By Holly MacKenzie

Okay… The dek of this post is directly related to the upcoming Kanye concert on Wednesday night that I am very excited to go to. With a preseason game here in Canada in under 2 week and the start of the actual season so close, life is good. So, here are some recaps from a Sunday in the NBA Preseason. As an aside, it sucks being unable to find decent highlights of the these games but it doesn’t even matter because tip off is almost here! In brief, here is what went down last night. Most importantly, only 15 more days until what we have all been waiting for. As excited as I am, I worry my head may burst from all of these Laker trade rumors and from trying to crunch the numbers and scenarios. From what I have been seeing, I’m happy for Portland fans that Aldridge is playing so well and I’m hoping for a Brandon Roy sighting soon.

Portland 102 Atlanta 89

Atlanta fans hoping to remain undefeated in preseason were disappointed with a 102-89 loss to Portland Sunday afternoon. Rookie guard Acie Law did not play after spraining his wrist in Charlotte Thursday night, but it was the post game that easily destroyed the Hawks. While rookie Al Horford had a nice game scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 boards to lead the team in 27 minutes of action, the Hawks big men were severely outplayed. Their lack of size inside was pounded home again and again, by LaMarcus Aldridge. Marvin Williams led the Hawks with 18 points and 7 rebounds while Josh Smith had 12 points, 6 boards and 5 blocks, before he fouled out late in the game. Trailblazer fans continue to ease the blow of losing Greg Oden for the season with the play of LaMarcus Aldridge. In Sunday’s contest Aldridge led his team with 29 points and 9 rebounds while Channing Frye had 14 point off the bench. 3rd year guard Martell Webster continued his improved play with 12 points, 6 boards and 3 assists. Joel Przybilla had a nice game, easily nabbing 12 boards and swatting 4 shots. In addition to Oden, the Blazers were also without Brandon Roy, last years ROY. Roy is expected to miss the rest of the preseason with a heel injury.

Detroit 105 Denver 104

NBA Action in Detroit saw the Pistons top Denver 105-104 after a close game that saw many lead changes throughout the 4th quarter. Denver played without Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, Kenyon Martin and Nene Hilario while Detroit had their normal roster with the exception of Richard Hamilton, who left the game in the 3rd quarter with an ankle injury. Denver reserves did their best to match up and almost pulled off the W with Anthony Roberson scoring 20 points and Von Wafer going for 16 points. For Detroit, Jarvis Hayes led the team with 24 points while Jason Maxiell added 16 and 11 rebounds. In limited minutes, Detroit rookies Aaron Affalo scored 8 points and Rodney Stuckey had 5, including the game-clinching free throws with 8 seconds remaining.

Washington 86 Philadelphia 80

After an 86-80 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, the Washington Wizards remain undefeated in preseason, even with Gilbert Arenas reduced to watching from the sidelines. In a game that had the Wizards ahead for most of the contest, it was rookie Nick Young who converted a three-point play to ensure his team had the win. Young, the 18th pick from USC finished with 8 points in his 24 minutes. Antawn Jamison was the leading scorer in the game with 17 points while 3rd year forward Andre Blatche added 10 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, continuing a stron preseason campaign after a nice showing in summer league. Also showing up was 2006 draft pick Olekisy Pecherov, who has performed well in preseason and continued with 11 points in the contest. Not surprisingly, Andre Iguodala led Philly with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Louis Williams came off of the bench to score 13 as well. Rookie Jason Smith had a rough night going 0-7 from the floor in 22 minutes of action while Herbert Hill had 6 points and 6 rebounds in 12 minutes.

LA Clippers 99 Golden State Warriors 89

In getting their first win of the preseason, the Clippers handed the Golden State Warriors their first loss. In the win the Clippers looked good, while rookie Al Thornton looked really good. Thornton led the team with 24 points on 11-15 from the floor in only 26 minutes of action. He scored 18 points in the 2nd quarter alone. In addition to Thornton, Corey Maggette had a great game with 18 points and 14 boards while Ruben Patterson contributed 19 and 11. Newly signed point guard Brevin Knight had 7 points and 7 assists (0 turnovers), in 21 minutes The Clippers out rebounded Golden State 59-42 and were able to gain a lead after the 1st quarter, which saw Golden State hit only 4 of 19 shots. Before halftime, the Clippers were up by as many as 23 points and led by 19 at the break. For the Warriors, Al Harrington had 17 points and 9 rebounds while Baron Davis scored 13. Rookie Marco Belinelli had 5 points after scoring 18 in his last game while Brandan Wright saw limited action, but scored 6 points in his 13 minutes.