Game Notes: 11/16

Miami – 96 at Toronto – 107

Calderon dressed but did not play (hamstring injury, expected back soon), and Will Solomon made the most of his start by putting up a strong line. Jermaine O’Neal’s monster rebound total puts a pleasant veneer over an otherwise painful line, Chris Bosh put in big FT volume and point totals, and JaMario Moon had one of his best games this season coming off the bench. Dwyane Wade had a poor efficiency night but I don’t think anyone will complain about getting four steals and two blocks from a guard, The Matrix (who will need a new nickname if this keeps up, as he is not filling out the entire stat matrix) had four blocks but very little else, Haslem had a quiet double double, and Daequon Cook knocked down 4 threes in 31 minutes off the bench.

Toronto’s new rotation: Bargnani made his first start of the season, and returned solid offensive numbers, and Kris Humphries had a very strong line off the bench in his first significant action of the season. Mitchell had also talked about starting Kapono in place of Moon, so it will take a few more games to see if Bargnani is the permanent choice. It will also take a few games to decide whether or not Moon can provide consistent stats from a bench role. Bargnani is worth a pick up if you need a C, but I wouldn’t dump Moon just yet.

Orlando – 90 at Charlotte – 85

Jameer Nelson and Mickael Pietrus carried an otherwise average set of Magic lines to victory with unspectacular but undeniably decent production of their own. Dwight and Okafor apparently agreed that the best way to determine who “the right pick” was way back in 2004 was to have a chicken fight and foul each other with great frequency. Dwight’s line (in 25 minutes before fouling out) was salvaged to an extent by the 5 blocks and 2 steals… but in a game where he somehow managed to not make a single field goal, there just isn’t a lot else to look at. Turk had 20 points and a nice FT% on good volume but did very little else, Rashard got a handful of 3’s and three blocks, but also turned it over 3 times and shot 6/16 from the field. Tony Battie posted competent stats in relief of Dwight, but considering how good Dwight has been about avoiding foul trouble this year the fact that Battie played decent isn’t worth a whole lot. Crash had 19-9 on good %’s but lacked his usual steals/blocks. Adam Morrison scored 14 with 2 threes on nice %’s but turned it over 4 times. Raymond Felton had decent volume but awful efficiency. Sean May started again, but only played 12 minutes as Larry Brown took a page from the Zen Master’s handbook and sent May home early to derive meaning and influence from alternative media, in this case the special back to back episodes of “half ton wife” and “half ton husband” on The Learning Channel (these shows are real, my best friend called me during the Cowboy game to say "CHECK OUT TLC, HOLY SHIT THIS IS GROSS", and then we had fun reciting Ricky Gervais' bit about the 1000 lb lady who ate 10 cheeseburgers+fries a day from his HBO special last night).

Dallas – 124 at New York – 112 (OT)

After a slow first quarter, the Mavs realized that they needed to start winning some games if they wanted to make the playoffs and show everyone that Jason Kidd really does make them a contender (?). Dirk and Josh Howard both had monster nights, Dirk in particular was virtually flawless with 39-15-4-1-1 with 1 three, zero TO’s, 13/27 FG and 12/12 FT. J-Kidd kept his line respectable with 4 steals. Jason Terry had a hot shooting game to put 20 points with 4 steals of his own. Brandon Bass and James Singleton both saw increased PT due to New York’s small line up (Dampier on the other hand, only saw 4 minutes for the same reason). Zach Randolph had a monster line of his own going, but just sort of ran out of gas down the stretch (17 of his 18 boards were had before the end of the third quarter). Chris Duhon picked up his scoring to turn in a strong 16-4-12. Q finally did something good with his PT, and David Lee had a double double in 36 minutes off the bench.

Pointless note: Gerald Green started but only received 4 minutes, I only bring this up because I don’t understand rotoworld’s fallacious claim that he has poor court awareness… he has done fine finding team mates in half court sets, and has done a great job defensively in the games I have watched. His turnovers come when he tries to do too much with the ball (ie too many jab steps and pump fakes, or he tries to get too fancy with his dribble), not from getting himself tied up by defenders vis a vis poor court awareness.

Detroit – 86 at Phoenix – 104

Shaq was ejected with a flagrant 2 after 13 minutes, and failed to “leave the court in a timely manner” so a suspension is definitely a possibility. Nash returned from suspension to… block 2 shots!?! Amare had a strong night with 29 points on a single turnover and hawt %’s, and Grant Hill and Boris Diaw put up quiet but useful lines of their own. RIP was the only Piston player to have a decent game. AI was awful, Prince and Sheed were invisible, Kwame finally returned to form and put up 10-3 and nothing else. None of the Pistons bench players did anything helpful (especially Stuckey, whose otherwise nice line was ruined by 4 TO’s… not a big thing for say, Dwight Howard or Kobe when they rock the house, but for an end of the fantasy roster guard that doesn’t get high assists? No thanks).

Minnesota – 94 at Denver – 90

Fear the worst, Jason Collins STARTED for the Timberwolves tonight. Their entire roster reeked because of this decision. Sebastian Telfair started but only played 5 minutes, as Randy Foye came off the bench to play 39 minutes. While Foye had a nice line himself, his real impact on the game is realized when you look through the Wolves roster and see that the only players who managed more than 4 FGA’s are those who are known for creating their own shot (obviously, very few of them are actually good at this, but the few who are silly enough to think that they are chucked like mad tonight thanks to Foye’s sub-par distribution skills). Jefferson had a nice line, but the rest of the wolves were awful. The Collins effect spilled over to Denver’s side as well, seeing as Chauncey Billups took an absurd 23 shots (and only made 7!!! He knows that he isn’t expected to play like Ivy… right?). Melo was 4/17, JR Smith was 4/12. Ugly shooting nights all around allowed guys like Linas Kleiza to post competent lines by inflating their boards. The Nuggets overall were just disgusting.

Wolves new line up: Telfair/Miller/Gomes/Jefferson/Collins. This line up would be decent if Telfair was left in the game, but with Foye playing the bulk of the PG minutes, it gives you 4 guys who are incompetent playmakers and one guy who is a decent playmaker… but more so thrives OFF OF playmakers. Mike Miller is going to waste. Hopefully they will get blown out a few times and at least go back to Telfair/Miller/Brewer/Love/Jefferson.

Nuggets Rotation: Kleiza and JR Smith were back to their expected PT levels tonight. This is still a situation to keep an eye on though.

San Antonio – 90 at Sacramento – 88

Greg Popovich is the best coach in the league. The Spurs have a marginally talented roster right now, essentially surrounding Duncan with 3pt and defensive specialists, and little else. Yet they are winning, knocking down Houston last night and a Sacramento team which is better than their record indicates tonight. Duncan had a strong line if you discount the 5 TO’s. Michael Finley and Roger Mason provided strong perimeter support, while George Hill started but struggled in 19 minutes. John Salmons had supreme scoring stats and little else outside of 3 steals. Udrih had another strong outing outside of 5 TO’s. Brad Miller was solid, while Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes struggled to make shots (Hawes again though, salvaging a decent line by blocking two shots).

Things to watch: Matt Bonner has now logged 20+ minutes in two straight games, bringing the total of such games on the season to 4, 3 of which he has given ownable stats. It makes sense that he is getting more time given the Spurs current lack of scorers. His shot may be a little inconsistent, but he takes so few of them that even if he misses them all it shouldn’t hurt too much. Definitely a guy to consider grabbing if you are in need of a C and run a small ball team, or a % and TO conscious team that tries to win threes.