Every morning, we’ll give you five things from the night before in the NBA to start your day.
1: Who does Gregg Popovich work for?
There was some debate last night over a classic Pop move. With the Spurs riding an 11 game winning streak, he sat Tim Duncan and Tony Parker with Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter out with injuries. The result was a 40 point loss to Portland.
On one side of the debate: Pop works for the Spurs, and his job is to win a title in San Antonio. And with compressed season and an aging roster, sometimes guys just have to sit. Pop decided last night was the night. Of course the other guys on the team were TRYING to win, but the Spurs had their “C” team against the Blazers.
On the other side: Pop is an NBA employee, and basketball is a spectator sport. Without spectators, there is no sport. And of the 20,567 people who showed up last night, a good 12,000-15,000 may not get to another game (just a guess at non-season ticket holders). So each team owes it to the paying customers to put their best product on the floor.
Each side makes a good case.
Personally, I’m on the first side. I’d like to think most NBA fans are. When you ask a fan of any particular team what they want MOST for their team, I’m betting almost all of them will say an NBA title. For different teams, that means different things. And for the Spurs, that means preserving your starters. So you have to understand when the Spurs are playing their fifth game in seven nights, you might not see a couple of guys.
And besides… I’m not sure any Blazers are complaining. They needed an easy one.
2: Memphis is running hot and cold
Memphis beat Philly last night, but for the third time in four games, they came out to a BLAZING hot start followed by a horribly cold stretch that made things harder than they should have been. Against Denver on Friday, they went up 34-15 after one, but only won the game by one point. The next night in Golden State, the Grizzlies came out to a 27-9 lead, and finished the quarter leading 34-19. But they followed that up by letting the Warriors rip off a 37-20 quarter of their own. Memphis held on for a one point win.
Last night, they led 30-10 after one. But then Philly put up a 32-17 quarter to cut the lead to five at halftime. Memphis slowly pulled away over the rest of game to ultimately win by 13, but that still doesn’t change their need to capitalize on these hot starts. In this lockout shortened season, you have to take advantage of opportunities to rest. I don’t care how young or old your team is, your body can use a break after the beating it’s taking on an almost nightly basis.
The Grizzlies are still maturing, and this is a huge step in the process. They still won the games in which they came out hot, but those should have been laughers. You have to capitalize on opportunities that present themselves, or else it will eventually cost you.
3: HIGHLIGHTS!!!
This is sick. LeBron with the big blocked shot, then he flips a full court alley oop to Dwyane Wade
Tyreke Evans beats the buzzer from half court
Marcus Camby throws the alley oop to LaMarcus Aldridge
4: Line of the Night: Dwyane Wade – 30 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists
The Miami Heat are now the best team in the NBA, moving percentage points ahead of the Bulls and Thunder. Last night’s win was their 7th straight, all of them by double digits. Wade scored his ultra-efficient 30 by hitting on 11 of 16 shots and 8 of 10 free throws as the Heat toyed with Sacramento before pulling away.
These guys are rolling. I feel like they could, if they chose, go on an epic, never-lose-again run to finish this season out. Of course, they won’t, but they’re so good right now, they probably could.
5: You can quote me on that
“He’s one of the weakest guys to ever play the game. He’s a complementary player and went to Paul Pierce’s team and won a championship. I wouldn’t consider him a top 10 tough guy.”
Charles Oakley, on Kevin Garnett
“You can fall as fast as you rise, that’s just the reality of the situation. I just want to make sure I’m not doing a disservice to my team by milking all the attention, trying to be on the cover of everything because at the end of the day, that’s not what I love. I love playing basketball. That’s my passion and I want to stay focused on that.”
– Jeremy Lin, on passing up being on the cover of GQ
