Heels in the League (NBA) 02/26/10
(NBA) 02/26/10
Due to a couple of RL issues that didn’t go quite the way I (or my wife) thought they would this edition of “Heels in the League” (NBA) is way late, and I apologize for it. This game is about the games from yesterday, Friday, February 26, 2010, when the National Basketball Association had 12 games in all, seven with a touch of Carolina Blue, one of them a head to head match up with ex UNC players on both sides of the floor. I am hoping to be able to stay up late (as I have company coming over the for SU/Nova game) and finish this up as well as the recap of the UNC/Wake game and how some other Heels teams did. But for now enjoy the recap for the games from 02/26/10…
First game of the recap, as well as being the only head to head match up and an East/West clash, is the Dallas Mavericks (WC 1st SW) going to the east coast to take on the Atlanta Hawks (EC 2nd SE) for the second time (out of 2) this year, with Atlanta winning the first match up. The game was played at the Philips Arena in front of a crowd of 18,923. For the team from the lone star state it’s Brendan Haywood (56 Games: 33.1 MinsPG ~ 9.9 PPG ~ 10.4 RPG ~ 2.2 BPG), who starts for the Mavs and gets 43 minutes in all. In this one the big man in the middle gets a double double by scoring 11 points (5 for 6 ~ 0 for 0 ~ 1 for 2) to go with 11 rebounds (5 offensive), four assists, three blocks, one steal, a TO and a +14 pts differential. On the other side, for the Hawks, it’s forward Marvin Williams (56 Games: 29.6 MinsPG ~ 10 PPG ~ 4.9 RPG ~ 1.0 APG), who starts and plays for 23 minutes. For the one & done and national champ it’s seven points (2 for 8 ~ 1 for 2 ~ 1 for 2) to go along with six boards (2 offensive), two blocks, an assist, a turnover and a pts differential of -1. In the end, after going to overtime, it was Dallas winning this one by eight, defeating Atlanta by the final of 111 to 103. With the win the Mavs are now 38-21 on the year (.644 winning percentage), 19-12 on the road (.612 winning percentage) and holding on to the third place, 6.0 games behind the conference leader and just 0.5 ahead of the fourth squad. With the loss the Hawks fall to 36-21 on the season (.632 winning percentage), 22-7 at home (.758 winning percentage) and tied for third place in the East, 8.5 games behind the conference leader.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
Hoopinion (TrueHoop Network)
Mavs Moneyball (SB Nation) by zdgmans
Peachtree Hoops (SB Nation) by hawksdawgs
Slam Dunk Central by Stephen Rhodes
The next game has the Cleveland Cavaliers (EC 1st Central) going north of the border to take on the Toronto Raptors (EC 2nd Atlantic) in what is the third game between the franchises, with the squads having split the first two games. The game was played in front of 20,107 fans at Air Canada Centre. For the visiting team it’s the duo of Antawn Jamison (46 Games: 38,4 MinsPG ~ 19.8 PPG ~ 8.6 RPG ~ 1.3 APG) and Jawad Williams (34 Games: 12.1 MinsPG ~ 3.7 PPG ~ 1.3 RPG ~ 0.7 APG), with the former starting and getting 46 minutes in all and the latter coming off the bench for just 9 minutes. For the ex NPOY it’s a double double night, with 22 points (8 for 14 ~ 1 for 3 ~ 5 for 9) to go with 11 rebounds (2 on the offensive glass), three assists, two TOs and a +10 pts differential. For the `05 national champ it’s a no points evening (0 for 1 ~ 0 for 0 ~ 0 for 0) to go with nothing else but a -7 pts differential. In another game that went to OT, it is Cleveland winning this one, taking down Toronto by eight points, with the final tally being 126 to 118. With the W the Cavs are now 46-14 (. winning percentage), 21-10 on the road (.677 winning percentage) and in first place in the East, 6.5 games ahead of the rest of the conference.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
CAVS: the blog (TrueHoop Network) by John Krolik
Fear the Sword (SB Nation) by John Bena
Slam Dunk Central by Jeff Sack
Moving on we now have the divisional clash between the Minnesota Timberwolves (WC 5th NW) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (WC 3rd NW), the third (of 4) match ups between the two, with Oklahoma winning both of the games before this by a duece a piece. The game was played at the Ford Center in front of an attendance that numbered 18,203. As far as this game was concerned we had shooting guard Wayne Ellington (57 Games: 17.8 MinsPG ~ 6.3 PPG ~ 0.9 APG ~ 2.2 RPG) coming in off the bench for the visiting team and playing 20 minutes. In that time frame the national champ from a year ago scores five points (2 for 5 ~ 0 for 3 ~ 1 for 2) to go with a rebound, an assist, a turnover and having a +4 pts differential. In the end the game was won by Oklahoma City, but not by a duece, taking down Minnesota by 17 points, with the final score of 109 to 92. With the loss the TWolves are now 14-46 overall (.233 winning percentage), 5-26 on the road (.161 winning percentage) and are dead last in the West, 19.5 games behind the playoff race.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
Howlin’ T-Wolf (TrueHoop Network) by howlintwolf
Canis Hoopus (SB Nation) by Stop-n-Pop
The fourth game of this recap is the one that once again has an East/West clash to it, as the Charlotte Bobcats (EC 4th SE) (with new owner Michael Jordan) take on the Memphis Grizzlies (WC 5th SW) for the second time (out of 2) this season. with Charlotte winning the first one by a duece. The game was played in front of a crowd of 14,713 at the FedExForum. For the visiting team from back east it’s point guard Raymond Felton (56 Games: 32.7 MinsPG ~ 12.0 PPG ~ 5.2 APG ~ 1.7 SPG), who starts for the Bobcats and plays 34 minutes in all. The speedster gets 9 points (4 for 12 ~ 0 for 2 ~ 1 for 2) to go with seven assists, five boards (2 offensive), two steals and a TO while having a +14 pts differential. In what was once again a close game between these two teams it would be Charlotte winning (ending a 3 game slide), taking down Memphis by the final of 93 to 89. With the W the Bobcats are now 28-29 overall (.491 winning percentage), 8-22 on the road (.266 winning percentage) and tied for eight place in the East, but still on the outside looking in.
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 on the night is once again a East/West battle, where we have the Denver Nuggets (WC 1st NW) playing host to the Detroit Pistons (EC 4th Central) in what is the second (of 2) games between these franchises, the first one having been won by Detroit by 2 points. This game was played in front of a crowd that numbered 19,845 at the Pepsi Center. For the team from the Mile High City we find rookie Ty Lawson (54 Games: 21.9 MinsPG ~ 9.1 PPG ~ 3.4 APG ~ 0.8 SPG), who gets a total of 14 minutes coming off the bench for the Nuggets. In that time frame the ex national champ scores just two points (1 for 2 ~ 0 for 0 ~ 0 for 0) to go with four assists, a rebound and four TOs while having a pts differential of +11. In what was once again a pretty close game it is Denver avenging the earlier loss to Detroit and stopping a way too long skid, with the final score being 107 to 102. With the victory the Nuggets are now 39-19 for the season (.672 winning percentage) and 25-5 at home (.833 winning percentage) while holding the second spot in the West, 4.5 games behind the conference leader and 1.5 ahead of the third place squad.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
Denver Stiffs (SB Nation) by Andrew Feinstein
Need4Sheed by Natalie Sitto
We continue with the recap and with the East/West match ups, this time it’s the Orlando Magic (EC 1st SE) going to play against the New Orleans Hornets (WC 3rd SW) for their second clash (of 2) for this season, the first one having gone to Orlando. The game was played at the New Orleans Arena with an attendance of 16,954. For the team from the sunshine state it’s veteran guard Vince Carter (52 Games: 30.7 MinsPG ~ 16.3 PPG ~ 2.9 APG ~ 4.2 RPG), who start for the Magic and gets a total of 31 minutes. In that time frame the shooting guard gets just eight points (3 for 10 ~ 1 for 3 ~ 1 for 3) to go with two boards, an assist a pair of turnovers and a pts differential of -9. In a game where you can use the word collapse (as I watched it unfold on ESPN), it was New Orleans taking advantage of Orlando in the end and winning the game by seven points, with the final score being 100 to 93. With the loss the Magic now drop to 39-20 overall (.661 winning percentage) and 17-14 on the road (.548 winning percentage) while holding the second place in the East, 6.5 games behind the conference leader.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
Orlando Magic Daily (TrueHoop Network) by Philip Rossman-Reich
Orlando Pinstriped Post (SB Nation) by Ben Q Rock
Slam Dunk Central by Stephen Rhodes
And we finish up with the game that has the Sacramento Kings (WC 4th Pacific) playing host to the Utah Jazz (WC 2nd NW), in what is the third (of 3) games these teams will have against one another, the first two having been split. The game is played at the ARCO Arena in front of crowd of 12,938. For the home squad we find ex UNC big man Sean May (20 Games: 9.4 MinsPG ~ 3.4 PPG ~ 2.0 RPG ~ 0.2 BPG), who comes off the bench and plays eight minutes for the Kings. In this one the ex national champ scores seven points (3 for 3 ~ 0 for 0 ~ 1 for 2) to go with a rebound and a pts differential of -3. As far as the game was concerned it would be Sacramento winning a close one, defeating Utah by 4, with the final tally being 103 to 99. With the win the Kings are now 19-39 on the year (.328 winning percentage), 14-14 at home (.500 winning percentage) and in 13th spot in the West, 13.5 games out of the playoff run.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
Cowbell Kingdom (TrueHoop Network) by Zach Harper
Sactown Royalty (SB Nation) by Ziller
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