Heels in the League (NBA) 02/16/10
(NBA) 02/16/10
Yesterday marked the return of the NBA after the All-Star break over the weekend. That means that today marks the return of “Heels in the League” (NBA) which will be looking at the games from Tuesday, February 16, 2010. The association had ten games last night, five of them with a touch of Carolina Blue and one of them being a head to head match up. Make sure to also check out the new feature regarding the ex North Carolina in the National Basketball Association called “Before the Game” where I am putting up previews of the games along with what the odds makers are saying about the game. Also, make sure to come back often in these days as the NBA trade dead line is about 24 hours away and Antwan Jamison is still being talked about as a possible player to be traded. But for now enjoy this edition of “Heels in the League” (NBA) for the games from 02/16/10…
The first game of the night is the one that has the Charlotte Bobcats (EC 3rd Southeast) hosting the New Jersey Nets (EC 5th Atlantic), with the Bobcats being an 11 points favorite. A game that was played at the Time Warner Cable Arena in front of 13,712 fans. This is the third (of four) games the two teams will play against one another, with Charlotte winning both of the previous match ups. For the home team it’s speedster Raymond Felton (52 Games: 32.7 MinsPG ~ 12.2 PPG ~ 5.1 APG ~ 1.7 SPG), who starts and plays 35 minutes for the Bobcats. In that time frame the point guard scores 18 points (7 for 9 ~ 0 for 0 ~ 4 for 5) to go with five rebounds, four assists and a pair of turnovers while having a -11 pts differential in the game. In what is a definitely an upset it was New Jersey winning this one by nine, defeating Charlotte by the final score of 103 to 94. With the loss the Bobcats are now 26 and 26 for the season (.500 winning percentage) and 19 and 7 at home (.730 winning percentage) being in a three way tie for the last playoff spot in the East, 16.0 games behind the top squad, 1.5 ahead of the ninth team in the conference. ESPN believes that Charlotte has a 82.8% of making the playoff and a 0.9% of winning it all.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
Queen City Hoops (TrueHoop Network) by Brett
Rufus on Fire (SB Nation) by David Arnott
The next game of the night is a West/East battle as the Minnesota Timberwolves (WC 5th Northwest) head to the Motor City to take on the Detroit Pistons (EC 4th Central) in a game that was played in front of 14,449 spectators at The Palace in Auburn Hills, with the Timberwolves being a 5 points underdog. This is the first (of two) games these two squads will have this season. For the visiting squad it’s rookie Wayne Ellington (52 Games: 18.1 MinsPG ~ 6.4 PPG ~ 0.9 APG ~ 2.2 RPG), who gets 26 minutes coming off the bench in this one. In that time the shooting guard scored just five points (1 for 6 ~ 1 for 3 ~ 2 for 2) to go with three boards (two offensive) and a TO while having a pts differential of -19. In what was not much of a game it is Detroit destroying Minnesota by 23 points, with the final score being 108 to 85. With the loss the TWolves are now 13 and 41 for the year (.341 winning percentage) and 4 and 23 on the road (.148 winning percentage) and are the last place team in the West, 18.0 games behind the last playoff team. The people in Bristol give Minnesota a 19.3% of getting the top pick in this year’s draft.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
Howlin’ T-Wolf (TrueHoop Network) by Howlintwolf
Need4Shed by Natalie Sitto
The third game of the recap has the Dallas Mavericks (WC 1st Southwest) playing the Oklahoma City (WC 3rd Northwest) at the Ford Center in front of a crowd that numbered 18,203. with the Mavs being a 4.5 points favorite. This is the third game (of four) that the teams will have against one another in this season, with Dallas winning the first two. For the visiting team it’s the newly acquired Heel, Brendan Haywood (50 Games: 32.6 MinsPG ~ 9.7 PPG ~ 10.3 RPG ~ 2.0 BPG), who comes off the bench and plays for 15 minutes. For the big man in the middle it’s a seven points performance (3 for 7 ~ 0 for 0 ~ 1 for 4) to go with six rebounds and a block, while having a -16 pts differential in the game. In another upset it’s Oklahoma City winning this one by a baker’s dozen, defeating Dallas by the final tally of 99 to 86. With the loss the Mavs slide to 32 and 21 for the season (.604 winning percentage) and 17 and 12 on the road (.586 winning percentage) while being the fourth team in the West, 9.0 games behind the top squad and only 0.5 games ahead of the fifth place team. At the World Leader in Sports they believe that Dallas has a 90.1% chance of getting to the playoff and only a 0.9% of winning the championship.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
Mavs Moneyball (SB Nation) by zdgmans
The Smoking Cuban (FanSided) by Jay Maguire
Slam Dunk Central by Jeff Sack
The second to last game of the night is also the only head to head match up of this recap as the Boston Celtics (EC 1st Atlantic) head cross country to play against the Sacramento Kings (WC 4th Pacific) in a East/West battle, one that has the Celtics as a 6 points favorite. The game was played at ARCO Arena in front of a crowd of 14,439. This is the first (of two) games between these two squads. For the visiting team from the Bean Town it’s ex UNC big man Rasheed Wallace (48 Games: 23.7 MinsPG ~ 10.2 PPG ~ 4.3 RPG ~ 0.9 BPG), who gets 24 minutes coming off the bench. In that time the ex pupil of Dean Smith scored a team high 17 points (5 for 8 ~ 1 for 4 ~ 6 for 6) to go with five rebounds, three steals, a steal and a TO while having a +10 pts differential. For the home squad it’s another big man, Sean May (17 Games: 9.7 MinsPG ~ 3.4 PPG ~ 2.1 RPG ~ 0.2 BPG), who plays just eight minutes scoring no points (0 for 4 ~ 0 for 0 ~ 0 for 0) to go with two blocks and a rebound while having a pts differential of +1. In what was a pretty close game Boston comes out as the winning, defeating Dallas by three points, with the final score being 95 to 92. With the W the Celtics are now 33 and 18 overall (.647 winning percentage) and 18 and 9 on the road (.667 winning percentage) tied for third in the East, 8.5 games back of the conference leader and 4.5 games ahead of the fifth place squad. ESPN thinks that Boston has a 99.8% of making the playoffs. With the loss the Kings are now 18 and 35 on the year (.340 winning percentage) and 13 and 13 at home (.500 winning percentage) being in 13th spot in the West, 12.5 games behind the playoff race. ESPN thinks that Sacramento has a 5.1% chance of getting the number one pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
Celtics Hub (TrueHoop Network) by Brian Robb
Cowbell Kingdom (TrueHoop Network) by Zach Harper
CelticsBlog (SB Nation) by Jimmy Toscano
Hardwood Houdini (FanSided) by bpaul
Slam Dunk Central by Jeff Sack
And we close out this recap with the divisional game between the Golden State Warriors (WC 5th Pacific) and the Los Angeles Lakers (WC 1st Pacific), with the Warriors being a 14.5 points underdog. The game was played in front of a sold out attendance of 18,997 at the STAPLES Center. This is the third game (of four) with Los Angeles having won both of the previous match ups. For the visiting team we should be seeing Brandan Wright, but as we all know he is still out with the shoulder injury/surgery from the pre-season. As far as the game went it was Los Angeles winning this one by ten, defeating Golden State by the final tally of 104 to 94. With the loss the Warriors are now 14 and 38 for the year (.269 winning percentage) and 4 and 23 on the road (.148 winning percentage) as the 14th team in the West, 16.0 games back of the last playoff team. At Bristol they give Golden State a 11.4% of getting the first pick in the NBA Draft.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
Golden State of Mind (SB Nation) by Feltbot
Pretty cool moment in the C’s – Kings game when Sean May fouled Sheed following a rebound and immediately went over and apologized. At first I wondered who would apologize to Sheed, widely regarded as one of the most annoying players in The League, then it hit me…both Heels!
[...] side note: if you want to see what happened yesterday with the ex Tar Heels check out my daily post “Heels in the League” (NBA) for 02/16/10. (The odds were taken from the Bodog web site and this post is not meant for [...]