Heels in the League (NBA) 04/04/10
(NBA) 04/04/10
As I continue to catch up on my daily post about the North Carolina players in the National Basketball Association which is called “Heels in the League” (NBA). In this edition we check out the games from Sunday, April 4, 2010, where in all there were eight games. Of those five had a touch of Carolina Blue, one of them being a head to head match up. For the complete run down you can either check out ESPN’s Scoreboard Page or RealGM’s recap. But without further ado, let’s get going with this edition of “Heels in the League” (NBA) for the games from 04/04/10…
The first game of the night is the only head to head match up between two division leaders that are headed to the post season. It’s the Cleveland Cavaliers (Ec 1st Central – Clinched Conference) headed to Bean Town to take on the Boston Celtics (EC 1st Atlantic – Clinched Division) in what is the fourth (of four) contests between these two teams, with Cleveland leading the series 2 to 1. For the visiting team from C-Town we have three Tar Heels: Antawn Jamison (62 Games: 37.1 MinsPG ~ 18.8 PPG ~ 8.7 RPG ~ 0.3 BPG) who starts for the Cavs and played 31 minutes in all, Jawad Williams (49 Games: 12.6 MinsPG ~ 4.0 PPG ~ 1.4 RPG ~ 0.1 BPG) who comes in for less than a minute and Danny Green, who once again dresses but does not play. For the ex NPOY it’s a double double night, scoring 16 points (5 for 10 ~ 2 for 3 ~ 4 for 
to go with ten rebounds (1 offensive), an assist, a steal, a block and a TO while haing a +7 pts differential. For the national champ from `05 it’s nothing but a pts differential of -5. On the other side, for the home town team, it’s ex UNC big man Rasheed Wallace (72 Games: 22.5 MinsPG ~ 9.1 PPG ~ 4.1 RPG ~ 0.9 BPG), who comes in off the bench for the Celtics and plays 10 minutes. The center scores six points (3 for 5 ~ 0 for 0 ~ 0 for 0) to go with an assist, a block and a +5 pts differential. In the end, in a high scoring pretty tight ending affair, it was Boston winning this one, defeating Cleveland by 4, with the final result being 117 to 113. With the win the Celtics go to 48-28 on the season (.632 winning percentage), 24-15 at home (.615 winning percentage) and are fourth place in the East, 1.0 games behind the third team in the conference. With the loss the Cavs drop to 60-17 on the year (.779 winning percentage), 26-13 on the road (.667 winning percentage) and are atop of the East, 6.0 games ahead of the pack.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
CAVS: the blog (TrueHoop Network) by John Krolik
Celtics Hub (TrueHoop Network) by Brendan Jackson
RedsArmy by BigMck
Celtics Life by Dillinger
Waiting for Next Year by Scott
Slam Dunk Central by Jeff Sack
Second game of this recap has the Indiana Pacers (EC 4th Central) playing host to the Houston Rockets (WC 4th SW) in an East/West match up of teams out of the playoff. The game, played at Conseco Fieldhouse in front of a crowd of 14,201, was the second (of two) between the teams with the first one going to Indiana. For this game we should be seeing power forward Tyler Hansbrough, but as we know the rookie lottery pick didn’t play as he is going to be out for the season fighting an inner ear infection and maybe more. As far as the game went it was Indiana winning it (and sweeping the series), defeating Houston by 31 points, with the final score being 133 to 102. With the win the Pacers move to 29-48 on the season (.377 winning percentage, 21-17 at home (.552 winning percentage) and are tenth in the East, 10.0 games out of playoff contention.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
Indy Cornrows (SB Nation) by goodlucksaturday
Halfway through the night’s recap we find another East/West battle as the Orlando Magic (EC 1st SE) play host to the Memphis Grizzlies (WC 3rd SW) for what is the second (of two) games between these teams, the first one having been won by Memphis. For the home town team we find veteran Vince Carter (70 Games: 31.1 MinsPG ~ 16.6 PPG ~ 3.1 APG ~ 4.0 RPG) starting for the Magic and getting 29 minutes in all. In that time the shooting guard has an outstanding night scoring a game high 26 points (9 for 18 ~ 2 for 5 ~ 6 for 7) to go with seven rebounds (3 offensive), six assists, two steals and a turnover while having a game +14 pts differential. As far as the game was concerned it was Orlando beating Memphis in this one by 15, with the final being 107 to 92. With the W the Magic go to 54-23 overall (.701 winning percentage), 31-7 at home (.815 winning percentage) and are second in the East, 6.0 games behind the conference leader and 4.5 ahead of the third team.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
Orlando Magic Daily (TrueHoop Network) by Philip Rossma-Reich
Orlando Pinstriped Post (SB Nation) by Ben Q Rock
Howard the Dunk (FanSided) by Andrew Melnick
We keep going on with the recap once again encoutering an East/West match up as the Golden State Warriors (WC 5th Pacific) head north of the border to take on the Toronto Raptors (EC 2nd Atlantic). The game, the second (of two) of the series between these franchises has Golden State leading it 1-0, was played at the Air Canada Centre in front of a crowd that numbered 17,509. For the visiting team from the West Coast it should be forward Brandan Wright, but he does not play due to an injury that has kept him out of the line up the whole season. As far as the game went it was a real tight one, with Golden State winning it by one points, defeating Toronto by the final of 113 to 112 and sweeping the mini series. With the W the Warriors move to 25-53 overall (.303 winning percentage), 6-31 on the road (.162 winning percentage) and are tied for second to last place in the West, 23.5 games out of the playoff chase.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
Golden State of Mind (SB Nation) by djfuzzylogic
And we close out the night with a divisional rivalry game between the Minnesota Timberwolves (WC 5th NW) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (WC 3rd NW). The game, played at the Ford Center with an attendance of 18,203, was the fourth (of four) games between these franchises, with Oklahoma City having won all the previous ones so far. For the visiting team it’s rookie Wayne Ellington (72 Games: 18.2 MinsPG ~ 6.7 PPG ~ 1.0 APG ~ 2.1 RPG) who comes off the bench for 11 minutes for the TWolves. In that time frame the `09 national champ scored no points (0 for 3 ~ 0 for 1 ~ 0 for 0) to go with an assist and a +4 pts differential. In the end, in this one, Oklahoma City winning the game (and sweeping the series), beating Minnesota by eight, with the final score being 116 to 108. With the loss the TWolves drop to 15-62 (. winning percentage), 5-34 on the road (.128 winning percentage) and are dead last in the West, 32.0 games out of the post season chase.
Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports
Blogs:
Canis Hoopus (SB Nation) by SG
Shortlink:
