Heels in the League (03/11/09)

03/11/09

Last night in the National Basketball Association was the biggest slate so far this week with eleven games being played. In those eleven games there were six squads that had ex North Carolina Tar Heels on it, as well as the eighth seeded teams for both the East and the West. This means that on The Fifth Corner it is time to do the recap of all of this in the blog I call “Heels in the League”. After I check the pro’s I will also check on the three ex Carolina players in the Development League to see how they fared on the night. So let’s get started, with so many players to check, this should be a fairly long post…

The first game of the night has the Utah Jazz (1st in the Northwest Division (West)) going to the Philips Arena to take on the Atlanta Hawks (2nd in the Southeast Division (East)). As most of you know the ex Heel on the Hawks, Marvin Williams, is hurt and didn’t play. For now there is no timetable for when the forward is coming back. As far as this game is concerned Atlanta (37-28, 23-7 home) beats Utah (41-24, 13-18 away) 100 to 93, ending the Jazz’ 12 game winning streak. With the Heat also winning last night the Hawks could not lengthen their 1.5 game lead for fourth place.

In the next game with a touch of carolina blue is the one that has the Washington Wizards (last in the Southeast Division (East)) playing host to the New Orleans Hornets (3rd in the Southwest Division (West)). For the home team it was ex NPOY Antawn Jamison getting a double double while playing close to the whole game (45 minutes). The ex Heel forward scored 25 points on 11 of 21 shooting (2 for 7 from beyond the arc), while grabbing 10 boards. Jamison also had three steals and two assists on the night. And while it was a good night for the ex UNC player, behind a triple double from Chris Paul it was New Orleans (40-23, 17-14 away) winning the game, defeating Washington (15-50, 10-23 home) by the final tally 109 to 98.

Third game of the night has another ex Heel not being able to play. It’s the New York Knicks (4th in the Atlantic Division (East)) going to the Palace of Auburn Hills to take on the Detroit Pistons (2nd in the Central Division (East)). The ex UNC big man Rasheed Wallace was a “DNP” due to the injury to the calf he substained a game back. In a game that went into overtime it was New York (27-37, 9-22 away) getting the surprising win over Detroit (32-31, 17-16 home) 116 to 111. With the Pistons losing and the 76′ers winning Philly is now just a 1/2 game behind Detroit for sixth place in the East.

Another game with a Tar Heel on the roster and another game where the ex UNC player doesn’t play. In this instance it’s the Dallas Mavericks (4th in the Southwest Division (West)) taking on the Portland Trailblazers (2nd in the Northwest Division (West)) at the Rose Garden. As usual Jerry Stackhouse is a DNP, and I doubt that we will see the ex pupil of Dean Smith playing (especially for the Mavs) this season. As far as the game goes it’s Dallas (40-25, 16-17 away) beating Portland (40-24, 27-6 home) by 4, 93 to 89. With the Suns being idle on the night the Mavs have now a 5.5 game lead for the last playoff spot in the West.

The last game of the night has a head to head match up of ex Carolina players. It the New Jersey Nets (3rd in the Atlantic Division (East)) heading cross country to take on the Golden State Warriors (3rd in the Pacific Division (West))at the ORACLE Arena. For the visiting team it’s ex Heel Vince Carter getting 32 minutes and scoring 14 points as well as adding a pair of rebounds, assists and steals. The guard also had 3 turnovers on the night. On the other side of the court, for the home team, it’s ex UNC player Brandan Wright, who just like many others on the night, does not take to the court due the shoulder injury. The ex pupil of Roy Williams practiced for the first time in two months on Tuesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, but there is no timetable for his coming back. When it was all said and done it was Golden State (22-42, 16-15 home) defeating New Jersey (28-36, 14-17 away) 116 to 112. With the Nets losing the chances of getting to the playoffs are still possible as they are only .5 games behind the eighth place team.

In the NBDL they had two games, one with an ex Heel, but they have not updated the scoreboard as of now. So I will let it be, and update this post once the scores and box score are put in.

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