Every morning, we will give you five things from the night before in the NBA to start your day.
1: Adelman 1000
There are only eight coaches to have 1,000 wins. It is an exclusive club full of the best coaches in the league's history. Saturday night, that exclusive club welcomed Rick Adelman as its newest member Saturday night in an emotional finish for the long-time coach.
Adelman embraced his wife and thanked the crowd following Minnesota's 107-101 win over Detroit at Target Center on Saturday.
Like much of Adelman's coaching career, there were moments of offensive brilliance and moments of near-bitter disappointment. Ricky Rubio missed his first 12 shots before hitting a key jumper late in the game that put the Wolves up four. Luke Ridnour made things interesting by missing a free throw late and giving the Pistons one last chance.
Brandon Knight missed his last-ditch 3-point effort to try and bring Detroit within a point and the record was established for Adelman.
For all the times Adelman has struggled to get to the Promised Land of a championship — his 1992 Blazers fell short against Michael's Bulls and then his 2001 Kings missed free throws down the stretch against the Lakers in what was ostensibly the Finals — he has had tremendous success in this league. When Minnesota hired him it almost seemed to turn the franchise around in itself. Years of ineptness were seemingly conjured away thanks to this coach.
Adelman's career seems to be nearing its end. He missed two weeks to be with his wife who was suffering from seizures and he nearly retired then to stay with his wife. This might be the end for Adelman after this season. It has been one hell of a career if it is.
2: Wondrous Wall
No one may be paying much attention to the Wizards. A horrendous start put Washington in a hole too deep to climb out of and the Playoff dreams from the offseason were gone. The veteran group around Wall could not do much for him since Wall was out.
Wall is back and continues to show he has made leaps this year. If only we could have noticed it in a Playoff race.
Wall scored 37 points to go with five assists in a dominant 104-85 Washington win over Indiana, who is fading out of the race for the East's second seed. Wall was everywhere, even blocking Roy Hibbert at the rim. Wall had 25 points on 12-for-15 shooting in the first half to give the Wizards that dominating performance.
What has made Wall so much better?
He has more confidence in his jumper and has the freedom and green light to play his game. Not only that, he has veterans around him who understand what it takes to be a good team in the NBA. The Wizards have been playing at a Playoff pace since Wall's return and the Verizon Center has become a difficult place to play.
If Wall is going to continue improving, next year could be his breakout year if he stays healthy.
3: HIGHLIGHTS!!!
Look ma, no look!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2l87iBX9LVk
Hey Larry
http://youtube.com/watch?v=huTjPPboQws
Old school Duncan
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rTvGvXge7JE
4: Line of the Night: John Wall — 37 points, 16/25 FGs, 5 assists
Wall has transformed himself into an All Star caliber player in the last few weeks and this performance has confirmed that Wall is coming on strong. It is too bad all the Playoff spots have been locked up. Wall has been simply outstanding since the All-Star Break, averaging 20.4 points per game and 7.7 assists per game in those 25 games.
5: You can quote me on that
It’s a major concern. We’re just not playing well enough right now to be as successful as we want to be in the playoffs. We’ve got to play better.
–Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo after a one-point win over the Bobcats
It's definitely special. It is huge, select company.
