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Minnesota Timberwolves – Sick Kevin Love Better Than Nothing
Somehow, the Minnesota Timberwolves keep winning. At first they were missing both Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, but now Love is back. Andrei Kirilenko is injured, Brandon Roy is facing retirement again. Not stability whatsoever, but the Timberwolves are in a good place, rebounding from a long losing streak, waiting for the return of their prodigal point guard.
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Miami Heat – LeBron James Needs Ray Allen to Win
This has become the norm. LeBron James puts up the big numbers and perform well in the fourth quarter with both points and assists, Dwyane Wade continues to struggle with his shooting and Ray Allen hits another big shot that wins the game for the Miami Heat. Not a bad way to go through a season.
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Duke Blue Devils – Mason Plumlee’s Turn to Shine
This is going to be the argument this week – Have Duke done enough to take over the number one spot in the nation, at least with the voters, at the expense of Indiana? A very big night from Mason Plumlee and yet another win over a top 5 opponent suggests that the Blue Devils deserve that spot.
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Oklahoma City Thunder – Kevin Durant Ruins the James Harden Return
The big question before the game was who is more anxious to get a win: The Oklahoma City Thunder or James Harden? It didn’t really matter. The best team on the floor were the Thunder and the best player on the court was Kevin Durant. That individual rivalry and the game weren’t really close.
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Brooklyn Nets – Tougher, Better Than the Boston Celtics
So the Brooklyn Nets lost two players in the brawl that began with a hard foul by Kris Humphries on Kevin Garnett. Rajon Rondo lost his head and got ejected, which destroyed any chance the proud but simply not-so-good Boston Celtics had of beating a better team.
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LeBron James – NBA Fans Love Winners
Hate in sports, especially the American kind, is often a passing thing. Especially when it has no real grasp on actual occurrences The trend of wishing LeBron James all the worst is gone and forgotten, as the man everyone wanted to hate and see fail for about two years is the most popular in the NBA over the last six months according to the jersey sales numbers.
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Los Angeles Lakers – Kobe Bryant Has Nothing to Smile About
Even when he scored 40 points, Kobe Bryant isn’t happy. He can’t be when the Los Angeles Lakers lose, and his triple double has 10 turnovers on it. The Lakers under Mike D’Antoni continue to search for consistency and ways to bring more players to contribute besides Bryant.
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Indiana Pacers – Winning Through George Hill & Ugly Basketball
There’s very few pretty things about the Indiana Pacers this season. Still, after a rough start, which included losing six of their first nine games, they are finding ways to win and put the season back on track. How? Great defense, possibly the best in the NBA right now, and someone like George Hill hitting a huge buzzer beating layup for a rare road win.
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Houston Rockets – James Harden is the Complete Package
Perfect player? Nope. James Harden still has quite a few flaws in his game and consistency before we can talk about perfection. Still, 14 games into the 2012-2013 NBA Season, the Houston Rockets couldn’t have asked for a better player and trade to fall into their lap than the shooting guard that simply wanted to feel a bit more appreciated.
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Indiana Hoosiers – Cody Zeller Shows What a Number One Is
This is what Number one teams should look like on big nights; this is what prime time players, which Cody Zeller is obviously is, should be like on a big game. The biggest game in the ACC – Big Ten challenge wasn’t even close, but it taught us as to how good the Indiana Hoosiers are.