The Basketball Diaries

New Orleans Hornets 117 Denver Nuggets 93

Would it be possible for ESPN/ABC, TNT, or NBA TV to start showing some damn Hornets games? I honestly had no idea they were doing so well this year until I was checking the standings last night and noticed the Hornets were the top seed in the West right now. The biggest reason, I'm guessing anyway because I haven't seen them play this year, is Chris Paul. Paul had a decent night on Monday, scoring 23 points, dishing out 17 assists, and grabbing 9 rebounds. He's reason enough to get this team some national exposure. He's a better player than Dwyane Wade (Yeah, I said it.) and he's on a better team, yet we're all forced to watch the Heat every weekend. Of course, watching the Hornets play will probably also serve to piss me off because not only will I have to see Tyson Chandler, but I'll have to see Tyson Chandler playing All-Star caliber basketball. I don't know if I'm quite ready for that.

Utah Jazz 97 San Antonio Spurs 91

Sticking with my theme of young point guards who I love watching play, we now turn our attention to Deron Williams and the Utah Jazz. San Antonio may have dominated Utah in the Western Conference Finals last season, but Utah dominated them on Monday night. The Jazz led the entire game thanks to Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko, who both scored 23 points, and the aforementioned Williams who had 11 points and 14 assists. Tim Duncan had 26 points for the Spurs, but he was the only San Antonio starter who scored more than 5 points. Add to that the 20 turnovers the Spurs committed, and they're not going to win many games like that.

Dallas Mavericks 103 Memphis Grizzlies 84

When the NBA decided to send the Mavs on an east coast trip through Boston, Detroit, and Orlando they probably thought to themselves, "Man. That's kinda tough don'tcha think? Maybe we should help them out a bit." So the NBA then decided to start Dallas' road trip with a quick stop in Memphis to face the Grizzlies. Dallas then thanked the NBA by shooting over 50% from the field and running away with this one, and they all lived happily ever after. Well, not the Grizzlies. They went home and cried because not only do they play on a bad team, but they also live in Memphis. There's a reason Elvis killed himself, people!

Elsewhere...

• Bobcats 107 Clippers 100