NBA Tid-Bits, Tuesday, Nov 23rd:

Tuesday night saw six matchups, including two that were decided in OT.

The Pacers downed the Cavs, 100-89, to win their second game in a row, their previous win came against the Heat. Indana is now 7-6, which puts them a half game behind Chicago in the Central division. Cleveland, now 5-8, have dropped their last three games and really seem to be in trouble. Darren Collinson has now been back for two games and the Pacers have won both. He played limited minutes (22) vs. Miami on Monday, but, saw 34 minutes against the Cavs and took full advantage of the playing time. He was 5-11 from the field, including a 3 and added 7-8 from the line to end with 18 points for the evening. Danny Granger led all scorers with 24, Brandon Rush had 16 and Mike Dunleavy chipped in 10 as the Pacers rolled. Indiana should continue to get solid play from Granger and Collinson, with the added support of their role players, Dunleavy, Rush, Hibbert, McRoberts and Hansbrough, they should be a pretty tough division foe for the Bulls down the stretch.

The Nets (5-9) knocked off the the fading Hawks (8-7) in overtime to defend their home floor, on Tuesday night. New Jersey, led by Brook Lopez and Devin Harris really needed this game, not so much for their playoff hopes, because let's face it, playoff hopes are a pipe dream for this team, but, because Lopez has been struggling and really had a huge performance against the Hawks, who are supposed to be a contender in the East. Lopez led all scorers with 32, on 12-19 shooting from the field, he also pulled in 9 boards, with only 1 turnover. Devin Harris chipped in 27, on 9-17 from the field, including three 3-pointers. Other players in double figures for the Nets were Kris Humphries (12) and Anthony Morrow (13). Atlanta is really starting to fall quickly, after starting the season 6-0, they have now lost 7 of their last 9 games, to fall backwards, almost to .500 on the season. Atlanta only attempted 13 free throws, compared to the Nets 33. Jamal Crawford led the way for the Hawks off the bench with 21, including 3-3 from three-point-land in the Loss, Horford and Joe Johnson combined for 30, while Josh Smith added 20. Atlanta had better figure out a way to end this slide and get back on track because, Orlando and Miami are already thinking about April. The Hawks will catch a bit of a break over the next five games, with the Wizards, Sixers and Grizz at home, Knicks and Raptors on the road. Then the fun begins with Orlando and Miami on the road.

The next overtime game was The Wizards vs. the Sixers, two young teams, trying to find their way in the ever-maturing, Eastern Conference. The Wiz, led by the ever impressive, John Wall and a growing JaVale McGee were able to withstand nine lead changes and three ties to escape Philly and a powerful performance from Andre Iguodala. Iggy, who has had his share of troubles this season, almost notched a triple-double, clocking 23 points, 11 rebounds and 8 dimes to, hopefully, break out of his early season slump. Elton Brand chipped in 19, which looks like something we should start getting used to, and five other Sixers reached double figures, Young (15), Speights (16), Nocioni (11), Holiday (10) and Turner (11). Philly has a young team, with plenty of talent, if Iggy and Brand can take control of this team and bring these younger guys to the next level, they could sneak an 8th seed and maybe give some teams trouble in the playoffs. John Wall was back and led all scorers with 25 off of the bench, including three free throws to send this thing into overtime. McGee had 24 points, 18 boards and 4 rejections, including a huge pass and slam from John Wall for the bucket, plus a free throw, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMGyKnR8OXg, that sent Brand packing with 3:32 to go in the 4th.  Arenas and Blatche both had 17 and Nick Young added 19 to round out all Wizards in double figures.

The Knicks topped the Bobcats 110-107 for their 4th straight victory. They seem to be meshing well, and i give a lot of the credit to Raymond Felton, Felton has emerged as top point guard this season and has finally seemed to find his way in the NBA. Felton, who had 16 points and 9 assists is averaging just under 18 ppg with 8 assists on the season, add in the fact that this kid sees the floor well and is a hard-nosed defender and you can see why he has been a breath of fresh air for Knick's fans. The five year guard out of UNC has really done a great job at connecting with the Knicks big gun, Amare Stoudemire, and has also done a great job at fitting, coach Mike D'Antoni's system of basketball. Felton and Gallinari hit four free throws in the last 15 seconds to seal the win for NY. Tony Douglas led all Knicks, with 22 points off the bench. The Knicks look good and they're starting to find that oh so important, team chemistry. Charlotte (5-10) is having trouble this season and will be vying for a playoff spot in a crowded Southeast division. Things aren't looking to get any easier for the Bobcats, as this should prove to be a long season. They'll be competing with Orlando, Miami, Atlanta and Washington, in what is quickly becoming one of the toughest divisions in basketball. Felton's replacement in Charlotte, D.J. Augustin, has stepped it up this season, he had 24  points and 7 dimes, to lead all scorers in the game, Gerald Wallace had 20 and Stephen Jackson chipped in 18 in the loss.

Dallas downs the Pistons, 88-84. Dirk Nowitzki pours in a season high 42 points and pulls down 12 rebounds in the win. Jason Kidd played his 1,200th game, Richard "Rip" Hamilton also reached a milestone, playing his 800th game. Kidd would finish the game with 7 points, 11 assists and 4 rebounds, Jason Terry had 16 and Caron Butler added 11. The Pistons had 4 players in double figures, Prince and Stuckey each had 19, while Maxiell and Gordan kicked in 10 apiece. Detroit (5-10) appears to be the early candidate for bottom-feeder of the Central division, while we're still trying to get a fix on Dallas. They have a superstar in Dirk and great role players in Terry, Kidd, Marion and Butler, now we'll have to wait and see if they can make it work.

Lakers/Bulls recap:

The Lakers win, 98-91 behind Shannon Brown and Lamar Odom who each had 21 in the contest, Brown's stock couldn't be higher at this point and Odom has been a solid mismatch scorer for the past few seasons. Kobe chipped in 20, while Gasol had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Derrick Rose led the way for Chicago, with 30 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds, Noah had 19 points, 13 boards and 3 blocked shots, Taj Gibson had 16 and 12 rebounds, while Luol Deng pitched in 13 points to round out all Bulls in double figures.

Millsap Snubbed?

The 2010/11 all-star ballot was released this week and the NBA is already catching fire for leaving a certain player's name off of the bid. This seems to happen every season and most of the time there is an easy explanation for why guys get "snubbed". Most of the time, these "snubs" happen because there are FAR too many players who are worthy of this honor, and let's face it, there are 30 teams in the NBA, there are five starters on each team and many of these teams have a productive player coming off the bench (the 6th man). Do the math, that makes over one-hundred-and-fifty players, vying for a seat at this glorious event, each season. With all of these possible suitors scrambling to claim a piece of the pie, someone who deserves the chance is bound to be left hanging. Right? Well, in this case, i believe the NBA should be ashamed. Paul Millsap has been an absolute nightmare off of the bench this season, he has 20.8 ppg, on 57.5% shooting from the field, while pulling in 9.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and more than a steal per contest and he's playing 37+ minutes per game. These are all career highs for Millsap, and let's not forget the 46 points he dumped on Lebron and company, to beat the Heat in OT, Millsap also tipped in a put-back to force the OT and ended OT on a pair of free throws. Further more, Millsap has been completely modest about the whole thing, he hasn't complained, he's just taken his lumps in stride and continued to do his job. That speaks a lot about the character of a guy. Think back to the off-season, when Boozer went to Chicago, there were a lot of people left wondering what the Jazz would do to replace him. I honestly thought it was a great move, let Boozer, his injuries and his bloated contract head to Chicago because, the Jazz have this 25 year old kid named Paul Millsap, who has already proved to be a beast when given PT. Then, instead of inserting Millsap into their starting lineup as the premiere inside presence, they sign Al Jefferson and Millsap becomes their 6th man. Millsap says fine, takes his lumps and does his job. This is the kind of player we should have on the ballot every single year. Plays hard, has the numbers, keeps his mouth closed, does his job and performs at the highest level.

Here are some forwards who have been far less productive, yet, they're named to the ballot and Millsap isn't.
Carlos Boozer
Boris Diaw
Antawn Jamison
Linas Kleiza
Rashard Lewis
Corey Maggette
Troy Murphy
Thaddeus Young..

We can all do our part by voting at NBA.com and writing in Millsap as your not-ballot vote. Each voter gets one non-ballot player to write in, you can vote once per day, and i plan to vote Millsap every day until they name the roster.

 

20,000 for Pierce:

Paul Pierce has reached his 20,00th career NBA point, on Wednesday night, in Boston. This is a great acheivement, and it was nice to see a player, such a Pierce, reach this feat, and to do it with only one team (The Celtics), on his homecourt, in front of 18,624 Celtics fans, who have cheered for Pierce since entering the league in 1998. This really is a special and rare thing to see in sports, today. Not many players reach the milestone of 20,000, and to do so with just one team, it really is rare. You don't even have to be a Boston, or Paul Pierce fan to enjoy this accomplishment. It's a great thing, and it's good for the sport. Pierce is in his 13th season (all with Boston) and has been one of the best Celtics players of all time, in my opinion. Pierce became the 37th NBA player to reach the 20,000 point mark and just the 3rd Celtic to do so. Pierce joins John Havlicek (26,395) and Larry Bird (21,791) and really seals his identity with the Boston Celtics franchise.

"Five years ago, I never would have dreamed I would have been scoring my 20,000th point in a Celtics jersey"-Pierce

Pierce's 20,00th point came on the first of two free throws, with 15.5 seconds left in OT, as the Celtics defeated the Bucks, in Boston on Wednesday night. http://www.nba.com/video/games/celtics/2010/11/03/0021000058_mil_bos_recap.nba/?ls=iref:nbahpt1. Congrats, Paul Pierce! Pierce may have locked in his HOF votes already. I believe he's a dead lock for the HOF if he is able to lead the Celtics to another NBA championship, but, the door is closing fast, Boston is not getting any younger and neither is Pierce. Racking up 20,000 points in a Celtics jersey should really add ammo to Pierce's HOF arguement, when the time comes.  

Factors for Pierce making the HOF:
20,000 points:

8-Time all star:

Has lead the Celtics to the playoffs from 2001-02-Present:

Has lead the Celtics to an NBA title in 2008 (maybe another yet to come):

Played his entire career for one of the most celebrated franchises in sports:

Career averages of 22.5 ppg, 6.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting .445 from the field and, .370 from 3-point-land and .802 from the line:

889 career games and counting.

Trading Josh Smith?

So, Al Horford gets a contract extension from the Hawks on Monday, netting the former Florida standout, $60 million (5 years) and now, Josh Smith is popping up in trade rumors. Who knows if the Hawks really want to deal Smith, or if they're even entertaining the idea of trading him, but, the question that remains is, can they afford to keep him? As of right now, the Atlanta Hawks have some large contracts floating around, Joe Johnson ($18.5 million in 2011-12), Josh Smith ($12.5 million in 2011-12), Marvin Williams ($8 million in 2011-12) and toss in the $12 million that Horford is owed through 2011-12 and, we have an issue. Smith seems to be the guy that could be left out in the cold here. The problem for Rick Sund and company will be, do they really wanna deal Josh Smith? Here are some things that Rick Sund is mulling over right now. Smith has averaged 2.4 blocks per game for his career, 3rd in the league last season, behind only Dwight Howard and Andrew Bogut, infact, Smith was the only player to finish in the top 15 in blocks per game, who doesn't play the center position.

He is clearly their best defender inside, the Hawks enforcer, if you will. He is the guy who discourages guards from setting up shop in the lane, these type of players are hard to replace, he's a highlight reel waiting to happen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXdfH5BslOg, this is one of the most athletic players in basketball, today, if you ask me. He averages over a steal per contest, is a potential double-double guy (points and rebounds), hustles and has really started to get away from bad habits. Many people may not recall that there was a time where Josh Smith thought he was a 3-point shooter, seriously. He was taking far too many three's, for a player of his archetype. This guy is a shot-blocker, dunker, slasher, garbage-time-guy. He does the dirty work and makes this team better.

Josh Smith's 3-Point shooting by the numbers:
2005-06- 34-110, .309%
2006-07- 38-152, .250%
2007-08- 25-99, .253%
2008-09- 26-87, .299%
2009-10- 0-7, .000% (but, at least he only shot 7 all season)

I just won't understand what the Hawks are thinking if they part ways with Smith, they have Horford, don't get me wrong, i love Horford, great rebounder, good shot blocker and he has more offensive upside than Smith, they have an aging Mike Bibby, he's good for another season, MAYBE. Another guy i love is Joe Johnson, but, he's on the wrong side of 30 with a huge contract, that never translates into good things for a team, Marvin Williams is athletic and has a lot of upside, Zaza can play great ball at times, horrible attitude, but, he can do his job on most nights. The one thing that none of these guys have, outside of Marvin Williams, is athleticism. If the Hawks lose Smith, they lose most of their interior defense and a great hustle player. Atlanta went 53-29 last season (3rd best in the east), they play in the toughest division in the east, hands down, they will play Orlando, Miami and Charlotte (all playoff teams from last season), 4 times each to fight for the Southeast division, and guess what? The Southwest didn't get any less tough, they added Lebron and Chris Bosh. The last thing Atlanta should do is get less athletic. It doesn't make sense, part ways with somebody else, do whatever you can. Just keep Smith! That is their best bet.

Rondo/Gasol Named Players of the Week:

Today, the league named Boston Celtics guard, Rajon Rondo, and Los Angeles Lakers center, Pau Gasol, Eastern and Western Conference players of the week, respectively, for their play Tuesday, Oct 26, through Sunday, Oct 31.

Two players on contending teams who have really gotten off to nice starts this season. The Lakers have started off 3-0, with Gasol averaging 25.3 ppg, on .525 shooting from the field, 10.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per contest.

The big man from Spain, who is sometimes criticized for being soft, has been in true form through these first 3 games. He started hot at home, where the Rockets had no answer for the Spaniard, as he poured in 29 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks. Houston really couldn't come up with an answer for the 7-footer, and ultimately lost the game. He continued his great play with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists, in Phoenix, to help nix Steve Nash and the struggling Suns. His finished the week of play with 26 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists, to trump the Warriors, 107-83, at home.

Gasol is really starting to put his name on this basketball team, and Kobe doesn't really seem to mind the help. I actually have to give the "Black Mamba" a ton of credit on this one. We may be seeing the first time that Kobe has actually opened up the door and truly welcomed in another superstar player. This really shows Kobe's maturity and will to win. Gasol will help this team win more rings, and is more than capable to carry his share of the load. Pau does look to lack toughness at times, but, he seems to really have that look in his eyes, so far, and i think you have to believe that LA is the team to beat.

On the other end of this award, we have the scrappy Rajon Rondo, a Kentucky product, the 4 year pro has really started to become the face of the Boston Celtics and looks like he'll be a nice replacement when Paul Pierce retires, and with good reason. He is an absolute athletic nightmare for opposing teams. Although, he still lacks a reliable jumper and isn't a threat from deep, his defensive genius and crafty ball-handling make him a constant headache for coaches and opposing players, alike. Let's face it, trying to emerge from behind the shadows of Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett is no easy task. You're talking three possible HOFer's who still have a little hop in their step, but, it's becoming more and more clear that the Celtics are, infact, Rondo's team. Rondo's week started with a great win at home against Dwyane Wade and the "new look" Miami Heat, Rondo scored just 4 points but had 5 rebounds, 2 steals and a whopping, 17 assists. He went on to have 18 points, 9 assists and 3 steals as Boston fell to the Lebron-less Cavs, in Cleveland. Two nights later the Celtic's bounced back, defeating the Knicks, 105-101, in Boston, Rondo had 10 points, 7 rebounds and a career high, 24 assists. I believe that Boston will be a top 3 playoff seed, in the East and have a strong chance of making another finals appearance, behind the play of their all star guard.