The Basketball Diaries

Chicago Bulls 103 Atlanta Hawks 94

I was at work on Tuesday night talking with my friend Marcus about how much we hate the Bulls and we'd like to punch every single player in the face. All of them except for one, that is. We both came to the conclusion that we love Drew Gooden. He's been the only good thing to come of this season so far. Little did we know that a few miles away at the United Center, Drew was having a monster performance against the Hawks. Gooden scored 31 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead the Bulls over the Hawks as they desperately try to steal a playoff berth. "I've been feeling good as of late, comfortable in the offense and getting my shot in rhythm, whereas when I first got here I couldn't knock down the outside shot for nothing because I didn't know when it was coming," Gooden said. "I'm confident. I feel every time I shoot, it's going to go in and tonight it just happened to go in."

San Antonio Spurs 107 Orlando Magic 97

The Spurs have gotten their act together again, winning their 4th straight game on Tuesday night after going 1-5 in a six game stretch earlier this month. Manu Ginobili had 28 points, Michael Finley had 24, and Tim Duncan contributed 19 points and 15 rebounds. The Spurs were also able to force Orlando to try and drive the lane instead of relying on the outside shot as they normally do. "We made a decision to make them penetrate," Ginobili said. "We were not going to let Rashard [Lewis], Hedo [Turkoglu] and Keith [Bogans] take wide-open shots." The strategy worked too because even though Dwight Howard managed 24 points and 21 rebounds for the Magic, it wasn't enough to overcome the Spurs.

Utah Jazz 128 Charlotte Bobcats 106

The Jazz were having such an easy time with the Bobcats on Tuesday night, they decided to make things a bit more interesting in the 4th quarter. After allowing the Bobcats to cut a 20-point lead down to three, the Jazz quickly built the lead right back up to 20 as they seemingly toyed with Charlotte. "We weren't exactly clicking for a while," said Kyle Korver, who made three 3-pointers during Utah's 17-6 run in the fourth. Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with 28 points and 13 boards while Deron Williams scored 14 and handed out 15 assists.

Elsewhere...

• Hornets 114 Pacers 106
• Mavs 103 Clippers 90
• Blazers 102 Wizards 82

The Basketball Diaries

Cleveland Cavaliers 118 Orlando Magic 111

The Cavs game on Sunday ended with a sulking LeBron James sitting at the end of the bench, giving his teammates the cold shoulder as Cleveland was on the wrong end of a 30-point ass-whooping by the Nuggets. Apparently, LeBron was getting tired of having to carry the entire Cavaliers team on his shoulders. Well, on Monday his team got the message, or at least Larry Hughes did. Hughes scored 40 points to add to LeBron's 29 and 10 assists as the Cavs beat Orlando on the road Monday night.

Philadelphia 76ers 84 Dallas Mavericks 76

Mavs owner Mark Cuban recently came out and said that Dallas would not be making any trade for Jason Kidd before the trading deadline. His reasoning being that New Jersey wanted half of Dallas' roster, and that Mark likes the team he currently has. I wonder if after seeing them play on Monday night, could he possibly feel the same way? The Mavs were only able to score 23 points in the second half, as the Sixers won their fourth straight game behind Andre Miller's 21 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals.

Los Angeles Lakers 106 Charlotte Bobcats 97

So far for the Lakers the trade for Pau Gasol is working out splendidly. Gasol scored 26 points on Monday night, while Kobe Bryant scored 31 to lead the Lakers improve their record on their current road trip to 6-2. "Adding Pau to the mix, we have something that has to be dealt with," said Bryant after the Lakers improved to 4-1 since the trade for their new big man. Kobe's not kidding either. Once Bynum comes back, teams are going to have a hard time matching up with a front court that consists of three athletic forwards who are all at least 6'10 in Gasol, Bynum, and Lamar Odom. Oh, and they have to guard Kobe too.

Elsewhere...

• Spurs 93 Raptors 88
• Clippers 96 Bucks 89
• Rockets 95 Blazers 83
• Warriors 120 Wizards 117

The Basketball Diaries

Boston Celtics 98 San Antonio Spurs 90

Boston's dominance over the Western Conference (16-0) continued on Sunday with a win over the Spurs, and they beat the defending champs without Kevin Garnett. In the seven games the Celtics have played without Garnett, they're 5-2 so maybe they'd be willing to trade him. John Paxson should give them a call. Anyway, Paul Pierce scored 35 points, Ray Allen had 19, and Rajon Rondo had 12 assists and 11 rebounds to lead Boston. "I just have to give credit to the whole bench being ready, turning the game around," Pierce said, also praising Rondo for leading the team in rebounds three times since Garnett went out. "Every time he leads the team in rebounds, we win. So keep crashing the boards, Rondo."

Phoenix Suns 108 Washington Wizards 107

There's still no Shaquille O'Neal in Phoenix, but it isn't really slowing the team down. Amare Stoudemire is manning the middle just fine, as he scored 31 points to lead the Suns on Sunday, including two free throws in the final seconds to ice the game. Amare also had 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. "I just focus in on the game and what the game brings forth," Stoudemire said. "Each year I try to improve on something, last year was my jumper, this year it's defense."

Detroit Pistons 113 Charlotte Bobcats 87

The Pistons had an easy time extending their winning streak to eight games on Sunday with a blowout win over the Bobcats. After taking control in the first quarter, outscoring Charlotte 29-13, the Pistons just cruised from there. Tayshaun Prince scored 21 points, 14 of which came in that first quarter, and Richard Hamilton had 18 to lead Detroit. "We've got things rolling right now, especially at home," said Prince, who hit four of Detroit's eight first-half 3-pointers. "They were doing a lot of doubling, and we were getting a lot of good looks outside. We just had to be ready to knock them down."

Elsewhere...

• Lakers 104 Heat 94
• Nets 101 Mavs 82
• Raptors 105 TWolves 82
• Nuggets 113 Cavs 83

The Basketball Diaries

Charlotte Bobcats 95 Boston Celtics 83

From the "How The Hell Did That Happen Dept." we get this: The Charlotte Bobcats beat the Celtics on Wednesday night. In Boston. The same Bobcats who were 1-11 on the road going into last night against those same Celtics who were 29-3 and 16-1 at home. Is Ray Allen, who missed the game with a pinched nerve, that important to the Celtics? Jason Richardson had the big night for the Bobcats, scoring 34 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. "I'm not surprised because we're a pretty good team," Richardson said. "It just doesn't show in our record."

Dallas Mavericks 102 Detroit Pistons 86

Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs jumped out on the Pistons with a big first quarter, and the Mavericks were able to hold off the Pistons from there on out. It's the second straight loss for the Pistons, who just had an 11-game win streak snapped in their last game against the Celtics. "Always when you're playing at a high level, you're always concerned at some point about a little let-up," coach Flip Saunders said. "You can have a let-up, you cannot play well, but it shouldn't affect your effort. I didn't think we gave a consistent effort."

Elsewhere...

• Hawks 90 Cavs 81
• Raptors 109 Sixers 96
• Nets 99 Sonics 88
• Rockets 101 Knicks 92
• Lakers 109 Hornets 80
• Bucks 98 Heat 92
• Suns 129 Pacers 122 OT
• Blazers 109 Warriors 91
• Magic 113 Clippers 106

The Basketball Diaries

Chicago Bulls 109 Charlotte Bobcats 97

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, if the Bulls could play the Bobcats every game they'd be the greatest team the NBA has ever seen. I mean, even Joakim Noah looked like an offensive threat last night, scoring a career high 17 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. Ben Gordon also had another big game coming off of the bench to lead the Bulls with 22 points. Ever since Jim Boylan took over, the Bulls are 3-1 and it seems everything Boylan is trying is working. "Sometimes you go the way the game is going," Boylan said about his decision to go big to counter Charlotte's three-guard lineup. "If things are going well for you, then your enthusiasm and your concentration and our focus is really sharp. Tonight [Noah] was very focused, his energy was infectious to our guys and it really gave us a lift." Luol Deng also had a big night, scoring 21 points and pulling down 13 boards.

Detroit Pistons 106 Washington Wizards 93

While everyone continues to focus on the Boston Celtics, the Pistons are just somehow managing to fly under the radar, and they're still the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. On Wednesday night the Pistons won their 10 straight game to improve to 25-7 on the season. Rip Hamilton had a big night for Detroit, scoring 20 points while getting 7 rebounds and dishing out 9 assists.

Boston Celtics 97 Houston Rockets 93

Though don't get me wrong, even though I think the Pistons are still the best team in the Eastern Conference, it doesn't mean I think the Celtics suck or anything. I mean, with their latest win over the Rockets they've improved to 27-3 on the season. And yes, if they keep playing this way for the rest of the season they'll finish the season with 74 wins and beat the Bulls mark of 72 victories in a regular season. Fortunately, they still have to play the Pistons three more times.

Elsewhere...

• Cavs 98 Hawks 94
• Grizzlies 90 Pacers 72
• Nets 96 Magic 95
• Bucks 103 Heat 98
• Kings 107 Knicks 97
• Blazers 90 TWolves 79
• Mavs 121 Warriors 99
• Jazz 110 Sixers 107
• Hornets 95 Clippers 81

The Basketball Diaries

Detroit Pistons 104 Charlotte Bobcats 85

The Pistons had a pretty easy time with the Bobcats on Sunday. They had a double digit lead halfway through the first quarter, and they never gave it up from there. Charlotte had just ended a seven game losing streak on Saturday night before having to turn around and play a Pistons team on a day of rest. Being a good coach, Sam Vincent sensed an opportunity to use that as an excuse, and he went for it. "We ran out of gas in the first five minutes of the game," Charlotte coach Sam Vincent said. "Right now, it is tough for us in back-to-back situations, because we just don't have the depth. We played a tough game last night and then had to get on a plane and come here."

Los Angeles Lakers 123 Golden State Warriors 113

Make no mistake about it, Golden State is the L.A's bitch. The Lakers win on Sunday night was their ninth straight over the Warriors. Kobe had 28 points, 20 of which came in the second half, to lead the Lakers but it wasn't a one man show. Andruw Bynum took advantage of his size all night and tied his career high with 20 points. He also had 11 rebounds and 5 blocks. "It's a game of matchups," said Bryant, who had six rebounds and a season-high eight assists. "They pride themselves on playing small ball. We match up pretty well with them."

New Orleans Hornets 91 Seattle Sonics 88

Chris Paul had a career high 43 points in the last game he played on Friday night against Memphis, but on Sunday night he chose to go team route. Along with hitting a 28-foot three to beat the shot clock late in the fourth quarter that iced it, he also scored 26 more points and handed out 10 assists. Paul's had to carry more of the load without Peja Stojakovic and Morris Peterson in the lineup, and he's handling it pretty well. And he's getting lucky too. "I love the shots with the shot clock running down," Paul said, winking. "Nobody expects me to make them. "It was probably like a lucky shot," Paul added. "I knew once the shot clock was running down, I was going to shoot it and luckily I made one. If that doesn't go, the whole tempo of the game may change. Crazy stuff happens and I'll take it."

Elsewhere...

• Raptors 93 Rockets 80
• Heat 100 Clippers 94
• Blazers 117 Bucks 113 OT
• Wizards 104 Nets 89

The Basketball Diaries

Chicago Bulls 91 Charlotte Bobcats 82

All season long Scott Skiles has been looking for some combination between his players that would lead to success. He may have found it on Wednesday night. In the 4th quarter the Bulls featured a lineup of Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Joakim Noah, Andres Nocioni and Chris Duhon. All those five die was outscore Charlotte 38-22 during the final quarter, and win the game for the Bulls. Deng finished the game with 30 points and 5 rebounds, while Nocioni added 15 of his own. Kirk Hinrich and Ben Wallace? They combined to score 0 points. "I don't know anybody that wants to be in that position where you're always searching for combinations out there," Skiles said. "But unfortunately, that's kind of where we are right now."

Los Angeles Lakers 111 Denver Nuggets 107

It took a month, but the NBA finally had it's first 50-point scorer of the season on Wednesday. Allen Iverson scored 51 points to lead Denver. The problem is, 49 of those 51 came in the first three quarters, and the Lakers owned the 4th quarter. Kobe had 25, Vladimir Radmanovic had 21, and Derek Fisher had 20 to lead the Lakers to a road win. Iverson couldn't lead Denver to victory, but he did find a subtle way to blame the rest of his team for the loss. "When somebody gets 49 points in the first three quarters obviously its going to draw attention to the other team," said Iverson, whose career high of 60 came against Orlando on Feb. 12, 2005. "When somebody's got 49 points they want to make sure I get the ball out of my hands, and that's what they did. My responsibly is to give it up and my teammates had to make plays."

San Antonio Spurs 97 Dallas Mavericks 95

Even without Tim Duncan, the Spurs still own the Mavericks. It's the games without Duncan in which we all get a reminder of just how good Manu Ginibili really is. Manu picked up the slack and led the Spurs with 37 points. "I woke up feeling pretty good. ... After I saw I could dribble and shoot pretty well, I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to try and help the guys," Ginobili said. Tony Parker had 23 points of his own to help San Antonio.

Elsewhere...

• Celtics 113 Sixers 103
• Wizards 105 Cavs 86
• Suns 136 Raptors 123
• Knicks 100 Nets 93
• Pistons 91 Hornets 76
• Rockets 105 Grizzlies 92
• Warriors 120 Bucks 90
• Sonics 95 Clippers 88

The Basketball Diaries: The Battle For #2

Toronto Raptors 103 Chicago Bulls 89

With all the talk about the Bulls and Cavs fighting each other for the second spot in the East, we've all seemed to forget about the Raptors. Not anymore. With a big win over the Bulls in Toronto on Sunday, the Raptors only trail the Bulls by 1.5 games for the #2 seed. Chris Bosh had 22 points and 11 boards, while Anthony Parker killed the Bulls from behind the arc with a career high 27 points. "This is a very big win for us," Bosh said. "It's a team that we could see in the playoffs. We just wanted to set the tone and show people that we are very serious about protecting this home court."

Detroit Pistons 87 Cleveland Cavaliers 82

Luckily for Bulls fans, the Pistons beat the Cavs Sunday afternoon so the Bulls didn't lose their grasp of the #2 seed. The Pistons were able to keep LeBron grounded with 20 points, but he was only 5/16 from the field. He also missed some key free throws down the stretch as the Pistons were able to hold on.

Charlotte Bobcats 116 Miami Heat 103 OT

Dwyane Wade is done faking his injury! Apparently that's bad news for the Miami Heat because they got beat at home by the Bobcats with him. The Bobcats have no chance to make the playoffs obviously, but they're playing pretty well over the last month. I think next season they'll actually make the playoffs, but if they don't, I never said that. Gerald Wallace led Charlotte with 30 points to score a very big win in Miami.

Elsewhere...

• Suns 115 Lakers 107
• Sixers 109 Hawks 104 OT
• Rockets 112 Kings 106
  

The Basketball Diaries - Who Peed In Rip's Cheerios?

Chicago Bulls 106 Detroit Pistons 88

The Bulls handled the Pistons pretty easily thanks to a third quarter run, and 29 points from Kirk Hinrich. Last week they just held on to beat a Pistons team without Rip Hamilton and Chris Webber, and last night they blew them out in Detroit without Ben Wallace or Ben Gordon. Gordon played, but only for 12 minutes with 2 points. Speaking of Rip, what the hell? After elbowing Tyrus Thomas in the throat, he tried to elbow him in the chest again and the two had to be separated. Both received technical fouls, but as Ty walked away, Rip stalked after him. For some reason, Thomas was ejected from the game too.

Charlotte Bobcats 108 Washington Wizards 100

Things are going south for the Wizards fast. They've now lost two in a row to the Bobcats, and after losing Caron Butler to a broken hand, Agent Zero had to leave the game with a sprained left knee. Gerald Wallace came down from a reverse layup, and landed on Arenas' leg, causing the injury. The Wiz better hope it's nothing serious, because with the playoffs looming, losing two of your All-Stars isn't exactly the prescription for playoff success.

Denver Nuggets 115 Sacramento Kings 110

Carmelo scored 31 points, his fourth straight 30-point game. You know, that's just not as impressive after Kobe's run lately. Sorry, Melo, but it's true. George Karl also returned to the bench for the Nuggets after missing time to be with his son. "He's doing great," the coach said of his son. "I think we can move to another chapter. My big thing is to hopefully make Coby cancer free for the rest of his life."

Elsewhere...

• Raptors 111 Magic 108
• Nets 101 Hawks 86
• Sixers 92 Knicks 90
• Hornets 101 Sonics 92
• Bucks 98 Celtics 89
• Warriors 110 Rockets 99
• Blazers 94 Jazz 89
• Clippers 90 Lakers 82
  

Michael Jordan, NBA Pimp

In a news conference last Tuesday, Michael Jordan, part-owner of Charlotte Bobcats, mentioned he liked the look of Kevin Durant:

"The kid in Texas [shows] all the right signs. But it's still college and not the pros. Physically, I don't know whether he can stand [up to] an 82-game season or the physical [nature of] our game."

Well, that didn't sit too well with the Grand Pooh Bah Stern and the flying monkeys in the NBA front office. Apparently, they believe Jordan's qualified praise could be taken as a potential inducement for Durant to turn pro early.

So they've fined the Bobcats $15,000.

However, the NBA front offices felt Jordan's transgression wasn't quite as bad as Celtics GM Danny Ainge, who sat in Kevin's mother's lap during the Big 12 Tournament and hand-fed her chocolate-dipped strawberries. That cost him thirty large.

By the way, the article also mentioned Jordan almost never gives interviews to the media. I'm sure this experience will inspire him to change that approach real soon.

Unless, of course, it's what he planned all along.

The Basketball Diaries-Down Goes Dallas!

Golden State Warriors 117 Dallas Mavericks 100

The Warriors are my new favorite team. Finally, somebody beat Dallas. I'm not sure how they did it. Does Don Nelson know the secrets of his former team? Was it just one of those nights where everything went the Warriors way? Nope. It was those ugly ass uniforms the Warriors were wearing. How can the Mavs be expected to score while being blinded by those things? I'm sure the 23 Dallas turnovers didn't help much either. Dallas has 20 games left, and they have to lose three of them if the Bulls 72 win season is to remain safe.

Charlotte Bobcats 119 Orlando Magic 108

The Bobcats looked like the Mavericks last night. They had 39 assists on 42 field goals, and they made the Magic look like the team that was out of the playoff race. Derek Anderson had 24 points and 10 assists while leading Charlotte. Dwight Howard did score 24 points and grab 10 boards, but 16 of his points came in the 4th quarter when the outcome had already been decided.

Phoenix Suns 103 Houston Rockets 82

I think it's safe to say that Leandro Barbosa is going to win the Sixth Man of the Year award. Barbosa scored 32 points for the second time in three games as Phoenix had their way with Houston. "I've never seen anybody as fast as this kid," the Rockets' Tracy McGrady said. "He's unbelievable. He's really Speedy Gonzalez out there. He's playing out of his mind right now." Shawn Marion didn't have a half-bad night either with 14 points, 15 boards, 3 blocks and 2 steals.

Elsewhere...

• Raptors 108 Bucks 93
• Nets 113 Grizzlies 102