Happy Valentines D.A.Y.
Isiah Thomas 2 Phil Jackson 0
Happy Valentine’s D.A.Y., if you care about such a holiday. My girlfriend got me a new coffee maker with a timer, so now when I wake up in the morning, there is fresh and hot coffee waiting for me. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to anyone, ever. I started the marination process last night and tonight I cook a filet mignon as payback, I mean for part of her present. Nervous. A while ago Bethlehem Shoals of Freedarko emailed a bunch of people about submitting something for a very special Valentine’s Day episode. I responded quickly, and, well…. FIRST!!!!! Mutoni wrote something for them too.
NEW YORK 107 LA LAKERS 106
Kobe Bryant hit another big shot to give the Lakers the lead with just under 30 seconds left. One David Lee offensive rebound and Jamal Crawford lob to Eddy Curry (E-City?) for the dunk and the Knicks had the lead. At the other end, Kobe was too busy chatting with the talk show host that made him famous, Stephon Marbury from Stars on Stars. The Knicks have matched their win total from last season already. Isiah Thomas is going to receive coach of the year votes. Kobe led the Lakers with 31, Crawford led the Knicks with 24. Starting NBA PF Jerome James grabbed 2 boards and missed his only shot in 3 minutes. He didn’t even foul anyone, he just never got back into the game. Here’s a wild idea, David Lee should start.
TORONTO 112 CHICAGO 111
The Raptors blew a 12 point fourth quarter lead, until Chris Bosh stepped up to the line and hit the free throws to win the game. He finished with 25 and 14, while Bargnani had 22 off the bench hitting 4 of 8 threes. Luol Deng led the Bulls with 30 points, none of them coming on free throws or threes. He didn’t attempt one of either, which is kind of odd. 18 and 13 for Hinrich, and Ben Gordon nearly did his Ben Gordon thing, taking over in the fourth quarter and winning the game with a three point play. The Bulls would have finished the game on a 13-0 run for a crushing defeat of the Raptors. But Chris Bosh saved the day.
HOUSTON 109 SACRAMENTO 104 OT
Ron Artest could have been the frontrunner for Player of the D.A.Y. with his hot shooting night (5 of 7 from three) and 39 points and 8 boards, but he couldn’t close the game out at the end of the fourth while T-Mac took over. After struggling with his shot for most of the game, Tracy got hot in the fourth and finished with 28 and 12. Shane Battier threw in 25 of his own, including 4 of 9 threes. Chuck Hayes pulled down 14 boards coming off the bench. Ron Ron matched his career high, but couldn’t get the W to go with it.
MEMPHIS 108 NEW ORLEANS 104
Lord Byron speaketh “I’m not surprised when we don’t come out and play hard.” Yeah? Maybe the team should hire a head coach so that doesn’t happen anymore. “Our guys, for whatever reason, every three or four games, we’re going to take a night off.” Come on Byron. Hakim Warrick was the best player down the stretch, finishing with 15 and 12 off the bench, as Toney Barone’s team won their first game against a divisional opponent. Tyson Chandler did what he could with a monster 17 and 23 game, but Chris Paul couldn’t hit a shot, literally (0 for 7, though he did have 10 assists). New Orleans dominated the glass with 24 offensive rebounds (12 for Tyson alone) contributing to an 103 shot attempt game, 20 more attempts than Memphis. It didn’t matter, because as assistant head coach Lord Byron says, the Hornets took the night off.
DALLAS 99 MILWAUKEE 93
The Bucks were actually winning for a lot of the game. Not all of it though. The 28-11 fourth quarter made sure of that, with Dirk hitting the go-ahead layup. He also had 38, 11, and 8. Andrew Bogut had 16 and 17 in the loss. Even when the Mavs are sloppy and beatable, they still win.
SAN ANTONIO 107 NEW JERSEY 82
Jake and Russ actually volunteered to go out to Jersey on a night when a snowstorm was promised. Lucky for them, the storm was laaaaaaaame. Today it’s freezing rain and sleet. I am mentally in Vegas already. Appleson was unlucky in that Jason Kidd has a bad back and without him, the game was over before tip-off. Maybe they’ll have game notes. It was 59-38 at halftime. The Spurs scored the first 20 points of the second quarter. Marcus Williams had 10 assists as a starting point guard playing 35 minutes.
MIAMI 104 PORTLAND 85
Typical Dwyane Wade game. Injury, leaves game, comes back, scores 16 points in the fourth, Miami wins. DWade’s final numbers were 35 and 5. Z-BO led the Blazers with 17.
36 Responses to “Happy Valentines D.A.Y.”
Feb.14 at 10:04 am
Chou says:
Dirk, Player of the D.A.Y.
Feb.14 at 10:38 am
h-wag says:
If it isn´t Dirk toD.A.Y. he probably never will win one of your D.A.Yly awards…
Feb.14 at 10:59 am
NAS says:
DWADE POD
Feb.14 at 11:12 am
mutoni says:
i didn’t buy a v-day gift today. i will be single soon.
Feb.14 at 11:29 am
Tom says:
is it just me or is the release on bargnani’s jumper eerily similar to larry bird’s
Feb.14 at 11:34 am
Ryan Jones says:
Hmmm… Four losses in a row, the latest at home to the KNICKS… but Kobe’s still the MVP. Right?
Feb.14 at 11:53 am
Brian says:
I was watching that Dallas v Milwakee game and the Mavs had to continually come double the Nanny Stopper in the post. These are the soon to be champs?
Feb.14 at 11:53 am
Sam Rubenstein says:
By the way, now that Kidd is hurt and won’t be playing in the All-Star Game, that means that some of the front runners to replace him are Ben Gordon, Joe Johnson, and Eddy Curry. If Eddy wins out over Joe, that would be POETIC JUSTICE against Lang.
Also, h-wag when I started writing about the Mavs game it was all about how Dirk had the player of the D.A.Y. locked up, but I dunno… Bosh, McGrady… we’ll see.
Feb.14 at 11:57 am
Vitor says:
No, Ryan, he isn’t. Wade is the MVP.
Feb.14 at 12:19 pm
Danny W. UK says:
Z BO - Overated? Average player on lame team, like one of those expansion team seasons when a 9th man makes top 10 in scoring? Jack - ROY
Feb.14 at 12:19 pm
albie1kenobi says:
you are right Ryan. we should also use this opportunity to anoint lakers the team of the season too.
Feb.14 at 12:41 pm
Max Airington says:
Im officially depressed right now. And like clockwork, there’s old Ryan, ready to rub it in. Let’s see if you pop out next time your boy chokes at the line or makes another enlightened slur against homosexuals.
Feb.14 at 1:14 pm
h-wag says:
Sam, remember 2 days ago when Dirk lost it in a coin toss to D-Wade ?
Can´t let that happen again, right ?
Feb.14 at 1:15 pm
Reggie Evans says:
Sooooo… Dirk is better than Kobe???? Or more valuable??? If he’s more valuable, then Paul Pierce is more valuable than all of them, including Nash!
Feb.14 at 1:26 pm
Chris says:
The thing that dirk has going against him for player of the day is that Dallas is such a dominant team. when they beat teams like milwalkee or philly it doesn’t seem like a big deal because they’re supposed to win those games, but when NY beats LA on the road, or toronto beats chicago on the road, it’s like wow, that’s a big win.
Feb.14 at 1:29 pm
AP says:
maybe Lee doesn’t start b/c the knicks are trying to make him win 6th man of the year
Feb.14 at 1:54 pm
M.K. Petrik says:
CHRIS BOSH PLAYER OF DAY When the Raptors were against the ropes last night, down by 1 with 12 seconds remainging, Bosh got that crucial rebound and foul and handed the win back to Toronto. Nuff said!
Feb.14 at 2:00 pm
Brian says:
Can some explain to me how Zach Randolph got the nickname Z-Bo? Spike Lee taunting Denzel Washington was classic.
Feb.14 at 2:10 pm
Derms says:
that ny la game was very entertaining. I stayed up super late watching it on nba tv. My fave part was after jamal hit up curry with the lob, they showed spike going nuts and getting in denzel’s face. Classic.
Feb.14 at 2:23 pm
Michael says:
No Kobe isn’t the MVp. Never was, it’s either NAsh or Dirk, probably Dirk. It’s sure isn’t lebron who looks like he doesn’t care if they win or lose.
Feb.14 at 2:54 pm
ben says:
Dirk is the MVP. When he is out of the game, the mavs’ offense is stagnant and there is no flow. He is the best player on the best team. Enough said.
Feb.14 at 2:57 pm
Chief says:
Is it just me or does DWade have the fourth on lock? I mean he just dominates in that quarter alone. Insight please?
Feb.14 at 3:23 pm
William says:
Congrat Lang, your boy Joe Johnson made it to the ASG!
Feb.14 at 3:30 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
I’m still waiting for someone to suggest another reason why Isiah won’t start David Lee.
Feb.14 at 3:37 pm
FLUXLAND says:
Yeah I’ll go with CB4 for player of the DAY and MVP as well. Would the Raps be where they are without him? Oh, and tell me Bargnani is not the ROY!! play wit that DP…
Feb.14 at 4:07 pm
namik says:
hey can anyone mention how Kobe didnt even touch the ball on the last play? And that PJax decided to give the ball to Lamar and when the play broke down, he decided to “let them play through it” with a TO remaining? Or that any idiot in the world could have figured that Kobe would be a better “decoy” with the ball in his hands so he could pass the ball out to Lamar so he could have atleast touched the rim on that shot? Is that last line even a question? And can we talk about “The Chosen One” before we get to Kobe’s faults this season?
Feb.14 at 4:09 pm
namik says:
and btw DWade wouldnt have jacksh*t on lock if Brandon Roy got half of the calls Wade does. And do a lot of Wade’s “injuries” seem dubious to anyone else?
Feb.14 at 4:26 pm
Sam Rubenstein says:
The Odom shot seemed like he rushed it before Kobe was about to spin away from Steph and go get the ball. Maybe this was one of Phil’s Kukoc/Pippen tricks. Strange.
Maybe David Lee does not start because Isiah is molding him to be the next Rodman (who did not start regularly until the second Bad Boys championship year) who let’s remember had the outward appearance of being as “normal” as anyone in the league.
Feb.14 at 4:48 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Oh. Nets/Spurs is coming. Eventually. It’s a lot like SpeakerBoxxx and The Love Below. Beneath? Whatever that was called.
Feb.14 at 5:04 pm
Mike says:
In the link to the article that details Marbury’s new show, it describes Marbury as good-natured and gregarious. He may in fact be good-natured and gregariuos, however, from what I’ve seen of him on TV, he seems to be more sullen and angry. Maybe seeing a faint flicker of light at the end of the tunnel has brightened his perspective.
Feb.14 at 7:28 pm
Paniscus says:
This is a bit late in the conversation, but I’ve got to respond to Danny W. UK (sorry, I’m on the West coast). I’m also sorry to offer someone else’s analysis as my own, but here’s the press release from the Blazers that details Z-Bo’s exploits on the court this season (and let the off the court jokes begin): MAKING THE CASE FOR ZACH RANDOLPH DOUBLE-DOUBLES: With 29 double-doubles, Zach Randolph ranks No. 8 in the NBA (No. 6 in Western Conference). Of the 29, 25 are games of 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds, while 11 are 30-10 performances. SCORING: Zach ranks No. 12 in the NBA (No. 6 in West) with 24.1 points per game, and only three players have made more field goals than Zach. He’s getting to the line as well: No. 5 in free throws made (311) and No. 8 in free throws attempted (377), league-wide. Zach’s 42 points in a victory over Memphis stands as a career high, and he’s hit for 30-plus 13 times. REBOUNDING: Zach’s 10.3 rebounds per game are good for No. 10 in the NBA and No. 6 in the Western Conference. He’s notched 15-plus boards five times, including a season-high 17 rebounds in a win over Denver. THE TEAM: At 22-30 with two games remaining before the All-Star Break, the Trail Blazers have surpassed last season’s win total of 21. Currently 3.0 games out of the No. 8 playoff spot, Portland is one of the most improved clubs in the NBA. Zach has been a big part of that upswing, leading the league’s second-youngest team in scoring and rebounding 41 times, respectively. THE COMPETITION: Zach is one of four players averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in the NBA. The others: All-Stars Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Carlos Boozer. He is averaging more points and rebounds than Elton Brand, Mehmet Okur and Amare Stoudemire.
Feb.14 at 7:31 pm
Paniscus says:
All I’m saying is that All-Star debates quickly become so circular so quickly that it can make your neck hurt trying to follow the arguments. If you don’t like a good player on a bad team, you point out the team’s record. If you like a player with less than perfect numbers you point to the team’s record. This can go on and on and there’s never going to be a “right” answer. But Z-Bo “overrated”? Please. How can someone who gets little to no respect be overrated?
Feb.14 at 8:00 pm
Glen says:
If anyone else watched the Kings-Rockets game last night, please back me up when I say Musselman’s an idiot.
Even if you didn’t, you could probably still back me up.
But last night was absolutely terrible.
Feb.14 at 8:01 pm
Dylan Rice-Leary says:
Sam, my moms bought me a coffee maker with the same specs for Xmas and I am pretty sure that it IS the best present I have ever received. I teach highschool, so it is uber-helpful, but I love that you kicked off the page by going into yr revamped caffine system. I still haven’t stopped gloating over mine.
Feb.14 at 11:26 pm
David says:
Why did the nets fall off so hard? How did this team get to the finals just a few years ago? Aren’t they better (on paper) than the finals teams?
Feb.15 at 3:41 am
Russ Bengtson says:
Injuries, injuries, injuries.