Well hello everyone. What a beautiful day. Kobe scored 61 points last night. At MSG. On 19-31 field goal attempts. 20-20 from the free throw line. He’s so good that guy. He’s here in Toronto….. TOMORROW. I’m a little excited. Also a little bitter because I didn’t see the whole game unfortunately. Yes, I’m serious. No, I don’t want to talk about it. Our own Matt Caputo saved me from the self-hatred that would come from missing the entire game, so thank him for me, would you?
Kobe Bryant. My goodness. He was absolutely and entirely unstoppable down the stretch and it was brilliant to watch. Russ was there. I’m pretty jealous.
His big game helped to take some of the sting away from the news that we’re going to be without Andrew for…. Oh probably forever. Eight to twelve weeks is what they are saying, but that takes us to the second round of playoffs, or somewhere around there. Just sucks. As much as it sucks for my team, it sucks even more for Andrew, a guy who had to sit out and watch from the sidelines last year and now, after working his tail off all summer, will have to do it again.
This is the part I hate about sports.
Rough, rough night for the point guards last night. Chris Paul went down with a strained groin and Jameer Nelson suffered a separated shoulder. It’s going to really sting if Nelson has to miss the All-Star game. Well wishes are being sent to the two of them.
I need to address the fact that the Post Up isn’t going to be the normal Post Up these next two days. I’ve got a friend coming in for the rest of the week and I am taking these two days off. I’ll be back Thursday to recap the Lakers/Celtics showdown in Boston but I’ve got my Lakers game Wednesday and tomorrow? I fully intend to enjoy this city with wonderful company.
There will be Post Ups, but I can’t give you any more info than that, at this point in time. Ha. You’ll be updated, though. Don’t worry about that.
Okay, so in addition to taking the next two nights off from League Pass and Posting Up, I was busy tonight and didn’t see anything besides Kobe’s fourth quarter. Yeah, yeah, I know. In order to be a gracious host, I needed to take care of some things, so basketball went to the back burner. And Kobe punished me to remind me that is never a good idea.
Yes, I also missed the Golden State/San Antonio overtime affair. Of course, the Spurs won out, 110-105. Tim Duncan had 32 points and 15 rebounds while Manu Ginobili also scored 32, his coming off of the bench. Tony Parker added 23. Golden State was led by Stephen Jackson’s 33 points and 11 assists as Monta Ellis had 17 and Corey Maggette added 15.
The Grizzlies drilled the Wizards 113-97 and OJ Mayo continued to make my heart smile as he scored 33 points on the night. Rudy Gay had 23 points while Marc Gasol scored 22 points to 
go with 11 rebounds. The Wizards were led by Antawn Jamison’s 29 and 13 as Caron Butler added 21 and Nick Young scored 13 off of the bench.
The Mavericks got lucky against the Magic and were able to pull out a 105-95 victory as the Magic were shook when they lost floor leader Jameer Nelson to a separated shoulder. Without their point guard the Magic were unable to get it done on the second night of a back-to-back and fell on their home floor. Dirk had 29 points for the Mavs while Jason Terry added 23 off of the bench. Dwight Howard had 35 and 11 for the Magic while Hedo Turkoglu added 18 in the loss.
The Heat ripped the Clippers 119-95 as Dwyane Wade had 32 points and 9 assists. Michael Beasley scored 18 off of the bench as the Heat spoiled Zach Randolph’s return. Randolph had 21 points off of the bench for the Clips, but it wasn’t enough to get a W.
The Blazers took down the Hornets 97-89 as New Orleans fell apart after Chris Paul left the game with a strained groin. Jerryd Bayless had 19 off of the bench for the Blazers as LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 and 11 and Travis Outlaw scored 16. The Hornets were led by David West’s 25 points and the 12-point, 13-assist night Paul had before he left the game for good.
After their late night meeting, the Suns were happy to face the Kings. They had good reason as they ripped them 129-81. Nope, that’s not a typo. The Kings shot 36% from the floor for the game while the Suns shot 51%. And, there goes the ballgame. Jason Richardson had 24 points and 6 assists for the Suns while Amare Stoudemire scored 25 points and Grant Hill added 14. John Salmons had 19 to lead the Kings in the loss as Kevin Martin had 13 on only 2-10 shooting.
