MoeJackson

Mask on mask crime

The headlines are going to feature LeBron James and his mask, wearing it after suffering a broken nose last week against the Thunder. Yes, the mask looks plenty cool and the various nicknames trending around Twitter were fun, but that wasn’t the best story line in the NBA last night. It’s a shame that NBA TV can’t just cut away from their regular programming when there’s something like a triple overtime game going on. That’s what we were getting last night when the Wizards were visiting the Toronto Raptors last night. But no, let’s keep watching re-runs of a “classic game” from 40 years ago. I understand that it’s more complicated than that but can’t TV executives just make a judgement call there? Anyways, once I knew the game was heading into double overtime, I went online and found a way to “legally” watch the game on my computer instead. One thing really stuck out at me from the Wiazards-Raptors triple overtime marathon: John Wall can bring it on any single night when the game is on the line, he brings his best and makes his teammates better. Wall and Marcin Gortat (combining for 62 pts, 15 reb and 10 ast) led the way for Washington as they outlasted Toronto to take a triple overtime victory on the road. Gortat was signed during the off season and may wondered whether or not he was going to be a solid addition. The Wizards big man has been inconsistent at times but last night proves that he can certainly be a significant part of the this team. For the Raptors is was more about losing personnel as the game went on. As the game gets longer and longer, there’s a bigger chance of teammates fouling out and depleting your chances of playing at full capacity. Still, DeMar DeRozen (34 pts, 4 reb, 6 ast) and the rest of Toronto should hold their heads up because last night was a battle. Who knows, we might see these two teams square off in a playoff series and have ourselves a sequel of sorts.

Now we can go ahead and focus LeBron (or LeBane, LeBat etc.) and how the Heat took care of the Knicks at home pretty handily. If I had to describe the Heat’s performance last night it would be: effective. I mean, the team combined to shoot just over 60% from the field. James (31 pts) and Wade (23 pts) themselves alone were 23 of 32 from the field as they led Miami to a 108-82 victory, their 9th in the last 10 games. Carmelo Anthony, who scored 29 points, and Tyson Chandler (19 pts, 16 reb) were the lone bright spots for New York last night, as their dark season continues to unfold without a real ending in sight. Melo’s scoring in the 2nd quarter kept the Knicks in the game but once the 3rd quarter was over, Miami stepped up their defense and took the game out of reach. It’s clear that Miami is on a different level and as the season has progressed, is forming into the favorite once again. Questions still remain on defense but right now, the Heat are playing some of their best basketball of the season. Other games around the NBA included a surprisingly close game between the Bucks on the road in Indiana. The Pacers did well to close the game out but may be without George Hill for a couple of games, after suffering a shoulder injury. He’s listed as day-to-day right now but we’ll have to see how much the Pacers are affected by it. The late night match up on TNT had the Nets visiting Denver, two teams that are very much underachieving this season. What in the world was Denver doing last night? The Nuggets should be embarrassed after only managing to score 9 (yes, NINE) points in the first quarter. Let’s remember that Brooklyn hasn’t exactly been known for their “lock-down” defense at any point this season. Shout out to Reggie Miller (part of the announcing crew) who did a good job to call out Nuggets coach Brian Shaw during their pathetic first half performance. The Nets took care of business and went on to rout Denver and we even saw Jason Collins get some playing time, notching 3 points.

In case you aren’t tired of LeBron yet, here’s a funny bit with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show: