Portland lost a close one to the Magic tonight (losing on a buzzer-beating 3 by their white nemesis Hedo Turkoglu). The Blazers were kept in the game by the stellar play of their second unit, call it their "white" squad, anchored by Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez, and Joel Przybilla. Their respective plus-minuses tonight: Rudy +7, Sergio +11, and Joel +15, and they logged heavy minutes, 29, 24, and 25, but obviously not enough. Here's a radical idea, coach: start them! And dust off Shavlik Randolph for use in the front court while you are at it, and give us a real reason to cheer. Despite rumors, if your white team is winning, you will not be fired!
The Kings started three whites tonight, and beat the West-leading Lakers. See!
Dirk, I just laugh every time I read his stats. 33 shots! Ha! And only 2 assists, in his 52 minutes??? Dirk, mein freund, you are a ball hog of supreme proportions.
Rising star JJ Barea was the story of that game:
J.J. Barea continued his inspiring play for the Mavericks, scoring 21 points before fouling out. He had a fourth-quarter stretch of 11 straight points created, eight by himself—including a drive at Duncan and another around Parker—and a drive-and-dish feed to Kidd for a 3-pointer. Down the stretch and throughout the overtimes, Dallas relied on its new three-guard lineup featuring Kidd, Barea and Terry. "It was weird for us," Parker said. "We never saw them play like that. (Barea’s) a little like Steve Nash, dribbling 100 times. Sometimes it’s tough to guard him because you don’t know what he’s going to do."
I'm giving Pau the White of the Night award, because he had the best overall game.
Nowitzki: 35p (33 shots) - 10 reb -- 52 min
P Gasol: 25p (15 shots) - team high 12 reb (7 off) - 3 blk -- 42 min
Turkoglu: 24p (16 shots) - 5a -- 39 min
Barea: 21p (16 shots) - 5a -- 39 min
Okur: 21p (17 shots) - team high 13 reb - 4a - 2 blk -- 39 min
Nash: 19p (8 shots) - 4 reb - 10a -- 31 min
Ginobili: 18p - 6 reb - 8a -- 41 min
Szczerbiak: 16p (10 shots) - 5 reb -- 26 min
Songaila: 15p (13 shots) - 5 reb -- 27 min
Bogut: 15p (9 shots) - 11 reb (5 off) -- 26 min
Rodriguez: 14p (9 shots) - team high 7a - 2 blk -- 24 min
Bonner: 13p (5 shots) - 4 reb -- 29 min
B Miller: 13p (7 shots) - 7 reb - 5a -- 33 min
Ilgauskas: 13p (9 shots) - team high 6 reb -- 23 min
Udrih: 12p - 6 reb - 5a -- 29 min
Scola: 12p - 10 reb - 2 stl -- 32 min
Hawes: 11p - team high 9 reb - 2 blk -- 33 min
Przybilla: 11p (6 shots) - 11 reb - 2 blk -- 25 min
Lee: 11p - team high 15 reb -- 35 min
Ukic: 10p (5 shots) -- 17 min
Fernandez: 10p - 4 reb - 4a -- 29 min
Ridnour: 9p - 10a - 2 slt -- 32 min
Love: 8p - game high 15 reb (8 off) -- 26 min
