Every morning, we’ll give you five things from the night before in the NBA to start your day.
1: CARMELO DIDN’T HIT A SHOT!! OMG THE KNICKS MUST HAVE…
… smoked Charlotte and broken their six game losing streak.
Of course.
And of course, there’s no gigantic correlation between the two (just like Miami wasn’t better without Dwyane Wade). The good thing about this for the Knicks is the first game after Carmelo Anthony openly opines about whether he’s jacking too many shots, he actually went out and tried this new fad called “passing.”
Melo had been averaging more than 20 shots per game. He took 7 last night (missing them all, and finishing with 1 point). Meanwhile, Tyson Chandler made 9 of his 10 shots (all at the rim), Amar’e Stoudemire made 7 of his 12 shots (half of them very far from the rim), and Landry Fields stepped in with an 18 point night on 6-12 shooting.
So the extra 13 shots that Melo passed up (based on his average) went to Tyson Chandler (4.5 fga per game) and Landry Fields (7.8 fga per game). Maybe not really what the Knicks were hoping for exactly, but hey, it’s a start. And the biggest plus out of this, besides a 33 point win over Charlotte, is a little self-awareness for Carmelo Anthony and an adjustment to his game to fit the Knicks, rather than making the Knicks fit to him. It’s a big step towards turning things around in New York.
2: Welcome back, Bargs
Andrea Bargnani missed six and a half games (was he really there in the first half last night?) with a calf strain but returned to drop 36 points and lead the Raptors to a win over the Phoenix Suns. 27 of his 36 came after halftime. There was no easing him back into things, either, as he played 42 minutes in the win.
Bargs continues to improve. In his sixth NBA season, Bargnani is displaying more takeover ability than ever. He’s scoring more and shooting better, which is reflected in a PER that has gone from a slightly-above-average 16.37 last year to a pretty good 23.45 this year. That’s actually in the same neighborhood as LaMarcus Aldridge at the moment.
And unlike past players who showed this level of improvement, Bargnani is locked up through 2014/15. He’s making $9 million this season and getting $1 million raises every season the rest of the way… quickly making him Andrea “Bargain-ani”
Oh come on… that wasn’t that bad.
Alright.. maybe it was. Still, he’s a bargain. Maybe the biggest in the league.
3: HIGHLIGHTS!!!
Alonzo Gee displays some inhuman jumping ability.
Dwight Howard becomes the Orlando Magic’s all time scoring leader
Rudy Gay with back-to-back dunks… including a big windmill (via PBT)
4: Line of the Night: Chris Bosh 35 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
On a night where LeBron was not “LeBron”, Bosh scored 17 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter of a 92-85 win. The Cavs hounded LeBron and dared Bosh to beat them… and he ultimately did. Bosh is option #3 in Miami, but sometimes people forget he’s good enough to be an option #1.
Meanwhile, Miami has clearly taken a step back. Blame it on Wade missing time, the condensed post-lockout schedule and resulting fatigue, or the apathy of a team that thinks it can turn it on when it needs to, there is an issue in Miami. Spend too much time mailing in performances and you’ll have problems when it comes time to ratchet up the intensity and you’re play is a little too sloppy. This team is too young to be this tired and sloppy. I can understand it in Boston, but not in Miami.
5: Painting a Yao Ming portrait with a basketball
This is really cool. Bizarre, but cool.
