Our Date with TNT

We told you we'd be glued to TNT Thursday night, and lucky for you, we kept a running diary of our thoughts while watching both the Mavs/Suns game, and Nuggets/Sonics. We'll let you know now, we didn't make it through the second game.

All times are Central, cuz we're biased that way.

7:01 - What do we have in common with Charles Barkley? We're both excited about these games tonight!!

7:15 - This game is going to be fun to watch, no matter how hard Doug Collins tries to ruin it for me. I hate Doug Collins and his bleach blonde dye job.

7:18 - Devin Harris just fouled Dwyane Wade. Ha! That joke never gets old!! Not that we're bitter.

7:22 - Speaking of Devin Harris, we remember reading a story on him in ESPN the Magazine a few years ago. In college at Wisconsin, he lived with two chubby white girls and never once tried to have sex with them. You know who hangs out with chubby white girls? Gay guys. Not that there's anything wrong with that, Devin.

7:24 - Steve Nash is in his 30s, and has won the last two MVP awards, and his numbers keep improving every year. It's pretty obvious, but I'm just gonna throw this out there: Steve Nash is on steroids.

7:31 - Craig Sager is wearing a red velvet sportcoat. Devin Harris thinks it looks fabulous.

7:35 - Nine minutes into the game, and we finally have a Mark Cuban sighting.

7:44 - In case you weren't aware, the Suns can't play defense of any kind.

7:45 - And the first quarter ends with the Mavs up 30-20. Jason Terry is lighting it up so far with 13 points.

7:54 - It's kinda surprising how sloppy this game has been so far. The Suns have 7 turnovers, and the Mavs have 4. I feel sorry for anybody who took the over tonight.

8:01 - Dirk is holding and flexing his elbow right now. He's already got a sprained ankle, and that can't be a comforting sight for Dallas fans.

8:06 - TNT comes back from a break playing excerpts of the Mavs timeout on the bench. The highlight is easily Avery Johnson squeaking to Desagana Diop, "Dunk on somebody and scream! Show me something!"

8:08 - Jason Terry is feeling it tonight. He just hit a three to give him 18 points already.

8:09 - Diop just got called for a moving screen. Something tells me that's not what Avery wanted to see. To make it worse, he forgot to scream.

8:19 - It's halftime with the score Mavs 52 Suns 49.

8:24 - They're expecting another 18 inches of snow in Denver tonight, and a state of emergency has been declared. Sucks to be you, Denver.

8:28 - Presenting Charles Barkley's five cures for the flu.

1. Go to Vegas
2. Eat a lot
3. Gamble a lot
4. Go clubbin a lot
5. Don't sleep at all

Gotta love Sir Charles.

8:42 - Amare just got hit in the man parts by a Josh Howard elbow. Thanks for the replay TNT. I'm holding mine in sympathy.

8:45 - After climbing back to within one point, the Suns keep turning the ball over, and Jason Terry just hit another three to bring it back to an 8-point lead for Dallas. Terry now has 25 points.

8:48 - Make that three straight Phoenix possessions with a turnover. They now have 14.

8:51 - Basketball, like the internet, is made of a series of tubes. In those tubes are runs that teams go on. Right now, Dallas is on a 12-0 run, and the score is 70-58.

8:52 - Another three for Terry. He's got 30.

8:52 - Still feeling the pain in his man parts, Amare decides that rubbing them on Erick Dampier's face while he jumps over him for a dunk is the best medicine.

9:00 - Apparently it's impossible for Steve Nash to travel. He just took three, count 'em, three, steps without dribbling before hitting Barbosa for a three-pointer. It's the third time I can remember seeing Nash get away with a travel tonight. Those damn steroids!

9:06 - And at the end of three, we have a game again. Mavs up two at 78-76.

9:11 - The Suns have their first lead since late in the first at 18-16. It's 80-78 as the Suns are now on a 20-5 run. Oh, and Nash has been on the bench almost the entire time.

9:14 - Make that a 26-5 run as Jumaine Jones has hit two consecutive three pointers to make it 86-78. Nash is still on the bench.

9:22 - You gotta put a body on Dirk!! That's two straight offensive rebounds from the German, and Dallas is creeping back in.

9:26 - After 25 minutes on the bench, the MVP finally comes back to the floor.

9:29 - Boris Diaw has just fouled out, and the Mavs have cut the lead to 91-88.

9:32 - Somebody put a body on Dirk! He puts the Mavs back in the lead at 92-91.

9:38 - Yet another three from Terry gives Dallas a 95-94 lead. Jason has 35 points now.

9:39 - I have no idea who the blonde sitting with ESPN's Marc Stein is, but she's way out of his league. Hope he knows she's just using him for the seats. I doubt he cares.

9:41 - Daaaaaaayum. A sweet lob from Nash to Amare ties it at 97.

9:42 - Still tied up, and Raja Bell commits a dumb turnover when he passes to Steve Nash. Problem is Nash isn't where Bell passed the ball. Mavs ball, 31.5 seconds left. You can cut the tension with a knife!

9:43 - Feeling he hasn't hurt his team enough, Bell goes ahead and fould Josh Howard. And 1.

9:44 - Howard misses the free throw, and Steve Nash finds Shawn Marion under the basket to tie this game up at 99. There are 6.3 seconds left. Call me crazy, but I think Dirk's gonna get the ball.

9:46 - They put a body on Dirk, and it didn't matter. He hits an 18-foot jumper to give the Mavs a 101-99 lead with 1.3 seconds left.

9:49 - Amare misses a tough jumper, and this game is over. Mavs beat the Suns, again, 101-99. Somehow I just don't think the Nuggets/Sonics game will be anywhere near as interesting as this one was.

9:52 - As if this game wasn't in danger of being boring enough, Ray Allen isn't playing either. Great. Not to mention I have him on my fantasy team, and could use the points.

9:53 - First glimpse of AI as a Nugget, and he goes coast to coast for a layup. Same Iverson, new uniform.

9:56 - Ray Allen needs to get his priorities straight. Turns out he's missing the game to attend the birth of his second child. Whipped!!

9:59 - Gotta admit, it's different, but I like AI in the powder blue.

10:03 - Halfway through the first quarter, and Iverson already has 8 points.

10:10 - It's too bad that Luke Ridnour plays in Seattle, cuz he's pretty good, and nobody notices.

10:15 - Earl Boykins is just precious. Just don't tell him I said that cuz he can bench 315 pounds, and I've no desire to get my ass kicked by somebody who's 5'5.

10:16 - End of the first quarter, and Denver leads 35-27. Iverson already has 12 points.

10:21 - If the diamonds in Marcus Camby's earrings get any bigger, he won't be able to hold his head up.

10:25 - Iverson has 14 points and 7 assists, and there are still 9 minutes until halftime. He's a one-man show, and he has to be right now.

10:35 - The Answer's been on the bench for a while now, and yes, this game is unbelievably boring without him. Not that we aren't huge Linas Kleiza fans.

10:42 - Iverson is now officially comfortable in his new surroundings. He just picked up his first technical as a Denver Nugget.

10:50 - News flash. Guys named Jell-O Bowl cannot guard Allen Iverson.

10:54 - Iverson makes a pass to Reggie Evans in the corner. Problem is Evans is on the bench and standing as he prepares to leave the court for halftime. Iverson doesn't realize this. It's halftime with Denver up 60-56.

11:16 - Ok, I don't think I'm going to make it.

11:19 - You gotta put a body on Iverson!!! He's got 29 points for Christ's sake!

11:40 - Okay. We quit. We gotta get up early, and this game is boring. Even with Iverson's performance.

Just in case you were wondering, Iverson would finish with 44 points and 10 assists in Denver's 112-98 victory.