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Lakers vs Jazz – Derrick Favors Makes Things Even More Depressing
The Los Angeles Lakers are running out of players, which might help them stay close against bad teams, but eventually it wasn’t that surprising to see the Utah Jazz come up with one play more, as Derrick Favors corrected a Gordon Hayward miss to pull off the dramatic 105-103 win.
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Minnesota Timberwolves – Kevin Love Great but Ricky Rubio Makes the Difference
Few players in the NBA have the ability to pull off impressive stat lines quite like Kevin Love. The problem here is no matter who huge of a night he’s going to have, the Minnesota Timberwolves depend a lot more on Ricky Rubio having a good game than the player who just might be the best power forward in the NBA.
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Washington Beats BYU – Bishop Sankey Shows Cougars How to Run
No surprises going into the game, which was always going to be about running the ball. Bishop Sankey for Washington on one side, Taysom Hill for BYU on the other side. The Cougars quarterback actually picked up more yards than the Huskies star, but it was the Pac-12 team that put on a better defensive performance to claim the 31-16 win in the Fight Hunger Bowl.
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Syracuse Beats Minnesota – Nothing Comes Easy This Year
The first season in the ACC for Syracuse was had plenty of close games that went both ways. Their finale in the Texas Bowl against Minnesota was no different, scoring a game winning touchdown with only 1:14 left in the game.
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Dallas Cowboys – Tony Romo Won’t Play Against the Philadelphia Eagles
Before people start thinking about the long term affect of a 33 year old quarterback going through back surgery, the most important thing for Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys is that he won’t be able to play in their NFC East win-or-go-home game against the Philadelphia Eagles, or in the playoffs if they actually make it.
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Oklahoma City Thunder – No Russell Westbrook Probably Means a Lot of Losing
There’s no way getting around it, no matter how good Reggie Jackson and Kevin Durant try to be. Losing Russell Westbrook for a substantial amount of time (about two months) probably means a lot of problems for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have arguably been the best team in the NBA up to this point of the season.
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Kevin Durant Forever Chasing His Dream to be LeBron James
There’s a good chance Kevin Durant is the best player in the NBA, but the shadow of LeBron James, his MVPs and NBA titles continue to be something that will elude him unless Russell Westbrook learns how to be Dwyane Wade, and we’re not talking about his basketball skills.
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Clippers vs Trail Blazers – Nothing to Cry About This Time
Sometimes a loss is exactly what it seems to be. No unlawful ejections, no fouls that Doc Rivers whines about when the game is over. Nicolas Batum hit one big shot to send the game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Clippers into overtime, before LaMarcus Aldridge sealed the deal despite a huge night from Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.
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Spurs vs Mavericks – Tim Duncan in the Post, Danny Green From Everywhere Else
For a minute there, Danny Green thought he was in the NBA finals, when no shot seemed too difficult, and every open look ended in the net. That kind of night from him and an excellent all around game from Tim Duncan were enough to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 116-107 road win over the Dallas Mavericks.
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Houston Rockets – Jeremy Lin Starting to Rub Off on James Harden
The Houston Rockets seem to be learning something new about themselves every day. Their latest lesson? It’s possible for James Harden to play like a team player and do well individually at the same time, maybe taking a page or two from the Jeremy Lin book, which obviously benefited the team in a 100-92 win.