Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Around the NBA

SO  CLOSE...

It's just not Cleveland's year. Cleveland led by as many as 12 points in the second quarter against the Nets and really led just about the entire game. Even after they gave up the lead Joey Graham hit a huge 3 from the corner to tie the game at 101 with 7 seconds left. It still wasn't enough. Brook Lopez scored the game winner with a little over a second to go and Daniel Gibson's last ditch 3-pointer was just long and the Cavs have now lost 17 in a row. Another dagger into the hearts of Cavaliers fans. Anthony Parker was out for the 9th time in the last 10 games as his back continues to bother him so that didn't help, but Parker only scored 13 points total in the two previous games against New Jersey. Antawn Jamison continued to shoulder much of the scoring load leading the way 26 and J.J. Hickson, Daniel Gibson, Ramon Sessions and Graham all finished in double figures, but the losses continue to mount. The upside, if there is one, is that this was just the 3rd time during their losing streak that the Cavs scored over 100 points. Cleveland plays at Boston tonight and wraps up the month at home against Denver and on the road in Orlando and then at Miami.



FEELING THE LOVE

Kevin Love, that is. Just another ho-hum night from the league's leading rebounder last night. 34 minutes, 24 points, 17 rebounds including 9 on the offensive end, 11 for 11 from the free throw line... The guy is ridiculous. In 44 games this season Love has now had at least 17 rebounds 18 times, including 6 times this month. By comparison, the league's second leading rebounder, a guy by the name of Dwight Howard, has only pulled down at least 17 rebounds 10 times in 43 games. Now if only Minnesota could figure out how to string together some wins. Despite Love's performance, the Wolves dropped last night's game to the Rockets 129-125.



WHO WAS THAT GUY???

A sign of a good team is when you get contributions from all over your lineup. The Bulls fit that criteria to a tee. Battling through injuries, different players have had to step up and produce on different nights. Last night it was 38 year old center Kurt Thomas who came into last night's game against the Bucks averaging 4.2 points per game and with a single game season high of 12 points. Pitted against one of the league's top defensive centers (Andrew Bogut) all night, Thomas went to work and produced his biggest offensive night since January 25th... 2005, almost 6 years ago to the day. Back then Thomas was with the Knicks. The Bulls improved to 31-14 overall and 21-4 at the United Center with the win.

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