Every morning, we’ll give you five things from the night before in the NBA to start your day.
1: Bynum proves he’s still not mature enough
Andrew Bynum once again proved that he’s his own worst enemy by getting ejected late in the third quarter of a Lakers loss to Houston. The Rockets outscored the Lakers 34-25 in the fourth quarter, taking advantage of the lack of Bynum protecting the rim to beat the Lakers by three.
Bynum’s missteps are well documented, and he has shown the ability to lose his composure at horrible times. To me, his mental state is a bigger concern than his injury history. When he’s at his best, he has shown an ability to be second only to Dwight Howard among NBA centers. When he’s at his worst, his immaturity flares up at costly and/or embarrassing moments that make you shake your head.
He cost his team last night in a season where everything is magnified. The Lakers are the third seed right now, but only four games separate them from no playoff spot at all. Bynum needs to grow up to give the Lakers their best chance at making another serious run to the Finals.
2: Hey Pacers, welcome back.
After back-to-back losses to the Knicks, there were some whispers about what was happening to Indiana. And while those weren’t completely quieted by one win over the Clippers, it helped.
Part of what makes this Pacers team so dangerous is that they have a lot of options on the floor. Sure, they’re not all a threat to go off for 20 points, but they’re all a threat to score. Last night, three of the five Pacers in double figures came off the bench (including newly acquired Leandro Barbosa, who had 12 points on 5-10 shooting). It’s nice to have options that can make up for David West going 0-3 for 3 points.
As for the Clippers, their bench continues to be a big weakness. Only Mo Williams (12 points, 5-11 shooting) gave them any scoring off the bench.
And one more thing about the Clips… DeAndre Jordan was given $42 million over four years before the season. Don’t you think it’s reasonable to expect him to score double figures more than once in March? He did have 10 rebounds, which is nice. But that’s what he’s supposed to be doing. He needs to do something besides catch lobs to really earn his money.
3: HIGHLIGHTS!!!
Welcome to Jame’s Harden’s poster, EnesKanter
Jamaal Tinsley plays a little “now you see it, now you don’t” going through Nazr Mohammed’s legs
Kobe Bryant makes a very difficult move look way too easy
4: Line of the night: Marcus Thornton: 31 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists
The Kings are on a roll, having won three games in a row for only the second time this season. Tyreke Evans came back and unselfishly volunteered to come off the bench to keep the Kings’ roll going. Thornton, meanwhile, put up a monster night as the starting back court combined for 49 points and 13 assists in a win over the Grizzlies.. The 3 Kings wins didn’t come over complete slouches, either. Boston, Minnesota and Memphis are decent teams… so the Kinds are starting to show some signs of life.
5: You can quote me on that
“If this is my last ride in the NBA – I’m not sure it is yet – it would be from a collection of things. It’s more about the quality of life, being able to operate as a father, being able to run around with my kids. When they need me, not necessarily being crippled.
–Jermaine O’Neal, on his future in the NBA
“I was irritated. He’s got to figure out what he wants to do.
“You’ve got to ask him what his response was to the ref, when he had the interaction with the ref, but we need him on the floor, and (neither) he nor anybody else right now can put themselves in jeopardy.”
-Lakers coach Mike Brown, on Andrew Bynum’s ejection
“We’re a different team right now. We’re playing at a high level at both ends of the court. We’re shooting the ball well offensively. We’re very, very tenacious, kamikaze style defensively right now. We’re all over teams and we’ve just got to keep that going.”
–Amar’e Stoudemire, on the Knicks’ four-game win streak
