Good gravy, the Mavs are terrible this year. After confidently predicting that Dallas would handle the Cavs last night, Dirk and Co. went out and lost 100-81. And that's without LeBron even playing particularly well. Sure, he had 29 points, but he was 8-20 from the field and only dished out three assists. Not the best he can play.
The Big German was terrible, going 3-11 from the field for eight points. Kidd had only six assists. Ball Don't Lie has a short analysis of what else gave the Cavs the win.
In other news, the Jazz beat the Clippers for the second time in three days to improve to 3-0 on the season. The game was uglier than sin the first half (score after two: 36-35), and well into the fourth quarter the game remained tight. Even though L.A. was playing at home and enjoyed the return of Baron Davis and Marcus Camby to their lineup, they couldn't pull away from the Deron-less Jazz.
Then Millsap showed up. With 8:47 to go and the score 69-64 for the Jazz, Paul reeled off 15 straight points in four minutes. After the dust settled, the score was 84-67, Jazz, and the game was over. He showed some nice moves in the post, hitting a turnound, fadeaway jumper from the baseline, and a spin move. He also drove in for dunks, and was the recipient of some nice passes that he was able to capitalize on.
Final line: 24 points on 8-12 shooting, nine rebounds, two steals and a block in 32 minutes. The more I see this guy play, the more convinced I am that the Jazz would be fine without Boozer.
For tonight's prediction I'm picking Celtics/Rockets. Two of the best defensive teams in the league go at it. Each team has a few stars. The Celtics are the defending champs, but the Rockets have home court. Houston is undefeated and has beaten Oklahoma City and Dallas, while the 2-1 Celtics got blown out by the Pacers last week.
I see this one going to the Rockets. Ron Artest hasn't shown his crazy yet, while Yao and T-Mac are not yet on the DL. For that matter, Artest has looked really good and is definitely a bonus for Houston so far. Paul Pierce has played out of his head at times this season, but I believe Artest can keep in front of him and slow him down. Garnett will have his way with Scola/Yao/Landry. Brent Barry makes the Rockets even harder to defend, and Rajon Rondo has struggled early.
Rockets 89, Celtics 85
0-1 on the week, 2-6 on the season
1 comment:
Maybe instead of picking who wins the game, you should predict how many times Yao gets stuffed by the rim. Last night, it was at least 1, and he did the same thing in his previous game.
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