Who doesn’t love it when a player of Kevin Love’s pedigree is sent to the bench behind the “mistaken one,” Darko Milicic. I’ll tell you who doesn’t — ME! Can you believe that Love played just 12 minutes on Monday night against the Mavs, while Darko was out there for 18 minutes. Weird! Yeah Love shot just 1-of-7 from the floor, but you can’t tell me that an off-night from Love isn’t better than a good night from Darko. It just doesn’t make sense. Maybe we’ll get a reason for this c-block on Tuesday. I just can’t seem to figure it out.
Rambis needs a little wooing.
You can also say that Al Jefferson‘s return from his 2-game suspension might have had something to do with it. Especially since Jefferson was “beast-ing” it out there — season-high 36 points on 15-of-21 shooting, 13 rebounds and two blocks. He was more like “dunk driving” than drunk driving! We’ll see what happens to this mess of a frontcourt when the T-Wolves play again on Wednesday against Denver.
For the Mavs it was a bit surprising to see Shawn Marion blow up. He dropped a season-high 29 points and 14 rebounds against Minnesota. You won’t see that happen again. At least not this season — unless you are playing 2K10…maybe.
Cleveland 97, San Antonio 95: Even without LeBron James (ankle) in the lineup and with an ailing Antawn Jamison (knee), the Cavs were able to hang in there and defeat the Spurs — who were without their point guard Tony Parker. No worries about Parker missing time. George Hill stepped in and scored 23 points and two 3-pointers on 8-of-13 shooting. He should be owned in ALL leagues. For real. And the “old get younger” train stopped into Cleveland as Manu Ginobili scored a whopping 38 points with seven 3-pointers. First Marion and now Ginobili? I need a nap.
New York 99, Atlanta 98: Who needs Tracy McGrady when you have Danilo Gallinari! The Rooster scored an impressive 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting and four 3-pointers. This was his best showing since the T-Mac trade. I was there when McGrady made his debut for the Knicks and can tell you that he has sucked the life out of Gallo. Since that trade Gallinari has been standing around waiting for kick-backs. Monday night he turned out a more aggressive showing. I talked with Matt Buser on Monday’s podcast and he made a great point — McGrady has only played nine games with the Knicks (at about 27 minutes per) and is already “fatigued.” How sad. Let’s just get Gallo back on track, please. He’s the future of this franchise. Let that one sink in.
Memphis 107, New Jersey 101: The Grizzlies hung in there (doesn’t everyone, though, against the Nets) with their leading scorer Zach Randolph out with a stiff back. This probably was an easy decision. Darrell Arthur filled in at the starting power forward spot, yet was a non-factor. The biggest factor in the game was Courtney Lee who scored a career-high 30 points. I’ve been selling you on this guy for months now. What more do you want from him?
New Orleans 135, Golden State 131: No, that game didn’t go into overtime. Led by Marcus Thornton (back) and his 28 points and Darren Collison and his 20 dimes, the Hornets cruised to victory. Emeka Okafor even got his offensive game going, as he dropped 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting and 11 rebounds. What’s an Oka-for? It’s for double-doublin’! [It’s late and that seemed like a fine joke!] For the Warriors they got a huge performance from Anthony Morrow — 28 points on 11-of-13 shooting and 6-of-6 3-pointers — and Reggie Williams (the football player? No? Are you sure it’s not Reggie Willits? No?) the D-League call-up who dropped a career-high 28 points off the bench. I can’t, in good conscience, suggest you add him. At least not now that Monta Ellis is expected back on Thursday. I don’t really even know much about his game other than the bits I’ve seen him play this year. So, go for it if you want to. I just don’t see him keeping this up.
Damn Lies & Statistics 
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