Thursday Wake n Break

*Rajon Rondo was the man tonight in Boston, leading the Celtics to a victory fo the Pacers. Rajon picked apart the defense all game, finishing with a VERY impressive triple double: 16 points, 17 assists, 13 rebounds (add 3 steals to that). WOW. The Celtics also took advantage of Indiana's small lineup, by out rebounding them 54 to 31, and shooting 19 more free throw attempts. Had to figure this was going to happen, with the Pacers just coming off of beating the LA Lakers, and were victorious in their last game against the Celtics. The juices were flowing tonight for the C's. Celtics 114, Pacers 96

*Speaking of the Lakers, Kobe and Co went into Philly tonight, to face the struggling Sixers. Lakers were just ridiculous. Huge dunks all night, not missing anything, shooting 58% from the field (!). Then with 2 minutes left...Kobe Kobe Kobe. Disgusting stuff. First a pair of free throws, then a spinning layup, then a 3-pointer, all within 1 minute. That was just mean. I've said it before and i'll say it again, if the Sixers don't get some outside shooters soon, they won't be int he playoffs. Moves need to be made. Lakers 114, Sixers 102

*Last week LeBron James came to the garden, and of course all the talk was about 2010. Not the same in Cleveland, where they stick mostly the basketball (and LeBron gushing). However, the outcome was the same; total Cavs domination from the get go. The Cavs lead after the first half 61-35. The Knicks are starting to lose steam, from playing so many minutes and so few players, made even worse by Quentin Richardson getting tossed with logging only 16 minutes. They'll need another guard soon (Cuttino Mobley??) if they want to compete. Lets get this guy on the court already. Cavs 118, Knicks 82

*The Suns were without Steve Nash and Shaquille O'Neal, so it was smooth sailing for the Hornets at home, winning few bumps in the road. Lot of Chris Paul and Peja Stojakovic. CP3 finished with his usual 24 points, 15 assists and 3 steals and later said, “When he’s shooting like that, we’re almost unstoppable,” referring to Peja. Although I'd take out the 'almost,' because between Tyson Chandler alley-oops , David West spot up jumpers on the pick and roll, and of course CP3's disgusting offensive repertoire, there's no way you're going to win if Peja is training them like he did tonight. Hornets 104, Suns 91

*All Dwayne Wade in Utah tonight. I can't believe how good he is. You should probably go see the highlights for this. In fact, here ya go. D.Wade finished with 23 points, 5 boards and 5 assists, but most impressive is the 4 steals and 2 blocks. It's become every game at this point, with Wade averaging close to 2.5 steals and 2 blocks. The Jazz are really struggling without a healthy Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer out of the lineup with injury. Paul Millsap tried his best to cover for him, scoring 20 points and getting 13 boards, but too much D. Wade all game. Heat 93, Jazz 89

*The Wizards improved their loss column to 13, while the Blazers won their 6th straight. Antwan Jamison on Brandon Roy (sums up the whole game): “It wasn’t going well for him in the first half. He didn’t force it— continued to plug away. And the last four or five minutes of the game, who had the ball in their hands? Who made plays? Who won the game? It was him.” Gotta love the props from your peers/competition. Blazers 98, Wizards 92

*Another horrible sooting night from Ron Artest, going 5-15, and 33% for the season. It didn't stop the Rockets from getting a win at home against the Clippers. Zach Randolph continued his strong play with the Clips (on the offensive end), going for 23 points and 11 boards, but Baron Davis launching brick after brick (5-15 from the field) didn't help their production. Even without Tracy McGrady, the Rockets still got enough scoring from Rafer Alston, and Yao Ming (especially at the free throw line, going 12-13). Alston flirted with a trouble double in this game, finishing with 21 points, 8 boards and 7 dimes. Rockets 103, Clippers 96

*JJ Redick got the start tonight in Orlando, which means their backcourt troubles are really, REALLY, bad. In JJ's 30 minutes of play, he was able to get only 5 points, while his backcourt teammate Anthony Johnson only scored 2. But I guess that doesn't matter, since te Magic's all-star players Rashard Lewis, Dwight Howard, and Hedo Turkoglu were in the house. Dwight got his usual 23 points, 17 boards and 6 blocks (!), with Rashard and Hedo chipping in for 23 and 22 respectively. Kevin Love, total monster on the offensive boards, finishing with 8 for the game, but helping the Wolves get a big advantage on the field goal attempts 87-65. But their horrid shooting, they actually finished with one less field goal made overall (37-36). Magic 100, Wolves 89

*Josh Smith's return tonight for the Hawks, and they face the Grizzlies in the ATL. All 5 Hawks starters got into double figures, and had fantastic efficiency from the floor (56%, and that includes Mo Evans going 0-7!). Hakim Warrick was big off the bench for the Grizz, getting 20 points on 8-12 shooting, but they've been spoiled by OJ Mayo's scoring spree, and is low total of 11 points wasn't enough to get the job done. Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 26 points on 10-15 shooting. Hawks 105, Grizzlies 95

*In their previous game, the Thunder won for the first time since....i have no idea. So can they make it two in a row against Charlotte? Yea, right. Russell Westbrook is totally locked in as their starting point guard, logging 36+ minutes for the night. Too bad he didn't make enough out of it, going 2-9 from the field, with 10 points and 5 turnovers. That's a rookie starting point guard for ya. Larry Brown sticking to, basically, a 6.5 man rotation, and it worked well in this one with all of the Bobcats playing together well for the second time in two games. In OKC, it doesn't sound great, with Kevin Durant saying, “Tonight was better than most losses because we did some things well.” Damn, I'd hate to be in THAT boat. Bobcats 103, Thunder 97