Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Jazz rout Wizards by 42 points

Jazz rout Wizards by 42 points


Down 22, Suns rally to beat Nuggets by 15


Suns rally vs. Nuggets; pull even with Lakers
Phoenix rallied against Denver to tie the Lakers for the Pacific lead, while the Nuggets lost ground to the Mavs in the wild West.

Young Blazers are learning on the job
They are young and erratic. The Blazers also have lots of talent. Mike Kahn says their up-and-down week belies a bright future.

BDL Bedlam, Rd. 2: Kevin Garnett's intensity vs. Squatch

Second round action of our completely pointless, albeit oddly entertaining, BDL Bedlam Tournament continues. Thanks to your help, we've compiled a list of 64 things that you may or may not love about the NBA, seeded them into four regions and created a Madness-like bracket. Today we'll unveil the final eight second-round match-ups. Voting will remain open until the end of Tuesday, EST.

Our final battle in the Lord Baron Region is a goody: No. 7 seed Kevin Garnett's intensity vs. No. 15 Squatch, the Sonics mascot. In the first round, KG stared a hole through S-Jax's chest tattoo, while Squatch decapitated Isiah Thomas somewhere in the Cascade Mountains. Another look at the nominees:

No. 7 Kevin Garnett's intensity: Kevin Garnett is an animal! (RAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWR!!!!!!!)

No. 15 Squatch: At every Sonics home game, Squatch uses his superiorly evolved skills to achieve dunks, jumps and other stunts far too dangerous for lesser primates. He also kicks ass on the drums.

So, what/who makes it through to the Sweet Sixteen? What do you love more? Hit the polls.



Click here (and scroll down) to vote on all of the BDL Bedlam second round match-ups.

Gordon called up to British hoops squad
Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon is the latest NBA player to be selected to the fledgling British basketball team that's trying to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. Gordon, who turns 25 on April 4, moved to the United States shortly after he was born in London. The former Connecticut star was drafted by the Bulls in the first round in 2004. He was one of two Bulls players to appear in all 82 games last season, averaging 21.4 points.

Mavericks hold off Clippers


Behind the boxscore, where the Nuggets can't be trusted
Phoenix 132, Denver 117

Just an embarrassing display for Denver, turning in one of the best 24 minutes of defense we've seen all year in the first half (holding the Suns to 51 points in an incredibly fast-paced game), then deciding to give up defensively and play right into Phoenix's hands offensively in the second frame.

Yes, Denver gave up 132 points, but dig this: against the Suns, who couldn't guard your throw pillows, the Nugs scored just ten points over the last 7:22 of the game. That's including free throws and cheap baskets taken in once the starters leave the floor. That's pathetic. That's Denver. That could be a lottery team.

Even when the Nuggets were dominating in the first half, nasty signs abounded. Denver was reaching, sending the Suns to the line and playing as if they were up 15 with a minute to play. The result was a 33-36 mark from the line for the Suns, with Amare Stoudemire (brilliant, 41 points and 14 rebounds) leading the charge and destroying Kenyon Martin.

I've never seen an NBA team play good/bad defense like the Nuggets, be it within the same week, game, or quarter. This is an astonishingly weird basketball team. This is also a team that hosts the Suns tonight, and I'm quite interested to see what happens.

Also, Steve Nash? He's a [cuss-word]. 36 points, eight assists, cowlicks, and zero turnovers.

Toronto 104, Charlotte 100

Emeka Okafor may have had 18 and 14 for Charlotte, with four blocks, but it still kills me how this 25 year-old continues to bite on pedestrian pump-fakes, and it hurts to note that he still won't run hard in transition offense.

Chris Bosh (32 points, 13-16 from the line) was a beast in this one. Great win for the Raps, Sam Mitchell's crew could have let this slip away, but decided to hang around and pull away instead.

Indiana 105, Miami 85

Miami may have had a chance if Danny Granger (4-7 from long range) not gotten hot from behind the arc. It stinks to lose to a streak shooter, but that's how it flows when you stack the deck with NBDL call-ups and refuse to ring Rod Benson.

Jermaine O'Neal may have only pulled in two rebounds in almost 18 minutes, with nine points, but he was a defensive factor and had the highlight of the night with a strong block of a Kasib Powell try.

Atlanta 116, Memphis 99

Considering the team it was up against, Memphis probably turned in the worst three quarters of defensive basketball I've seen in a while. The Grizzlies gave up 103 points to a Hawk team that is no great shakes offensively - 19th in offensive efficiency - while making the sort of mistakes (in the half-court, transition, wherever) that would make a broke-ass owner pine for Larry Brown.

26 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and ZERO turnovers for Josh Smith. Atlanta wants to be in the playoffs.

Utah 129, Washington 87

No Arenas, no Caron Butler, no Antonio Daniels ... the Wiz (on the second night of a back-to-back, on the road) didn't have a chance against a Jazz team that was ticked off and looking to make a statement.

Washington's defense stunk, but it wasn't due to a lack of effort. The Wizards may have made some dumb mistakes defensively in the first half (especially guarding the three-point line), but the Jazz were not to be denied on Monday night.

Wizards rookie Nick Young (18 points in less than 28 minutes) continues to play well, but the Jazz were moving the ball and finishing. 40 (40!) assists on 50 field goals for Utah in the win. Damn.

Dallas 93, Los Angeles Clippers 86

The Clippers nearly pulled this one out, they didn't get any calls, but they did force Dallas to sweat a bit and double-team rookie Al Thornton (26 points on 19 shots) at times.

Jason Kidd had his once-a-fortnight touch on, finishing with 27 points, and Josh Howard came through with a strong second half in the win.


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