Every morning, we’ll give you five things from the night before in the NBA to start your day.
1: DWill kinda got hot
At halftime of last night’s Nets/Bobcats game, Deron Williams had 17 points and he was looking at an eight-point Nets deficit. Now, I’m not sure what exactly happened at halftime, but I’m pretty sure DWill said something to himself like “THERE’S NO F$@#ING WAY I’M LOSING TO THE BOBCATS”
He then scored 22 points in the third quarter and 18 in the fourth to finish with 57 points in a 104-101 win. Williams almost HAD to be on that roll, since Brook Lopez went down with a sprained ankle and it was obvious the rest of the Nets weren’t going to be much help.
That’s one of two huge performances from a big-time point guard yesterday. The second is coming up in our Line of the Night further down.
2: Lakers make a statement
The Lakers have been a bit of an enigma this season. Are they good? Are the bad? Are they in turmoil? They’re almost impossible to figure out, but they showed us last night that they are, if nothing else, a legitimate threat to any team in the league.
In a game where the pre-tip focus was on the Dwyane Wade/Kobe Bryant concussion/nose breaking mess, Kobe got his revenge on the floor, dropping 33 points on the Heat as part of a balanced attack. Wade, meanwhile, fouled out of the game with 16 points on 7-17 shooting. LeBron James had 25 points, but only two came in the fourth quarter (a lay up with 4:18 left).
Kobe had nine in the fourth. And Andrew Bynum grabbed five of his 13 rebounds in the final quarter to help hold off the Heat, whose only lead was 7-6 early in the first quarter.
So the Lakers proved that they are dangerous and Miami proved they are not immortal. At least, that was the case for one day.
3: HIGHLIGHTS!!!
Insult to injury: Tim Duncan whacks Chris Anderson with the ball, and then dunks on him
Paul Pierce hits the 3 to force OT in Boston
Deron Williams gets the 4-point play
4: Line of the Night: Rajon Rondo: 18 points, 17 rebounds, 20 assists
As a matter of historical perspective, only Wilt Chamberlain and Magic Johnson had 17 rebound, 20 assist games before yesterday. And Rondo’s only the fifth player to have at least 17 across the board (Magic, Wilt, Guy Rogers, Oscar Robertson). And just like DWill’s 57 point game, the Celtics needed every bit of this performance out of Rondo to pull out a win in OT. And Rondo’s performance could have been even bigger had he not missed seven shots at the rim (6-13 from that spot according to Hoopdata). Meanwhile the Celtics have won four straight now and are two games from catching Philadelphia in the Atlantic division.
5: You can quote me on that
“I saved the [box score], just as a witness that I was here, and I actually got to see this up front and center. The thing about Lin is I think everybody who’s at the point guard position is going to be excited to play the kid, and Rondo was nothing short of that today. I could see it. I could tell. I’ve been around him long enough to know when he’s motivated and when he’s more than motivated, and tonight was one of those nights.”
–Kevin Garnett, on Rajon Rondo’s performance
“That first half was pretty pitiful from an all-around standpoint. Second half, I just made a conscious effort to come out a little bit more aggressive, so I started feeling good.”
-Deron Williams
“Chris is a major component of what we do on both ends of the court. That’s why we don’t listen to anybody when they talk about Chris’ importance or value.”
-Erik Spoelstra, on not having Chis Bosh against LA
“We always appreciate Chris. It is you guys who don’t appreciate him.”
–Dwyane Wade, also on not having Bosh
