Game Notes: 11/23

Hey guys, just a heads up, but I don’t know what my internet access will be like Wednesday night through Friday night. I have to go to this family reunion thing that is being held in middle of nowhere Missouri instead of Dallas or Houston where most of the family resides.

Boston – 118 at Toronto – 103

Ray Allen and KG both had nice lines that would have been better had the game been close. Paul Pierce had foul issues, while Tony Allen picked up the slack from the bench. Rondo had a decent, but not overly impressive line considering the 3 TO’s. JON started for Toronto, but only played 14 minutes of ineffective ball before falling awkwardly and aggravating the injury. Both Kris Humphries and JaMario Moon saw slight increases in PT as a result and each produced decent numbers all things considered, but Humphries was the choice down the stretch for Sam Mitchell. Bargnani struggled from the field but made up for that at the line where he was 6/6, Chris Bosh did well in the scoring cats but contributed little else, and Calderon joined Bargnani having his own difficult FG night but still managing a decent line.

Golden State – 81 at Philadelphia – 89

Kelenna Azubuike returned to lead the Warriors in scoring and record a steal, a block, and two threes. Maggette and Morrow both struggled to get things going and received short minutes, in part because GS ran big lineups for stretches to match Philly’s size. Stephen Jackson had a rough night shooting, but eased things with 7 boards, 7 assists, 3 steals and a block. Biedrins had his worst game in recent memory but was still pretty good, and CJ Watson had a nice line off the bench highlighted by 3 steals. All of the stats on Philly’s side are pretty ugly, and I am really kind of starting to hate this team as a whole. Brand had a double double on a weak FG%, Sammy had 16 boards but at least half of them were off his own misses, Iggy and Thad were just very mediocre, and Andre Miller had a poor scoring night (which is weird for him, seeing has he is his favorite option in Philly) but ruined 8 assists by matching them with 6 TO’s.

Things to watch: If you are into predicting Nellie… Anthony Randolph has received strong minutes recently and even when he only gets 10-15 manages to get a collection of boards and blocks. If these are your cats, and you have a strong base (or are ditching) FG% he may be worth a look.

Update: Jamal Crawford will make his debut in the next Warrior game (Tuesday). I am guessing you know this already, but in case you had a master plan to conquer your league that involved picking up CJ Watson... you may want to re-think things.

Minnesota – 106 at Detroit – 80

I don’t know what got into Randy Foye, but he recorded a lifetime high 14 assists on way to a lovely well rounded line. Mike Miller did the thing where he tries to back into a Jason Kidd triple double, with 9-8-7. Al Jefferson was decent, but nothing special as he failed to hit his averages by a small margin. Ryan Gomes on the other hand had a stellar and efficient night, and Craig Smith did well in the big cats in 26 minutes off the bench. Pretty much all of Detroit’s players struggled. Prince had a nice game providing a little in all cats and 20 points on nice %’s. Sheed didn’t score much but had 10 boards, 2 blocks and a three, and Jason Maxiell contributed a solid 12-8 in 22 minutes off the bench. Rodney Stuckey once again failed to do anything that should make even a marginally competent FBB GM want to own him.

Chicago – 101 at Denver – 114

I was thinking about just ignoring this summary and ranting about how Kenyon Martin’s absurd 10/10 FG number caused me to lose my A-League match up… but after he hit that three in the final minute of the game I decided that it wasn’t personal (as Vince Carter’s lines when playing against me so often seem to be), and he was just on another planet tonight. Chauncey, Nene and Melo surrounded him with strong, well rounded lines of their own though, while Anthony Carter made a strong contribution off the bench. Kleiza and JR Smith each saw 20 minutes, and while neither was particularly productive… at least they both got shots? Ben Gordon led the way for the Bulls with a strong overall performance, while Drew Gooden and Derrick Rose made competent contributions as well. Larry Hughes turned in a typical line from his time in Cleveland, and Joakim Noah started at C and collected 9 boards in 20 minutes while doing little else.

Sacramento – 108 at LA Lakers – 118

According to Rotoworld, Udrih struggled and lost minutes to Bobby Brown… but watching the box score live it seemed more like Udrih played well, then Brown entered in the third quarter and was playing out of his mind awesome. I wouldn’t worry if you are an Udrih owner, and I wouldn’t pick up Brown if you are anyone who plays fantasy basketball. John Salmons recovered from his outing last night to resume posting ridiculous FG%’s for an SG, Jason Thompson had an impressive 15-7-2-3-2 on 7/10 from the field, and Spencer Hawes started at PF to turn in a line almost identical to those he had been hoisting from the bench recently (ie not bad, but not impressive). Brad Miller joined Mike Miller in Jason Kidd appreciation night (is it a white thing? A Miller thing?) and put up 6-6-6 (EEK… double EEK considering the source). Bobby Jackson channeled his powers from back in the Peja/Webber/Vlade Sacto days, and burnt the Lakers for 15-4-3 on 7/13 from the field and zero TO’s in 27 minutes off the bench. Kobe had a solid overall line while the rest of the Lakers were kind of lame… save Trevor Ariza who blew the roof off the place with 11-11-5-3-0. Odom managed a respectable line (in the context of his recent performances) thanks in large part to shooting 7/9 from the field.

Real Life Side-Note: Why are people talking about Reggie Theus’ job being on the line? Are NBA writers THAT desperate for stories? This team is very young, has no depth, started the season with one key offensive piece missing (Brad Miller) and since Miller’s return, has played without another key piece (Kevin Martin), and Francisco Garica apparently has the same doctor as Mike Dunleavy Jr. as neither of them seem to be on any sort of time table. They over-achieved last year under Theus, considering all of the turmoil with Artest etc., and the whole “all of our decent-good players play the same position” thing, and appear to be doing the same this year. They should be happy to have 5 wins all things considered. And even when they lose… it’s not like OKC who is down by 20 at half time every night, the majority of Sacto’s games have been close. Give Theus a chance.