NBA: 2013-2014 Season - DONE Spurs Win

[JohnBM01]

Time to make Thursday night interesting again. One way to do so is by having NBA basketball on the tube. Two games on tap tonight as part of the NBA on TNT. How do you like these matches:

* Miami Heat at New York Knicks
* Oklahoma City Thunder at Denver Nuggets

Enjoy tonight's action!

 

[Aesthetics]

Eric Bledsoe... Out indefinitely, needs surgery on right knee...
I hope this isn't the downfall that everyone predicted would happen to Phoenix.

 

[a6m5]

Another nice offensive foul, "aggressive lay-up" from Blake Griffin. I think I might try punching people in the face and climbing on them with my off hand whilst attempting lay-ups in the future some time, see if I get away with it like Blake.

When we played OKC last, Derek Fisher on a break with his defender back-pedaling as fast as he could, Fisher suddenly starts dashing like he was going for the Gold, ramming into the defender. Defender was called with a foul both times.

 

[Spacegoat]

More bad news for the Pelicans. Jrue Holiday has been ruled out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his right tibia.

 

[JohnBM01]

My Rockets are playing at the Hawks as part of a four-game road trip (ATL, WAS, BOS, and NO); but I wanted to give this heads-up. Tonight is the game in which the Miami Heat at Brooklyn Nets are playing with nicknames on the backs of their jerseys as opposed to their surnames. It's on ESPN right now as of this post. BKN currently leads 15-14 with 6:07 left in the 1st Quarter. Just wanted to give this heads-up.

 

[Aesthetics]

More bad news for the Pelicans. Jrue Holiday has been ruled out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his right tibia.

This season has WAY too many injuries. Especially to guards.
ESPN did a great job of pointing out all the right knee injuries in the league..

 

[Paulie]

Thank you Miami, thank you for wearing out the Nets in a 2OT game on the first night of their back-to-back before playing the Raptors.

This season has WAY too many injuries. Especially to guards.
ESPN did a great job of pointing out all the right knee injuries in the league..

It's insane, look at how many teams' starting point guards are currently out or have missed significant time this season due to injury:
Boston
Brooklyn
New York
Philly
Chicago
Cleveland
Miami
Houston
San Antonio
New Orleans
Oklahoma
LA Clippers
LA Lakers
Phoenix

And that's just the ones I know of/can think of right now! Feel free to add to my list if you know of another.

 

[Aesthetics]

So Blake wants to do everything but work on his post up game..

 

[JohnBM01]

The Rockets are on a four-game road trip: at ATL, at WAS, at BOS, and at NO. We lost 83-80 at Atlanta last night. 80 is the fewest points the Houston Rockets have scored so far this season.

Up next- at the Washington Wizards tonight.

 

[Paulie]

The Raptors took care of business against the exhausted and depleted Nets squad tonight, and there are reports circulating now they'll keep Lowry and attempt a post-season run.

 

[JohnBM01]

We nearly blew a 25-point lead in Washington, D.C. The Rockets won 114-107 last night after two rain delays because of a leaky roof. Just because there is a team you're "supposed to beat" doesn't mean you actually will. And unlike in most college sports, you don't have to win by exorbitant margins to show you're for real. Winning by 1 is as much of a win as winning by 30 or more. So we'll take it. If the Rockets lost last night's game after being up by as many as 25, it would have been the second-biggest blown lead in franchise history. The largest blown lead by the Rockets in team history was a 26-point lead in 1997 against the Portland Trail Blazers. I think our record is now... 24-14, I believe. Almost every team will be coming up on the halfway mark in terms of games played.

 

[JohnBM01]

You know, I'm surprised Chicago is doing so well right now despite the injury trouble they've faced this season. It's always nice to know your team can still do so well even if times are rough. How long they can keep this up will be the next question.

Meanwhile, my Rockets will continue their four-game road trip after a crazy one in Washington, D.C. back on Saturday. Their next stop is at Boston tonight.


Happy Monday! Enjoy some NBA hoops.

 

[JohnBM01]

Recently wrapped up... It was 104-92 in Boston as the Houston Rockets took down the boys in green. I rarely follow games on Mondays and Fridays, so I did only so much to keep tabs on this game. We started off poorly to start this game. I am sure the Rockets man'd up as much as they could to avoid getting ashamed in Boston. We won, Boston didn't, *happy dance* for Rockets fans!

[UPDATE] I forgot to mention, this is our silver (25th) win of the season now. I think we're 25-14 now on the season.


Up next... it's back to the Western Conference as the Rockets will be in New Orleans to take on Stavingo's New Orleans Pelicans in New Orleans as our four-game road trip concludes on Wednesday.

 

[Aesthetics]

Suns are deeply missing Bledsoe.. Lost the past 3 games on.. Guess what? Horrible offensive execution.
Hornacek's style simply doesn't work without 2 point guards. Also, Phoenix is dead last is assist per game. Besides Dragic and Bledsoe, no one on this team averages more than 1 assist. That's pretty bad.

 

[Paulie]

At the start of the season they said the Raptors' ceiling was 5th place. 36 games in to the season and we're now in 3rd place! DeRozan is playing like an all-star, Lowry like an MVP candidate and the teamwork has been beautiful to watch. Ever since I started following the NBA properly a number of years ago, and with the addition of NBA Game Time, I've never enjoyed watching the Raptors so much as now. The way they're playing, it's plausible to think they can maintain 3rd place by season's end especially after the Hawks' Horford went down for the season.

 

[JohnBM01]

The NBA fans spoke and wanted to see...

Sacramento Kings at Indiana Pacers!

Folks, that is tonight's NBA Fan Night Game of the Week. So if you have NBA TV, that will keep you busy tonight.

 

[JohnBM01]

My Rockets are going back-to-back starting tonight. We're in New Orleans tonight to take on the Pelicans, and we're the nightcap for the NBA on TNT tomorrow night as the Rockets host the Oklahoma City Thunder. Plenty of other games on tap for tonight. So make sure to get your fill of NBA hoops tonight.

 

[Aesthetics]

The Celtics, Warriors, and Heat have completed a three team trade.

• Boston Gets:Joel Anthony, Philly's Future 1st, Miami's 2016 2nd picks, and cash.
• Miami Gets: Toney Douglas
• Golden State Gets: Jordan Crawford, Marshon Brooks.

Looks like Boston is trying to dig a hole. A very big hole they may not get out of.

Then again, Rondo is coming back, but keeping Jordan Crawford could've helped them.

Golden State gets more talent, and Miami gets a "true(?)" point guard.

 

[JohnBM01]

Today is my birthday, and I got HUGE birthday support tonight. It was ugly, it was close, there was some prolonged foul trouble, but we won 103-100 in New Orleans. The Rockets once again had to man up to avoid losing at the Pelicans. I hope we still have enough offense left for when Oklahoma City comes to H-Town tomorrow night. The Rockets, in fact, will have their next five games at home. We won an ugly game. The main constant- winning. A note about this win also gives the Rockets their first winning road trip of four games or more in over four years. The Pelicans have now lost yet another game when they've led by double-digits. New Orleans led by as many as 17 over us.

It's nice to see my teams actually WINNING on my birthday for a change.


Elsewhere...

* An early score in Washington, D.C. had shown Washington leading Miami at about 43-18 at the end of the 1st Quarter. The Wizards ended up winning 114-97.

* 95-92 was the score in Philadelphia as the 76ers took down the Charlotte Bobcats.

* In Orlando, 48 minutes wasn't enough between the Chicago Bulls at the Orlando Magic. Chicago won 128-125 in a grueling Triple Overtime victory.

* It wasn't a happy night for Paulie's Toronto Raptors as the Boston Celtics won at home 88-83 over Toronto.

* The San Antonio Spurs won 109-105 against the visiting Utah Jazz.

* The Sacramento Kings reigned supreme in Minneapolis as they defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 111-108.

* Chalk up another win for the Memphis Grizzlies. They beat the Milwaukee Bucks 82-77 in Milwaukee.


Congratulations to the eventual winners of these games:
* Los Angeles Lakers at Phoenix Suns
* Cleveland Cavaliers at Portland Trail Blazers
* Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Clippers
* Denver Nuggets at Golden State Warriors

 

[Aesthetics]

 

[a6m5]

Wow..... All I can say is shut the hell up, homer(not you, DC). Len would be suspended if it were up to me. He is either an uncoordinated idiot, or just an idiot. #15, the good teammate, he's out of line, too. I'm sorry & I do feel for Dragic, but Suns in the video & the TV crew are acting like you know what.

Edit: For the record, I think Young is an idiot, too. When you get hammered like that, you play the victim, make face like you got bad diarrhea & roll on the floor back & forth. Everybody knows that.

 

[Aesthetics]

Wow..... All I can say is shut the hell up, homer(not you, DC). Len would be suspended if it were up to me. He is either an uncoordinated idiot, or just an idiot. #15, the good teammate, he's out of line, too. I'm sorry & I do feel for Dragic, but Suns in the video & the TV crew are acting like you know what.

Yep. I find it hard to call any of these "punches", Nick Young (and soon the league, with a possible suspension and fine, really?) overreacted to a flagarent foul. And I thought the Morris twins had a special connection? Surely Markieff should've stopped Marcus from all that pointless shoving. Should've been techs and no more.

 

[Paulie]

Today is my birthday,

Happy birthday John! Nice of your Rockets to give you a W all wrapped up as a gift.
I'm not amused with the Raptors losing to the Celtics.

 

[Omnis]

So we had a Greg Oden sighting. The dude moves across the court like he's got robot legs.

Hope he stays healthy to do his duty in the playoffs: Be taller than Roy Hibbert.

Pat Riley also did his magic and got us Toney Douglas and picks in exchange for Joel Anthony. Hopefully we won't see Golden State in the finals, but if we do maybe now it'll be a bit easier to stop Curry and co. from raining 3s on us.

 

[JohnBM01]

Three games today. That's right- one game is in Europe, and an NBA double-header is here back in the States. Here is today and tonight's lineup:

* Brooklyn Nets vs. Atlanta Hawks (London, England, UK)

NBA on TNT:
* New York Knicks at Indiana Pacers
* Oklahoma City Thunder at Houston Rockets


Go enjoy some hoops!

 

[JohnBM01]

I don't know what the f:censored: happened tonight. We failed with a disparity of 54 points between halves, and ended up losing 104-92 to Oklahoma City. You go from leading by 14 and putting up 73 points... to end up failing miserably and doing very little in the 2nd Half. The Houston Rockets must have blown a motor much like my 2013 Houston Texans. Damned m:censored:f:censored:ing shame and absolute bulls:censored: performance by Houston to fall to 26-15 on the season. Only other team to have such a disparity of 70+ points in the 1st Half and 25 or fewer in the 2nd Half was the Seattle Supersonics in December 2001.


Elsewhere...
* 127-110 was how much Brooklyn smashed Atlanta in London.

* Knicks got... well, nicked up. New York got upended 117-89 at the Indiana Pacers.


That concludes another day of NBA basketball.

 

[a6m5]

I'm sorry, but 19 points in the entire second half is incredibly pathetic. I saw the score in the first half and was starting to feel bad for OKC, but wow, unbelievable turnaround. OKC defense is decent, but nowhere near that good.

 

[Paulie]

That's a hectic score line, so many points in the first half, so few in the second.......

 

[JohnBM01]

At this point, it's time I post some standings. Here are standings heading into this weekend's games:


--- EASTERN CONFERENCE ---
ATLANTIC: Toronto (19-18), BKN (16-22), NY (15-24), BOS (14-26), PHI (13-25)
CENTRAL: Indiana (31-7), CHI (18-19), DET (16-22), CLE (14-25), MIL (7-31)
SOUTHEAST: Miami (27-11), ATL (20-19), WAS (18-19), CHA (16-24), ORL (10-29)

CONFERENCE STANDINGS:
01- Indiana
02- Miami
03- Toronto
04- Atlanta
05- Washington
06- Chicago
07- Detroit
08- Brooklyn
REST: CHA, NY, CLE, BOS, PHI, ORL, MIL

IF PLAYOFFS BEGAN TODAY:
* #1 Indiana vs. #8 Brooklyn
* #2 Miami vs. #7 Detroit
* #3 Toronto vs. #6 Chicago
* #4 Atlanta vs. #5 Washington


--- WESTERN CONFERENCE ---
NORTHWEST: Portland (29-9), OKC (29-10), DEN (20-18), MIN (18-20), UTA (13-27)
PACIFIC: Los Angeles Clippers (27-13), GS (25-15), PHX (22-16), SAC (14-23), LAL (14-25)
SOUTHWEST: San Antonio (31-8), HOU (26-15), DAL (23-17), MEM (19-19), NO (15-23)

CONFERENCE STANDINGS:
01- San Antonio
02- Portland
03- Oklahoma City
04- Los Angeles Clippers
05- Houston
06- Golden State
07- Phoenix
08- Dallas
REST: DEN, MEM, MIN, NO, SAC, LAL, UTA

IF PLAYOFFS BEGAN TODAY:
* #1 San Antonio vs. #8 Dallas
* #2 Portland vs. #7 Phoenix
* #3 Oklahoma City vs. #6 Golden State
* #4 Los Angeles Clippers vs. #5 Houston


--- OTHER OBSERVATIONS... ---
BEST WINNING PERCENTAGE: Indiana (31-7, .816)
WORST WINNING PERCENTAGE: Milwaukee (7-31, .184)

BEST HOME: Indiana (20-1 at home)
BEST AWAY: San Antonio (15-3 away)
WORST HOME: Milwaukee (3-15 at home)
WORST AWAY: Orlando (3-17 away)

LONGEST CURRENT WINNING: San Antonio (6 straight wins)
LONGEST CURRENT LOSING: Orlando (9 straight losses)


Still plenty of season left. Keep fighting on!

 

[a6m5]

When we were contenders, we could not beat San Anton. Last few years, they've seemed beatable to us. Match ups. Weird.

Blazers beat the Spurs in San Antonio tonight for virtual tie for the first place in the West. My two favorite team's doing real well. My favorite Eastern team's #1 in the East too, so it's been a treat so far this season.

Edit: I forgot we have Dallas, OKC & Houston rest of the trip. Oops.