YAYsports! NBA

(The Cavalier is on an extended leave of absence. He did not write the following, although 60% of the time he enjoys guest posts every time.)

Good morning.  I am SML, the last of The Five Deadly Venoms: you’ve met The Centipede (Jordi’s internet connection), The Snake (Jack Cobra), The Scorpion (Ben, for his stinging criticism of Boston), The Lizard (Tar Heel), and now the Toad.  Toad style is immensely strong and immune to nearly any weapon; when it’s properly used it’s almost invincible.  In other words, if you want to contest me, I’ll be in the comments section waiting for you - bewarned, I’ve battled many a blogger, so come hard or don’t come at all.  Now, on to last night’s NBA action:

The Golden Path to the Basket: The Suns-Warriors game was quite a barnburner, with the Warriors winning 124-119.  The Warriors came out running, and they outran the Suns, getting fast breaks, open looks, and still managing to get back on defense (even off long rebounds), and got off to an incredible start.  They jumped out to an 18-6 start three minutes into the game, thanks to three 3PTMs by Jason Richardson; the Warriors had 32 points by the six minute mark, and ended the first quarter leading 45-33.  Imagine scoring 33 points, shooting 60%, being on pace for 130 points scored, and still getting outscored by 33% of your output.  Thanks to Richardson 7-7 FG (including 5 threes), 19 point first quarter, that was the case.

Baron Davis outplayed Steve Nash tonight, finishing with 21 points, 12 assists and 8 rebounds versus Nash’s 14 points and 9 assists.  Nash also got hit with a technical foul in the second half.  And Andris Biedrins just posterizing Nash and Amare Stoudemire with a vicious dunk. 

It wasn’t all bad news for the Suns tonight:  Boris Diaw had a better game than fellow Frenchie Mickael “EuroJordan” Pietrus.  And they get props for the “Hack-a-Latvian” stategy at the end of the game, in which they started intentionally fouling Biedrins (a 46% career FT mark).  At one point, after inbounding the ball, a Sun player fouled Biedrins while he was out of bounds and without possession of the ball.  It brought back fond memories to SML, of a 1996 Knicks-Magic game.  The year before Nick Anderson had his infamous FT breakdown in the Finals, and after that he could not hit free throws.  The Knicks needed to foul to get back into it, so Charles Oakley chased a very frightened Nick Anderson across the court, out of bounds and practically into the seats just so he could foul him.

Piston Whipped:  The Bulls pulled off a big win last night against the Pistons, 83-81.  The win leaves the Bulls a half game behind the Cavs for the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference. 

Tyrus Thomas had a double double (13 & 10), and the Bulls overall completely outrebounded the Pistons (51-37, including 22 offensive boards) allowing them to stay in the game despite the long scoring droughts that categorize their um, “offense”.  The second quarter was particularly arid, with Chicago only able to muster 13 points.  But their defense and rebounding kept them in the game.

Of course, if they could have hit some timely free throws in the 4th quarter (six late misses) they wouldn’t have had to get bailed out by a Carlos Delfino foul on Kirk Hinrich with 2.5 seconds left in a tied game.  We’re gonna chalk that foul up to karmic payback for Rasheed Wallace’s 60-footer to tie the game at the end of regulation in their OT win against the Nuggets the other night. 

It was a intense game, with five technicals called in total on both teams.  Big Ben wore Starburys.

The Third Tenor: Yeah, there was another game last night (one not televised on TNT).  In a game that might have lottery implications the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Portland Trail Blazers 96-92.  Despite 43 points from Zach Randolph, the Grizzlies won thanks to Fantasy Basketball Stud Tarence Kinsey’s 20-point game.  Two points to you if you know anything about Tarance Kinsey, beyond the fact that he is a pioneer in the area of human sexuality research.

Alright, here’s the agenda for rest of the day: I’ll have a post coming up later this morning, and then come back for our Friday Afternoon Contest on Trivia (special Yaysports edition), which will feature a prize.  That’s right, we have a real prize for ya’ll.  Because SML believes you can buy loyalty and friendship.  Go ahead, rip me in the comments… just remember: I’m your last hope and savior/watch your mouth stay on your best behavior/contest me, but bring some flava…