Heels in the League (NBA) 10/28/09 (Part One)
Second night of the National Basketball Assocation season and there is a lot more games (12 compared to 4 on the first night). But as you all know, be it many or just one, if there is a touch of carolina blue in the games there will be a recap of it in what I call “Heels in the League” (NBA). In this set of games there are ex Carolina players in eight out of the 12 games. I know I am behind less than a week into the season, but as most of you know my wife is in the hospital and blogging hasn’t been my first concern of late. However, between the fact that she is doing a bit better and that she wants me to start taking it back up, I am hoping that I will be quickly back even with this post. Having said that, here are the games from Wednesday, October 28, 2009…
The first game matches up an ex Heel on each side of the rosters. It’s the Indiana Pacers, with newly drafted forward Tyler Hansbrough going to Philips Arena to take on the forward Marvin Williams and his Hawks in front of 17,998 fans. For the visiting team there won’t be much to talk about as their lottery pick is still out, and will be for another couple of weeks. On the other side, the Hawks’ lottery pick from four years back had a very good game with 14 points (4 for 8 ~ 1 for 1 ~ 5 for 6), while adding four rebounds, two steals and two blocks. The ex national champion under Roy Williams also had two turnovers on the night. In the end it was Atlanta taking this one, defeating Indiana by double digits, 120 to 109. At Slam Dunk Central Stephen Rhodes talks about how turnovers doomed the Pacers, while at PeachTreeHoops as its recap of the game.
The next game is one that was played in the sunshine state as the Philadelphia 76′ers played the Orlando Magic in the Amway Arena in front of 17,461 fans. For the home squad it’s newly acquired g/f combo VInce Carter, who starts at the shooting guard slot and gets 26 minutes in all. In all Carter got 15 points (5 for 12 ~ 3 for 5 ~ 2 for 2) to go along with three assists and one steal (as well as 2 turnovers). In the first game for both teams it’s Orlando winning this one big, taking down Philadelphia by the final tally of 120 to 106. Over at The 3rd Quarter Collapse (Magic blog from SBNation) there is a nice recap of this game.
The third game of the night with a touch of carolina blue is one played north of the border as the Cleveland Cavaliers headed to Canada to play the Toronto Raptors in the Air Canada Centre in front of 20,152 fans. For the visiting squad it’s veteran Jawad Williams and rookie Danny Green that come from Chapel Hill. Neither of the ex Tar Heels get to see any action on the night (for the second night in a row). In the end it’s the home team winning as Toronto beat Cleveland by the final of 101 to 91. Jeff Sack of Slam Dunk Central has his piece on the game entitled Cavaliers Come Back Falls Short; Raptors Win 101-91.
The fourth game (and last one for part one of this post) had ex UNC players on both sides. It’s the Charlotte Bobcats heading north to take on the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden in front of 18,642 fans. For the visiting squad it’s ex Heel speedster point guard Raymond Felton, who starts and does not have a great night in the opening game for his team. In 23 minutes the ex national champ scored nine points (3 for 11 ~ 0 for 1 ~ 3 for 5) to go along with four rebounds, three assists and a steal. Felton also committed four turnovers on the night. While for the Celtics it’s ex old school Heel, Rasheed Wallace, who comes off the bench for his team and plays for 16 minutes, scoring nine points (3 for 8 ~ 3 for 8 ~ 0 for 0) along with five rebounds and one TO. And while it’s no excuse, Felton having a bad game was the norm as all of the Bobcats played lousy turning this into a massacre, with Boston winning it by the final of 92 to 59. At Slam Dunk Central the title of the post for this game was Celtics Chew Up And Spit Out Bobcats, and that is exactly what happened in this match up between a team looking to win another title and a team hoping to make the playoffs for the first time in their history.
