Thursday Wake n Break

Thanks to Smuve J for helping out with this morning's Wake n Break!

*The 76ers ended their 3-game slide tonight behind the leadership of Elton Brand. He scored a season-high 25 with 8 boards and 3 blocks. From the beginning of the game the 6ers set a tone, scoring 26 and allowing only 13 in the first quarter. The Raptors came back in the second with 32, but by the 4th this game was pretty much over. The Andre bros. both scored 18. Chris Bosh was exceptional with 30 and 12, while Jermaine O'Neal added 19 and 11. Jose Calderon injured his hamstring, and was a non-factor. Hope to see more games frmo Brand like this one. Philadelphia 106, Toronto 96

*The Hawks finally got L #1. Their first L this year, came at the hands of their final L last year. Again, it was another dramatic loss, with Paul Pierce nailing a long 2 at the buzzer. The big-3 in Boston had fairly solid games, while Pierce had 34, obviously his most importtant bucket at the end, sending the Hawks home with the Boston crowd going nuts. Al Horford couldn't replicate his last night's performance against KG and co, but the Hawks received major contributions off the bench from Maurice Evans and Flip Murray, scoring 13 and 14 points respectively. Both teams now have 1 loss and each time they play, we're sure to get an exciting matchup. Boston 103, Atlanta 102

*Vince Carter stopped crying long enough to score a game-high 28. This was all to no avail, though is was a superb individual performance. A great team always beats a great individual. The Pacers had 6 players in double-figures, with TJ Ford really taking advantage of Devin Harris in street clothes, going for 18 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds and 3 steals. Inidiana got their 3rd win in a row, handing the Nets their 5th loss. Indiana 98, New Jersey 87

*The Lakers remain the only undefeated team in the league. The rest of the NBA should be extremely worried. The Lakers made it to the Finals last season, and now Bynum is healthy and Odom is coming off the bench! This is a much better team than last years, and they obviously are hungry. It's not like they were playing the Thunder. This is the Hornets, and a team who many call a contender for the Finals. Yes, the Lakers never trailed at any point. The Hornets only scored 30 points in the first half, only to step it up big time in teh fourth (32 points) but by then it was too late. The Lakers balanced their attacked, 5 players scored in double-digits with Kobe and D-Fish leading the way with 20 each. CP3 put his team on his back again, scoring 30, dishing 13 and pulling down 7. Lakers win in extremely convincing fashion, leading by as much as 23. LA Lakers 93, New Orleans 86

*Miami and Portland are two young teams with a lot of talent. Brandon Roy is a very talented player, but he isn't D-Wade. Youth often means inexperience, and the Heat showed that with a season-high 17 turnovers. Wade continues his prolific scoring streak putting up 36, many of his points coming as the team needed them in the 4th. Only problem is that the Blazers were a little better, with Rudy Fernandez coming off the bench and scoring 25. Rudy hit a beautiful spin move jump shot to spread the lead, only to be followed by a D.Wade dunk like i've never seen from him. This was very LeBron-like, dunking it on 3 Blazer players (!). However, when they got to the other side of the court, Steve Blake nailed a 3 to finsih it up. Oh, and there was a Greg Oden sighting, and he didn't get hurt, but he also wasn't very productive pulling down 2 boards and getting his first 3 points in the league. Portland 104, Miami 96

*This is going to be an extremely difficult season for the Spurs. Manu and Parker are out, and there is nobody who can score the basketball. The Spurs started out well, scoring 43 and allowing 31 in the first half. But the tale of the tape is always what happens down the stretch. They only scored 35 in the second half while the Bucks picked up the pace, scoring 51. Timmy and Michael Finley did all they could, scoring 24 and 19 respectively, but you are not going to beat many teams scoring only 18, 16 and 19 in each quarter as a team. Richard Jefferson lead the Bucks with 19. Milwaukee 82, Spurs 78

*With the games that Bosh and Brand had, you wouldnt' think someone else would trump them in such a ridiculous fashion. Dwight Howard got his first triple-double of is career tonight, but not the way you are thinking. Howard had 30 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks (!!!). Can someone please call animal control and tell the that a monster is on the loose? Howard's monster night didn't stop the Magic from sharing the ball, with every starter scoring in double-figures. Jeff Green led the Thunder with 25. They went down, didn't have a chance since their best player was in street clothes, nursing a sore left ankle. Magic 109, Thunder 92

*Let's congratulate the Wizards, they finally got their first win of the season against a very stubborn Jazz team. Caron and Twan were two major reasons the Wiz pulled this one out, but the contributions of rookie JaVale McGee could not be overlooked. He scored 13 while pulling down 11 and blocking 3. McGee also made it extremely difficult for Carlos Boozer to do anything. This was a close one throughout, but Juan Dixon and Twan hit big 3's late in the game to seal it for the Wiz. Washington 95, Utah 87

*The Knicks accomplished a feat last night that they have never done in the history of the franchise, make 19 3's. This lead to the team scoring 132, with Chandler and Crawford combining for 52. The Knicks shot 59% from the field, and 56% from 3-point land (!!). Add to that the fact that they went 100% from the free throw line, and tis might be the best shooting game I've seen in a decade. Nasty Nate went 8 for 8, and 5 for 5 from the stripe. Wilson Chandler was under the weather, but still managed to go 11 for 12 and put up 27. It would have been even better if the game was in the Garden, the TRUE Knick fans deserved to see this in person. The Grizz got good games from Gay Rudy, Miracle Whip and the other Gasol, but no one could stop that scoring spree. New York 132, Memphis 103

*When the Clippers put it all together, they will be a really good team. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be anytime soon. Beno Udrih exploded tonight, finally getting into the swing of things after missing training camp, and finally earning some of that contract he signed. He had 30 points, and only 1 turnover, and no Kevin Martin to help with the scoring. Al Thornton had 20 for the Clips, and BD had some good stats, but went 4-15 from the field, making it tough for the Clips to stay in the game. Is all okay in Clipland? Reports of B. Diddy and Big Dunleavy not being on the same page are floating around. Good ol' Hollywood drama. Sacramento 103, LA Clippers 98

*I wonder how long Terry Porter (or Steve Kerr) is going to last in Phoenix. They're not doing too poorly, but a coach needs to utilize the strengths of their team. This is not a defensive team. A team with Steve Nash will never be a defensive team. Unfortunately for the Suns, they played one of the better defensive teams in the league in the Rockets. They were in control for the whole game, led by T-Mac with 27. Congrats to Shaq, who passes Steve Havlicek on the all-time scoring list. There was a mini-brawl at the end of the 3rd quarter, almost got very ugly. Matt Barnes put a forearm shiver into Rafer Alston while he was setting a pick, leading to a T-Mac 3. Alston did not appreciate that and the madness ensued. Both Barnes and Alston were ejected from the game. The Suns wish that everyone on the Rockets could get thrown out, then maybe they could have had a chance. Rockets 94, Suns 82