could not grab a silly pass while standing still.  Good thing JJ Redick is really good at that jump shooting thing or else this would have just been a wacky turnover. 

Restin':  Russ Westbrook had the night off and Durant and Serge Ibaka both rested for most of the 4th quarter against the Jazz. There must have been some disappointed Thunder fans, but they chose to go to the game where the Thunder was playing a 1-13 team, so they reallt couldn't have expected the Thunder dudes to have to sweat this one out too much.

Not a Happy Weekend: After losing a close one to the Clippers on Saturday afternoon, the Kings got beat on the same court to the Lakers on Sunday night.  This one wasn't as close as the Clippers game, but some similarities included: Demarcus Cousins getting another technical foul and the other' team's starting point guard playing really well.  Example, Steve Blake with 12 assists, including this clever dish.

Other: A new Beats commercial starring KG which seems kind of realistic for all the bad reasons...Andray Blatch scoring on his own basket...Cam Newton did Lebron James' stompstomp dance.

Noteworthy: 11/23/2013

A Recap:

After the first quarter, the Kings outscored the Clippers by 15 points for the rest of the game. Unfortunately for the team from Sacramento, they were outscored by 16 in the first quarter and the Clippers ended up winning by one, 103-102.

Just based on the fact that the Kings couldn't overcome that first quarter margin despite how well they generally played the rest of the  game, you could understand the angst that one Demarcus Cousins might feel after yet another loss.  Also, starting out the season 4 and 9 despite the additions of key playmakers in Greivis Vasquez and Carl Landry, is probably not what Cousins had anticipated after choosing to resign with the Kings this past offseason.

Demarcus had a beast of game with his 23-19-7 line (pts, reb, ast), but his technical at around the 2 minute mark was costly and you could argue his big night was all but wasted since the Kings couldn't pull out what would have been their biggest win of the season had they beaten the Pacific-leading Clippers at home.

With that in mind, you can kind of see why Cousins was a bit salty and wouldn't let his buddy, Isaiah Thomas shake handsies.

Some Defense:

Killer chasedown blocks last night featuring

Shumpert gettin' Wall-ed (too easy?)


Kent "no wayz, mo williams" Bazemore

Dang:
In terms of basketball things, it must be really scary finding yourself on an island trying to guard Lebron one on one at the end of the game.

In terms of basketball injuries, an egg on the forehead like Jeremy Lin got from one of Kevin Love's elbows is pretty bad, but I find it most hilarious cause it resembles the head bumps in the cartoons we grew up watching.

Another Recap: Spurs beat up on the Cavs and had a lot of fun in the process.

First, Matt Bonner playin the point on a possession (via poundingtherock)

and then the big three being silly on the bench (thanks, Dime)

Good Stats:

Kenneth Faried was puhfect shooting from the field (8-8) for 18 points along with 14 rebounds as the Nugs are now at .500.

Andrew Bogut tried to fight again, but he probabbly should have focused on helping stop Lamarcus Aldridge who was doing everything on way to a career night of 30 points, 21 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals.

Best for Last:



So much to like here, from Al Horford's shotput pass to Vitor Favrani obviously not closing out properly to Jared Sullinger barely gettin' off the ground on that honorable block attempt.

Other: Steph Curry with kind of a mask on...my fave nba team colors will be back next season as Charlotte will be wearing the purple and teal once again...whether or not you care for Woody Allen, doesn't James Dolan sound kind of like a spoiled bum?

Noteworthy: 11/22/2013

Tall Guys Shooting:
Particularly great day of basketball for 7 foot guys and their jumpers. Spencer Hawes' game tieing three, Channing Frye hitting 5 threes in helping the Suns over the Bobcats, Sam Dalembert going 8 for 8 (although most of these were gimmes around the basket), oh and Spencer Hawes one-legged three at the buzzer.  I had to say it again cause it was that nice.  Here it is in slow-mo:



Pau Gasol had himself a nice night as well.  Prior the game, Pau had pledged to donate 1k of every one of his points to the US Fund for UNICEF's relief efforts toward those affected by the typhoon in the Philippines.  This basket was pretty sweet cause Pau had Andrew Bogut faked out of his sneakers.



Pau's last two points on the night were particularly nice too, as he swooshed a fallaway jumper in Bogut's eyeballs.  People on twitter were getting kinda carried away saying that the shot looked like Kobe's but honestly, it was probably more like Marc Gasol's.

Confident:  Paul George is playing really well right now.  His trust in his jump shot is a little show-offy but it did make for a cool-looking vine vid.



Worst:  One of is the worst part of watching sports is seeing the players you root for not being physically able to do what they are best at.  Marc Gasol, Derrick Rose, Andre Iguodola all left their respective games last night with injuries. Terrible.  Praying that their injuries are nothing serious.

Impact Players:  The two hottest teams in the league right now have got to be the Pacers and the Blazers.  The reason for these teams dominating this season is due to the growth of Lance Stephenson in Indiana and the play of Wesley Matthews in Portland.

Stephenson recorded his second triple-double of this season tallying 10 points 11 rebounds and 10 assists along with 4 steals and only 1 turnover.  The Blazers have been winning behind the team's strength in knocking down the three point shot in bunches.

Leading the three point barrage this season has been guard Wesley Matthews.  For the year, Wes is shooting a scorching 54% from the field and 50% from three point land.  Matthews led the Blazers in their win over the Bulls last night with his 28 points and 4 threes.

Fact:  Nick Young is the most entertaining player in the NBA when taking into account his on and off the court antics.

That's my opinion of course and hopefully I'll have the opportunity to show off the majority of my repository of photos and gifs involving Swaggy P.   Here is a creative step-back three from last night:

Other:  This kid is pretty excited to sit next to Rihanna at the Laker game...Amir Johnson shook ref Danny Crawford's hand after getting a technical for hanging on the rim...Marcin Gortat destroyed a towel.

Noteworthy: 11/21/2013

Unfair:
Usually Blake Griffin will guard guys who aren't as big as him or someone who just isnt as skilled.

Kevin Durant is taller and longer than Blake.  Also, he can shoot the heck out of the ball.  Please don't let this matchup happen too often, Doc.

Thunder led from beginning to end on the Clipps probably because they were shooting 52% compared to the 41% by the Clippers and also because once they had the lead they could just give the ball to KD who as I have already said, can score anytime he wants as long as his teammates (lookin at you Russ and Reggie Jackson) give him the ball.

On the brightside:  Chris Paul's double-double record continued for another night and Deandre Jordan swatted the heck out of Russ Westbrook

Slowly but surely:  Derrick Rose is still struggling to get his groove back, but he showed flashes last night that he's still ridicously athletic.  Example, Rose jumping off the wrong leg, probably because he's not completely confident in that left knee yet, and doing a double clutch layup like this.



It didn't help that Luol Deng (3-18) was ineffective and Jimmy Butler is out with a big toe injury probably cause he's still wearing those 15 year old technology crazy 8's.

Other:  Steven Adams is cool if you don't shake his hand, he'll shake his own...the rims in OKC must be really soft cause another guy hit a half-court shot...Shaq took a tumble on TNT last night...

Noteworthy: 11/20/2013

This weekend I called a guy in my men's league Bismack Biyombo because the only offense he played was tossing the ball at the hoop when he was less than 1 feet away.

Nobody in the Men's league I run in could throw down a dunk like the one that Biyombo had last night, but I definitely feel like a jerk for comparing any rec center bro to Biyombo. Clip below confirms that if he ever stepped on a court with me, he could/ probably would tear the rim off in my face. Nice dunk, and I'm very sorry.

Bad Loss: After three quarters, the Rockets were winning 101 to 87 and Dwight Howard was 11 for 11 from the field.  In short, the Rockets were literally getting dunks at the rims unguarded.

Also, they were getting all fancy like with this bang out, courtesy of Chandler Parson being good at sharing

Well, in the fourth quarter Dwight finally missed (he went 1 for 5), the Rockets were outscored 36-19, and ended up losing by 3.  Not much to laugh at if you were a Rockets Fan, but there were some really great fans you can smile at, and highted below.

Hahahaha:

Aside from this happening after Harden hit a big three in the fourth, not positive about what the meaning is of this.  Thats cuz i have no idea what loyalty a guy in a Lions jersey might have when he attends a basketball game between two Texas teams.  Point and stare on, matt-stafford-jersey dude!

Also, thumbs up to this guy for punching the basketball back at Dwight Howard; cause fans can't get T's, so go crazy, everybody.

Expected:  Lebron James making a really gorgeous move on the baseline followed by a slamma jamma.

Unexpected:  Beno Udrih looking like he is pretty good at shots taken after pivoting a couple times.



Back-to-Back:
After beating the Suns at home in Sacramento on Tuesday, the Kings withstood a 44 point barrage and won in Phoenix last night.  Big yahoo for Sac fans as the Kings doubled their season total for wins (4) in beating the Suns twice in the last day and a half.

Anthony Davis had 8 blocks in the Pelicans win against the Jazz.  That makes for two games in a row he has had 8 rejections as he also registered that total against the Sixers last Saturday.

History Books:  Chris Paul now has the record for most games (12) of at least 10 points and 10 assists to start the season, passing up Magic Johnson, with his 20 point 11 assist 4 steal effort in beating the T'Wolves.

Dirk is now 15th all-time in career points, passing up Reggie Miller, including 14 points in that big fourth quarter mentioned above.

Other: Nuggets are having a 80's night, so the players made a video with them giving 80's themed quotes...both Dwight Howard and Roy Hibbert made threes last night, but Roy's was counted as it beat the shot clock and Dwight's was called off, so basically a metaphor for how the season is going for the two of them...No team in the Atlantic Division is over .500 and the Raptors are leading the division...a blurry photo of Paul George shaking handsies with A$ap Rocky

Noteworthy 11/19/2013

Dunks: Some nasty jams from last nights games including Ben Mclemore sneakily slicing past two defenders and Gerald Green still routinely getting his eyes to the rim.

Personally, Jan Veselys steal and fast break finish was my fave one from last night because i think the phrase "Jan Jam" should become a thing soon.  

Boring:  Of the 5 games last night, 4 of the winning teams were the home team.  The one that wasnt...

Upset:  Wizards beat the T'wolves last night behind John Wall's 16 assists and Bradley Beal just making a whole bunch of his shots on way to 25 points.

Suck: The Celtics are pretty bad this season but last night was particularly ugly of a game.  Specifically the starters were 14 for 51 and shot 32% for the game.  That's the reason for that Rondo reaction  above, as he was checking out the stat sheet while sitting on the bench.

Nice Job Wildcats:  Kentucky alums, Terence Jones with a career high 24 points against the aforementioned Celtics and Demarcus Cousins shot more free throws than any other person on his team shot field goals  as he scored 27 and grabbed 12 boards.

Other: Chris Webber analyzing the heat / hawks game tonight...Amare Stoudemire looked really confused for one possession.

Noteworthy: 11/18/2013

Oh La La:  If you're a fan of point guards finishing around the basket, I present two such clips.  Starting off, Shaun Livingston with the bouncy-ness on Robin Lopez.

And Damian Lillard with quite the twisty-looking layup.

Ugly:  Both the Bobcats and Bulls shot 36% from the field last night, so that explains all the opportunities that Carlos Boozer had en route to his 17 rebounds.

Double-Doubles:  Monta Ellis has been dishing the ball well this season but last night he got his first double double of the season with points and assists (24 & 10).  JJ Hickson scored 18 and grabbed all the rebounds (19) as the next highest person on his team had 6 (K. Faried).

Ouch: Not a good night for the head region

Steph Curry's head got pancaked by Marvin William's torso (warning: it looks as bad as it sounds).

then Chris Paul takes a Tony Allen shin to the lips.

Other: Some bros wore rockets jerseys courtside at the thunder nuggets game..so I guess this is how Tmac wears a suit...Check out this particularly slouchy Jazz fan..I missed out on the fact that Dave Chapelle looks like he's been working out a little and was at the T-wolves game the other night (thanks James for always finding the goodies).

Noteworthy: 11/17/2013

Fun:

The demar derozan/rudy gay combo may not be providing lots of wins, but the Raps are entetaining as heck and competing to the final buzzer.

a really nice part of that highlight is Kyle Lowry flying by and smoothly transitioning from put-back attempt to celebration fist-pump.

Heads up Jodie Meeks...

Say what you will about Jennings not being a true point guard, but he sure throws a solid full-speed backboard alley-oop.

Freakin' bad:  None of the Kings starters had more than 9 points, 5 rebounds or 3 assists.

Fantastic:  Jordan Hill was going up against a formidable front court of the Pistons with Josh Smith, Monroe and Andre Drummond.  Hill has been playing like an all star and last night may have been his best game yet, as he logged a career high with 27 points and 17 rebounds.

Also, Steve Blake dished out 16 assists and the Lakeshow won.  So keep throwing your streetball oops, Detroit, our former-backup point guard and former-backup power foward lit you up tonight.

This pass from a Grizzly Gasol

Other:  Jodie Meeks celebrated a three last night by skipping back on defense with his mouth open and directly skyward; I cannot find a photo of this, so if you see it, please direct me to it...As of tonight, Tim Duncan and Ray Allen are tied for 21st on the career points all-time leaderboard...D'antoni probably kidding about Kobe in practice.

Noteworthy: 11/16/2013

Rough night for the following:  Pacers, cause they were down by 25 at the half to the Bulls; not the best way to lose their first game of the season.

Glenn Rice Jr, cause he got a reminder of how good Kyrie Irving is at dribbling

(h/t to Hardwood Paroxysm))

For both JR Smith (3-18 from the field, 1-9 from the three) and the Knicks (1-5 record playing at Home after tonight's loss to the Hawks)



Nice one, guys:
3 Timberwolves scored 20+ tonight: KLove, KevMartin, and Nikola Pekovic (no combination of first&last name currently cleverly available).

Westbrook and Durant combined for at least 50 points for the 3rd game in a row but the big story was Serge Ibaka's 20 boards.

Chris Paul now has 10 consecutive games of 10+ points and 10+ assists to start the season tying John Stockton for the second most total in NBA history.

Nice Try, Ty: Lawson with a really nice 28 and 17 but Denver didn't have the lead even once as they loss in Houston to the Rockets.

Good to have you back: Ryan Anderson, made his season debut, and showed he can still shoot the rock, hitting 6 out of 10 threes, 10 of 14 total and racking up 26 points.

Other: After their overtime win tonight, I'm guessing that testy team meeting the Cavs had actually worked..Looks like Kobe is back at practice...Carmelo describing the Knicks season so far..Lamar Odom may be back in the NBA soon...in case you thought that Lebron stopped doing those chasedown blocks, he hasn't.

Noteworthy: 11/15/2013

Way to go: Roy hibbert just missed a triple double by 2 blocks...Josh Smith had 5 steals and 4 blocks..Lebron had 39 on 14-18 shooting and Joe Johnson went length of the court for this floater game-winner.



Never mind that 3 weeks ago we thought that a game between the Nets would be a blowout and Joe Johnson actually was shooting terribly going 5-18 until that last bucket.

Lance Stephenson being Lance Stephenson



if you missed the Antoine Walker-like shimmy he did, watch it again.

Wannabe:  Lebron doing the Dirk against Dirk's team.

Wow:

Woopsy:



Other: Kings fans are really good at being loud...

Noteworthy: 11/14/2013

Only 2 games last night but they were dandies.

Jeremy Lin was back in New York tonight as the Rockets played the Knicks.  Chandler parsons was pretty giddy after Jeremy's dunk.

Some pretty unstandard nba things happened last night including,

Dwight Howard getting his shot blocked by definitely-not-DPOY, Bargnani.

as well as Carmelo Anthony hitting an off-balanced heave of a three pointer which was called off. Lots of controversy for you to read about that play and how it affected the ending of that game, if you missed it.



Thunder v. Warriors game was too ridiculously entertaining that I neglected writing and just started renactingthe plays on my mini-hoop.  The sequence of plays that ended it:



Basically I'm leaving the recording of this game on my DVR for a little while.

Other:  The best gif involving both ricky rubio and kevin martin...

Noteworthy: 11/13/2013

Shooter:  Arron Affalo didn't miss much last night, hiting 8 threes and going perfect from the free throw line.  Here is video of all those 3-pointers he made.

Jeremy Lin also had a career high, with 9 three-pointers made.  He also dished 12 assists but turned the ball over 8 times and the Rockets lost to those overachieving Sixers.

Firsts:   "I never had a triple-double at any level, not middle school, high school, anywhere.'' - Tony Wroten after recording his first triple double last night against Houston.  It was also Wroten's first start of his career.

A lot of Assists: Ricky rubio and Chris paul both dished out 16 and stole the ball 3 times in leading their teams to victory.  Here is one particularly cool pass from Ricky:

Hmmm...Those Brooklyn Nets, who were supposed to be challenging the Heat and Pacers in the eastern conference just dropped to 0-4 on the road after getting beat by the Kings last night.

Welp:  Someone definitely should have stopped the dribble drive.  A very simple-looking game winner by Lillard



Pretty: Serge Ibaka and Matt Barnes got tossed out right before the half of the game between the Clipps and Thunder, which is probably a big reason why the Clipps made such a big run in the 3rd quarter.  However, Serge Ibaka was still in the game on this play and couldn't stop it from happening:



Nice Job:

The Jazz finally won last night.  Enes Kanter lookin' ridiculous after the game.

Knicks won on the road in Atlanta last night, getting a really good game from Andrea Bargnani for the second game in the row.  He also had this save which kinda looked like an accidental wraparound pass



You Block me, Tiago Block you:
John Wall, the one man fast break stopper.

Tiago Splitter, the stopper of John Wall (on this play at least).


HEHE: 
annnnnnnnnnnnnd my favorite highlight from the night because Kanye kind of once said..

 "HOW COULD YOU BE MO HARKLESS"


Other: Westbrook hit a three right before the half yesterday and then gave a high-five to Scott Brooks.  I cannot find this on video or as a gif, but it was hilarious, i promise...Cool dude at the head of the post is me at the Clippers/Thunder game last night...here is a video of Jordan playing beer pong while the part of that Jay-z song where Jay-z sings about Jordan is playing in the background...Classy Dwight Howard, actually the opposite...there will be some Dwyane Wade-inspired bow ties and ties for sale.

Noteworthy: 11/12/2013

Nice to Meet You:
Gotta admit.  Did not know half the players on the Bucks roster last night, particularly two of their starters.

They have a guy named K. Middleton, which sounds like Prince William's wife, right?  Here's Mario Chalmers throwing the ball through his legs:


Also, they have a guard named Nate Wolters who has got to be the least intimidating looking NBA player ever.  He made an ultra high bankshot jumper from straightaway as you can see below, which is probably the least intimidating way of scoring a basket in the NBA.



Nice Try: Trevor Ariza scored 27 off of 5 three pointers and had four steals, but it wasn't enough as Dirk and the Mavs won by 10.

Three of a kind:  Curry, Thompson and Iguodala each hit 2 threes last night against the Pistons.   I'm cool with amending the 'splash Brothers' nickname to now be the 'splash Triplets'.

More significantly, Detroit only made 3 threes as a team and ended up losing by 18 points.

Woo-whee: Xavier Henry punched one on Jeff Withey last night in classic case of Jayhawk-on-Jayhawk violence.


This dunk and Laker victory was a bit unexpected as the last time the Lakers and Pelicans played (last friday, 5th), Ant Davis and the Pels beat the Lakers by 12.

Other: A gross picture of James Harden's naked foot... FC Barcelona's brazillian phenom Neymar was at the Heat game..Nick Young eating licorice and commenting on Xavier Henry's Dunk..Congrats to Dirk on passing Jerry West for 16th all-time in scoring.

Noteworthy: 11/11/2013

Nice:  Jeff Teague has registered a double-double in 4 out of 6 games this season.  He did not disappoint last night registering another points and assist double-double with 14 and 12.  Plus he had a nice chase-down block on Kemba Walker.

Throwback: Cavs looked like they started a guy last night that could have been the agile Drew Bynum and not just an old Andrew Bynum.  Looks like Noah wasn't expecting this version of Bynum either.



Unfortunate: Lance Stephenson was all over the court tonight; doing everything in leading the Pacers in their win against the Grizz.  He ended up recording his first ever triple double.  However, last night's game may be more well remembered for how Stephensen pulled a ball fake which resulted in a technical.

Sorry Cory:
He may have have stumbled on Blake Griffins Foot on the play below and Chris Paul probably fouled him  on this steal but it was still not a good looking night for Cory Brewer:



Also in the game, Jamal Crawford made this half court toss at the end of the 3rd quarter which was a cool shot. However, it ended up being pretty BIG shot as well since the Clipps only won by 2 points over the Wolves.

Scary: JJ Hickson threw down a monster dunk on Marvin Williams which you can enjoy here.  I've chosen to include the picture in this post because the video doesn't capture how fierce Hickson's nostrils and eyes looked.

Learn somethin' new every day:

Took them to double overtime but the Rockets ended up beating the Raptors.

I learned a lot from watching this game.  One thing being that Quincy Acy looks like he is Reggie Evan's little brother and a second thing being that I like Acy a lot cause he came out of nowhere to swat Dwight Howard's weak attempt at a reverse jam.

Way to go Andre (Drummond), who had 16 and 16 but Robin Lopez kinda stole the show with his season highs of 17 and 10 and reminder to 6'2" guards that if you challenge bigs at the rim, this could happen:

Other: Amir Johnson doing a heel-click in the middle of the game...Doc Rivers called a time out running onto the middle of the court...Glad to see Bobcats coach, Steve Clifford back to work after taking some time off to recover from a heart procedure.

Noteworthy: 11/10/2013

Slaughter:  The Wolves put up 47 points in the first quarter on the Lakers at Staples.  It was as ugly as it sounded in that first period if you're rooting for LA.  Some highlights for T'wolves fans and replayed misery for Laker fans.

Kevin Love being really good at outlet passes:

Cory Brewer deciding that KevMartin is so on fi-yah that he'd rather toss it out to Martin for a 3 when on a 2 on 1 fast break against STEVE BLAKE.

Plus, look at how he just runs back after seeing Martin set his feet knowing that his teammate is about to make it splash.

Silly defensive effort of the night courtesy of JR Smith:

And Bargnani too

Spurs trounced the Knicks at MSG, leading the whole way.  Besides the funny defensive effort, the Knicks didn't do much to laugh at as they scored a meager 15 and 17 points in the 1st and 3rd quarter.  

Standard: Really nasty windmill by Gerald Green, but haven't we seen this already Gerry? How about try a 180 before that windy mill.



Wizards and Thunder went into OT as both Russ Westbrook and one-name Nene were tossed after getting too feisty with one another.  You would think that the Wiz came out on top in this double ejection, but based on the highlights, it looks like the Thunder started playing better when Westbrook got tossed and the Thunder did indeed win by 1, 106-105.

Shifty: Showing the gif, cause Thabo being thabo, ended up missing the jumper.

Other: the feistiness referred to above between Russ and Nene...Tony Parker making a really good defender in Iman Shumpert run into his own teammate...Bledsoe blocking the brow.

Noteworthy: 11/9/2013

Balllin: Kyrie Irving with 39, 12 assists and 5 boards nullifying a really impressive game by Michael Carter-Williams.  Check out the clutch three by the rook and Kyrie countering with a smooth left-handed lay-up for the win.

Also tonight, Jeff Green with the most difficult of game winners.

From the inbounder using up almost all of the 5 seconds to pass the ball, to the fadeaway-corner-horse-type shot, this was kind of unbelievable.

C'mon now:  Jazz still winless, but tonights loss was in spectacular fashion.  The Raptors led the whole way, were up 26 at the half and played so much of their bench that someone named Dwight Buycks got minutes.

Almost:  Commentators said that Joe Johnson was 9 out of 10 in one possession 'tie or go-ahead' shots last year.  Tonight he had a chance to tie the game at 94-91, but hit the back rim and the Pacers ended up winning by 5, 96-91.

Shut down:  After putting up 137 at Staples Center on Monday, the Clippers whooped on the Rockets tonight in Houston 107-94.  Lots could be said here about what the difference is, but the fact that James  Harden is struggling against the defensive schemes by the Clipps or by the defensive tenaciousness of JJ Redick/Jared Dudley (probably not the latter) has got to be a big reason why the Rockets are struggling against that other team from LA. Against the clipps this year, Harden is 10-31 from the field and a ice cold 1-13 from three point land.

Other:  Roy Hibbert taking a selfie on NBA TV...Kyle Korver is now tied for number 2 all time in consecutive games with a three pointer in the 2nd quarter of tonight's game against the Magic (he passed Dennis Scott and is now 10 games away from Dana Barros' record).

Noteworthy: 11/8/2013

Almost triple doubles for the Kevins:

Durant scored 37 points on 15 shots which sounds like he must have made a whole lot of his points on free throws.  He did, making 17 out of 19.  Plus, Durant had 8 boards, 7 assists, 3 steals and a block.

Love continuing his hot streak with 32 points, 15 rebounds, 8 assists and a block.

Breakout:

Anthony Davis had his career high with 32 points along with 12 rebounds, 6 blocks and a steal.  No sign of a sophomore slump for the brow.

Off the Bench: Markeef Morris had his second good game in a row as a sub for the Suns scoring 23 and grabbing 10 boards. Among his many highlights from this game was perhaps the first NBA pick n roll involving twins.  

Not a historian, but i'd venture to say that the Morris brothers are the first twinsies to do this in the League.

Whoa.  Nice to meet you, Joe freeland.  


The Trailblazers, since the days of Joel Pryzbilla and Theo Ratliff and to a certain extent although in far fewer games, Greg Oden, always seem to have these guys who have highlight reel blocks at the rim.  I'll keep looking out for insane 2 handed block attempts from Freeland.  

Maybe boxout, Nets.

Whoops too late, Nene got the tip in.  Then, Wizards outplay the Nets in overtime.  Someone definitely should have boxed out #42.

A night of chasedown blocks.  Who did it best?

Rudy Gay spikes Paul George's layup

Kemba Walker soars in with the block on Pablo Priogini

or my personal favorite

Not bad, Thad.

Other: A portland trailblazer fan video about them replacing the chalupa give-away at Blazer games...Some JJ Barea highlights with Super Mario music as accompanyment(thanks Gabe for noticing this on Grantland)...Patty Mills and Boris Diaw singing 'killing me softly...Patrick Ewing coached his first game as an NBA head coach as a temporary replacement for Charlotte head coach Steve Clifford.

Noteworthy: 11/7/2013

Needed a Stop: Clippers couldn't get one when they needed it most as they lost by 5 to the defending champs.

Got one: Denver finally got their first win of the season.  As a result, there was some pretty awesome hug action between Randy Foye and Ty Lawson.

Good Fast Break Decision


Bad Fast Break Decision


Difference-maker: Threes. Lakers were 11/14 in the first half.

In your face, Dwight. Literally.

Selective: Steve Blake made 4 threes last night. Three of them in the first quarter to help the Lakeshow jump to a big lead on the Rockets. The fourth and final three made by Blake Mamba was the game winner in Dwight Howard's thinly mustached face.

Illegal: While Steve (Blake) was hitting that three, Steve (Nash) was busy embracing Jeremy Lin. Whatever though. Still shoulda got out there Dwight.

Other: The Starter guys talkin' about MJ's house being on sale..a guy in a Miami Hurrican Jersey brushing his teeth with his finger at last night's Clippers/Heat game...Evan Fournier does the tony parker spin move...maybe don't do that right now, Dwight...