Where The Basketball Gods Favor The Suns (Day 11)

The Suns stole one from the Grizzlies. They were down by 4 with about less than 4 seconds left, and they still somehow managed to win. How? Ask Jason Richardson (38 points on 14-29 shooting, 6-8 treys, 4-5 free throws, with 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals, with only 1 turnover). He scored 5 points in that short span with a banked-in three-pointer and a lay-up (dunk?) with 0.4 seconds left off a lob. Of course, the Suns got a bit of help from Rudy Gay (26 and 4, with 3 treys, 2 steals and 2 blocks), who meant to intentionally miss a free throw with 0.4 seconds left but accidentally made it. The Suns then forced over-time and double-over time to eventually win, 123-118. Marc Gasol (26 points on 12-13 shooting, with 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks) produced a solid line for the Grizzlies, and Steve Nash (25, 3 and 9) did as well for the Suns.

Dwight Howard (30 points, 16 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block on 9-13 shooting, 12-16 free throws) and the Magic had a typical ho-hum night as they routed the Nets, 105-90. Though, we did see a little life from the corpse formerly known as Travis Outlaw (17, 6 and 1, on 7-8 shooting, 3-4 treys, with a block and no turnovers).

Carmelo Anthony (30 points on 14-20 shooting, 2-2 free throws, with 5 boards, 6 assists, a steal and no turnovers) has been quietly posting monster lines, and the Nuggets rolled the Clippers, 111-104. Blake Griffin (26 points on 11-18 shooting, 4-4 free throws, with 10 rebounds, 3 assists and only 1 turnover) and Eric Gordon (21, 5 and 5, on 6-12 shooting)  looked pretty good, though.

The Miami Heat's weakness was exposed tonight as Emeka Okafor (26 points on 12-13 shooting, with 13 boards, an assist and a block with only 1 turnover) and Chris Paul (13, 2 and 19, with 5 steals) hooked up for a bunch of alley-oop dunks over the Heat bigs, as the Hornets stayed unbeaten by beating Miami in a narrow victory, 96-93. Dwyane Wade (28, 10 and 2, with 2 steals and 2 blocks) and LeBron James (20, 7 and 10, with 3 steals and a block) did what they could, as Chris Bosh (15 points, 1 rebound) was once again non-existent on the boards.

Jrue Holiday (29 points on 10-17 shooting, 3-5 treys, 6-8 free throws, with 2 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and a block with no turnovers) broke out against the Cavs in a loss, 123-116, but Anderson Varejao (23 points on a perfect 10-10 from the field, with 12 rebounds and 2 assists) and Daniel Gibson (22, 5 and 4, on 6-9 shooting) denied the Sixers yet another victory.

Josh Smith (20 points on 9-13 shooting, with 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 5 blocks, with no turnovers) had a near perfect line as he led his Hawks over the lowly Wolves, 113-103. The Hawks are now 6-0 and are one of three teams who are undefeated this year (Lakers and Hornets being the other two).

Pau Gasol (30 points on 12-22 shooting, 6-6 free throws, with 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks with only 1 turnover) and Kobe Bryant (23, 4 and 6, on 6-12 shooting, 11-12 free throws) led the Lakers to a 108-103 victory tonight against the Raptors. You know, when I watch Laker games, if the Lakers are down the entire game but are within 5 points with 6 minutes left, I assume that the Lakers will win quite easily. No worries, no anxiety from me. At all. 6-0.