Heels in the League (03/27/09)
03/27/09
A pretty packed schedule in the National Basketball Association last night. In all there were ten games on the schedule, with five of them having a touch of carolina blue in them. As you know that can only mean one thing on this blog of mine, it’s time to do the daily post called “Heels in the Leauge” where I give you a small recap of what the ex Carolina players did as well as link to several recap sites, from main stream media (ESPN) to bloggers (Slam Dunk Central) to name a few. I am planning to get more NBA blogs to link to, but probably won’t happen until next season.
First game of the night is the one that has the Charlotte Bobcats (4th in the Southeast Division) heading to the Wachovia Center to take on the Philadelphia 76′ers (2nd in the Atlantic Division). For the `Cats it’s the combo of Raymond Felton and Sean May, but only the speedy point guard makes it on the floor in this one. The ex Heel and national champion gets 40 minutes scoring 20 points (8 for 14) while adding five assists, three steals and two rebounds. On the dark side Felton did committ five turnovers on the night. When it was all done it was Charlotte (32-40, 12-23 away) winning this game against Philadelphia (37-34, 21-15 home) by the final score being 100 to 95. With the win the Bobcats are now 1.5 games behind the eighth place Pistons.
The next game that was played last night with a touch of carolina blue is the match up between two teams that have clinched a playoff spot in the East, the Boston Celtics (1st in the Atlantic Division) and the Atlanta Hawks (2nd in the Southeast Division). For the home squad we would usually see Marvin Williams if he was not hurt, so once again he is a “DNP”, and will probably be this way all the way through the rest of the season. For the game itself, even without the use of Kevin Garnett, it was Boston (55-19, 26-13 away) winning the game at the Philips Arena, defeating Atlanta (42-31, 28-9 home) by the final tally of 99 to 93. Jeff Sack of Slam Dunk Central believes that “Big Baby grew up” in the game, and I tend to agree with Davis replacing KG and getting a double double in the game. Even with the loss the Hawks are still 3.5 games ahead of the Heat for the fourth place spot.
The third game of the night was an East versus West match up as the New Jersey Nets (3rd in the Atlantic Division) hosted the Los Angeles Lakers (1st in the Pacific Division) at the IZOD Center. For the home squad it’s Vince Carter getting 40 minutes in the game, scoring a team high 20 points (8 for 15) while adding seven rebounds and three assists. The ex Tar Heel also had two turnovers in the game. Unfortunately the rest of his squad had 20 more TO’s and you can’t do against the Lakers. That being said Los Angeles (58-14, 27-9 away) took care of business on the east coast, defeating New Jersey (30-42, 15-21 home) by eight points, 103 to 95, and claiming the top spot in the West with it. With the loss the Nets fall to the 12th place in the East, 4.5 games back of the Pistons, and probably out of contention for the post season.
The second to last game on tap with a touch of carolina blue is the match up between two teams in the playoff run in the West, with the Denver Nuggets (1st in the Southwest Division) going to the lone star state to play against the Dallas Mavericks (4th in the Northwest Division) at the American Airlines Center. As we all know Jerry Stackhouse won’t be on the court due to injury and other things, and probably the next time we do see the ex Heel it won’t be in a Mavs uniform. For the game itself it was Denver (47-26, 20-18 away) beating Dallas (43-29, 26-9 home) by the slim margin of 103 to 101. Even with the loss it seems that the Mavs will make the playoffs as they are still 3 games ahead of the Suns for the last spot in the West.
The last game is one that matches up two squads both bottom dwellers of their division and both still in the teens as far as wins go. It’s the Memphis Grizzlies (last in the Southwest Division) going on the road and taking on the Sacramento Kings (last in the Pacific Division) at the ARCO Arena. For the home squad ex national champion Rashad McCants gets just nine minutes off the bench and scores three points while doing not much else. In the end it’s Memphis (18-53, 6-29 away) winning this game, beating Sacramento (15-56, 10-25 home) by 18 points, 113 to 95. The win snaps a 20 game losing streak tells us Stephen Rhodes from Slam Dunk Central. Sacramento is nowhere to be seen when we talk about the playoff race, so I won’t even go there.
I know this has nothing to do with the “Heels in the League”, but I want to give a shout out to Carolyn over at the And One for her first (of what I believe to be many) games from the “Q” in press row! Congratulations C!
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