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Rockets vs Knicks – Carmelo Anthony Not Enough Against the Good Teams
While the Houston Rockets continue to provide high scoring, entertaining games, the New York Knicks remain a constant source of disappointment to those expecting great things from them, as even 45 points from Carmelo Anthony aren’t enough when it comes to beating teams with similar or bigger aspirations.
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Los Angeles Lakers – Pau Gasol Looking Old and Sad
Don’t be fooled by Pau Gasol scoring 25 points, a season high for him, in the 99-111 loss to the Denver Nuggets. The Los Angeles Lakers have a problem and issue in almost every position and aspect of the game, but they expected the Spanish big man to be a solution to their early season woes, and not the exact opposite.
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Houston Rockets – Jeremy Lin Better Without James Harden But Still Needs Him
The Houston Rockets losing 123-117 to the Philadelphia 76ers was a perfect example of how Jeremy Lin can be a great scorer when he doesn’t play next to James Harden, but how his team do need their injured shooting guard on the floor, if it was obvious in the first place, but also just how bad of a coaching job Kevin McHale has been doing.
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Thunder vs Clippers – Blake Griffin Shines After Foolish Ejections
It took Matt Barnes to solve the tangle between Serge Ibaka and Blake Griffin, leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder slightly short in the middle, while the Los Angeles Clippers ran them off the floor in the second half en route to a 111-103 win.
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Lakers vs Nuggets – Kenneth Faried Better With Timofey Mozgov Next to Him
There weren’t too many smart decisions by the Denver Nuggets during the offseason. One of the bad ones was signing J.J. Hickson, a player with the exact same attributes as Kenneth Faried, and putting the two together in the lineup. After a slow start to the season, Brian Shaw is coming around, giving Timofey Mozgov big minutes off the bench, in return getting 23 points from the center and a 111-99 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
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Knicks vs Hawks – Andrea Bargnani Finally Shows Up to Help Carmelo Anthony
Life is quite difficult this season for the New York Knicks, but maybe not all is lost. Carmelo Anthony isn’t alone in the fray if Andrea Bargnani has more nights of 20 points and 11 rebounds, while J.R. Smith gets more and more comfortable with playing again, helping their team win on the road against the Atlanta Hawks 95-91.
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Cavs vs Timberwolves – Ricky Rubio Getting Better With Every Game
While there’s little doubt about Kevin Love being the best player this season so far for the Minnesota Timberwolves, it would be foolish to ignore the improvement we’ve seen from Ricky Rubio, almost posting a double double in the first quarter, while the Timberwolves have no problem beating the terrible Cleveland Cavaliers 124-95.
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Rockets vs 76ers – James Anderson Gets His Revenge
Both Michael Carter-Williams and James Harden didn’t play, but that didn’t stop the Philadelphia 76ers and the Houston Rockets from putting on quite an offensive show, led by James Anderson scoring 36 points and Tony Wroten pulling off a triple double on his first career start.
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Chris Paul – The Worst Flopper in the NBA
Every time Chris Paul flops, it makes the NBA’s policy against the disease of cheating to draw fouls look even more ridiculous. After the Los Angeles Clippers point guard provided a horrendous attempt (Which actually worked) by putting a foul on Ricky Rubio thanks to his disgusting acting, all he got was a warning, even though this isn’t the first time he’s been involved in such an incident over the last two years.
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Xavier Henry & Jordan Hill Forced to Carry the Lakers
There’s no order, no plan, to whatever’s happening with the Los Angeles Lakers this season. Mike D’Antoni is simply improvising, plugging in players in different roles until something clicks, waiting for you know who to return. It’s not consistent but generally, and especially in their very convincing 116-95 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, it works best with Xavier Henry and Jordan Hill on the floor.