Every morning, we’ll give you five things from the night before in the NBA to start your day.
1: It’s all or nothing with Orlando
Either Dwight Howard and the Magic are clicking, or they’re not. Last night, they were not. The Bulls defense certainly had a hand in that, but the Magic only scored 59 points last night. The Dallas Mavericks had 63 by halftime. In a game where John Lucas had 20 off the bench for Chicago, the entire Magic bench managed just 13 points.
I wonder if Dwight Howard is experiencing another change of heart? I wonder if Otis Smith is having some buyer’s remorse on Glen Davis. Davis is averaging 7.2 ppg while shooting 37.8%. Last year he was scoring 11.7 points, on about 45% shooting. And Orlando gave him $26 million over four years for that. Meanwhile, Brandon Bass, the guy they sent to Boston for Davis, is scoring 11.8 points on 48.4% shooting.
Ouch.
2: Dirk’s heating up
After three straight 27 point games, Dirk dropped 33 on Denver last night. He shot 12-19, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out 6 dimes. And he did it all in 31 minutes of play.
So earlier in the year, when Dirk was sort of kinda not into it? Yeah, that’s done now. His post All Star game scoring is up four points and his March production is up in most relevant categories.
Dirk’s heating up. Would you want to face the Mavs now that he’s getting going?
3: HIGHLIGHTS!!!
Deron Williams with the vicious facial
Joakim Noah finishes strong… as Big Baby delivers one of the more hilarious fouls you’ll see
Jeff Teague catches Ray Allen on the break
4: Line of the night: Kevin Love – 36 points, 17 rebounds, 2 assists
I get a kick out of seeing huge numbers followed by “2 assists.” It looks funny next to the others.
There’s nothing funny about another monster night for Love. And once again, his monster statistical night included shots from everywhere on the floor. three makes at the rim, one from 3-9 feet, two from 10-15 feet, four from 16-23 feet and three from 3-point range. He’s a threat from anywhere on the floor and he still manages to get four offensive rebounds. And the Timberwolves won… so everything was coming up Milhouse for Kevin Love last night
5: You can quote me on that:
“I don’t even know who you are talking about. That guy’s a nobody.”
–Kevin Garnett, when asked if Atlanta guard Jeff Teague’s post-dunk taunting fired up the Celtics (who responded with a 34-11 run)
“One thing you know about Derek Fisher is that he’s a winner; he’s not afraid of the moment and he’s won multiple championships.
“I don’t know what our plans are but I don’t see it as a bad fit it if happens. What we have we’re comfortable with, but he could fit anyone’s team because of his leadership and his commitment to winning.”
– LeBron James, on the possibility of Derek Fisher joining the Heat
