My two favorite teams to use in NBA Live 95 were Golden State and Orlando. Last night was the best night those two teams had at the same time ever since those days when virtual Billy Owens and Dennis Scott were unstoppable. Let’s get to it.
ORLANDO 88 UTAH 75
If the Jazz are the surprise early best team in the league, then what’s Orlando? They went out to Utah, and the early leaders in the East got the win. This wasn’t the prettiest game, and the score doesn’t show how the Jazz had to make a 13-0 run to keep it respectable. Memo Okur got tossed with the game out of reach for Nick Nolte-ing a ball into the crowd (with his hand not feet). The Jazz are a good rebounding team, but on this night they went up against a man named Dwight Howard and his 16 boards. Very few second shots for the Jazz, as they were only able to grab 5 offensive boards. They had 21 turnovers and shot 1 of 12 from three. Boozer led the way with 21 and 9, but Orlando was able to slow down the tempo and the new Jazz weren’t able to play their game. Dwight led Orlando with 21 and Grant Hill added 16.
GOLDEN STATE 111 SAN ANTONIO 102
Here’s something I wasn’t expecting to write: Andris Biedrins blocked three straight Tim Duncan shots in the fourth quarter, as the Warriors were running and having fun, getting by the Spurs. No Baron Davis, and no Ginobili. So what. Our friends at Golden State of Mind are happy and they have the thorough recap. The Warriors are playing with E N E R G Y. Nellie is back. Duncan finished with 22 and 16 with 6 blocks, Tony Parker scored 28, but the Warriors handed the Spurs their first road loss. A season high 26 for J-Rich, some big plays and explosivenes from Monta Ellis, and L’il Dun celebrated his old man’s new contract with 20 off the bench. Biedrins: 18 and 15 with 6 blocks.
MIAMI 103 PHILLY 91
Allen, this is Dwyane. Dwyane, Allen. Udonis Haslem had 18 and 10 for Miami and Iguodala had 15 and 9 for Philly. I’m sure there were several other professional basketball players in the building, but this was an Iverson vs. Wade night. AI took 37 shots, hitting 17 of them. By comparison Wade took 18 shots. I know, getting to the free throw line wiped out many more shot attempts for both of them. Iverson was 11 of 12 from the line and Wade was 13 of 14. The final lines were 45 for AI with 4 assists and 3 steals. Wade had 33, 13, and 7 with 2 blocks and 7 turnovers. Lots of one on five drives through traffic with sick finishes for both of them. Miami came out on top cause Iguodala was the only other Sixer to hit double figures.
DALLAS 93 MINNESOTA 87
The Mavs have now won 10 in a row. Minnesota got a big three from MARK BLOUNT on a play that they actually ran for him, and he hit it. Craziness Mr. Casey, but it worked. The Mavs coughed up a big lead when Minny went to a zone and Dallas couldn’t hit an outside shot. But, the Mavs made just enough plays down the stretch to keep the winning streak alive. Weird game. Dirk struggled, Dampier bailed Dallas out and after the game said “We could’ve easily beat them 15 or more.” You know what the Mavs have? Swagger! Josh Howard is starting to get back into the flow too, scoring the go-ahead basket and exchaning shoves and techs with KG. Randy Foye scored 11 of his 17 in the fourth, keying the T-Wolves 12-0 run to tie the game.
