Now That's What I Call Basketball

Last night I watched two different games, and in both was treated to high scoring affairs that showcased the good in basketball, at two distincly different levels. There was the much aniticpated Suns/Lakers tilt. In this game the questions about if the Suns could still run with Shaq in the lineup were answered with a resounding yes. The thing was, the Lakers could run too. Watching Kobe Bryant do what he does, and watching bigs like Pau Gasol and Amare Stoudamire run the break and finish strongly made for entertaining basketball, the way it was supposed to be. The high scoring final score was indicitive of such. There were a combined 254 points scored in this game, how can that not be exciting to watch? The Suns, even in losing, had over half of their 46 field goals come via an assist. A total of 11 players in this contest scored in double figures, with five topping the 20 point mark. In fact, there was room for 11 double figure scoreres despite Bryant getting 41 on his own and Stoudemire pouring in 37 for the Suns. 

The other game that had my attention was the Hawks and Kings (marred only by having to listen to Steve Smith on the broadcast), and it too was another high scoring affair where points were a plenty. The Kings scored 119 points, on 40 field goals. Of their 40 field goals, there were assists on 23 of them. Five Kings were in double figures, and four Kings took at least 8 shots and shot right near 50% or better. Even in a losing cause the Hawks scored 107 points with six men in double figures. 

What you had was two of the league's best teams overall playing to a high scoring affair, and then you had two of the league's bottom feeders doing likewise. The importance of this, the importance of having the good and bad teams play a similar style of game? It just further shows how the entire league is getting back to what made basketball great. 

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