Miami Heat Roll, Cleveland Cavaliers Set Mark and the Week That Was in the NBA
After a week in which the Cleveland Cavaliers lost for the 24th time in a row, the Miami Heat saw a 50-point performance from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade's first triple-double since 2006, an NBA review column the day after the Super Bowl is just what we need.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were going to be bad, we all knew that (well, maybe except for me, as I still had hope for them to make the playoffs back in November), but nobody really expected this team to be historically bad.
There is a lot to be said about a 24-game losing streak, so we'll address that in a few slides.
Many things jumped out this past week in the NBA that help us sort out the looming playoff picture and maybe even beyond.
Mainly the fact that the Heat, Celtics, Spurs, Lakers, Mavericks and Magic are very good, some other teams rank up there as good, and the rest are just fighting for some spotlight (maybe that's why the Cavs embarked on this losing streak that has me in fits).
There is still no resolution to the Carmelo Anthony situation in Denver, which means there has been no domino effect from him being shipped to another city in terms of other teams making their deals.
So, let's take a look back at the week that was, because on a Monday morning after the Super Bowl, I know what the people really want: an NBA review column.
The Out-Of-Nowhere Performance Of The Week
1 of 10
In a week with quite a number of worthy candidates for this award, there is only one person that I think I can really give it to without being called names by the rest of the community: Jason Smith of the New Orleans Hornets.
In a game against the Washington Wizards (yeah, It's the Wizards but we've got to give him some credit anyway), Smith exploded for 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting in only 25 minutes.
It was such a rare occurrence that it was only his fourth game scoring in double figures for the Hornets this season, and only the 13th in his career that now spans a whole of 183 games.
He topped his previous career high of 14 points with four-and-a-half minutes left in the second quarter. And just for good measure, he added two steals and five rebounds.
Apologies to Jrue Holiday, who notched his first career triple-double and LaMarcus Aldridge, who put up 40 points on a usually stout San Antonio defense for missing out on this week's OONPOTW Award.
Game Of The Week
2 of 10
This week's game of the week award goes to the nail biter between San Antonio and the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.
Coming into the game, every storyline everyone could ever want in a regular season game was in play.
No. 1 was playing No. 2 (at the time) in the Western Conference, it was a potential Western Conference Finals preview, and the greatest shooting guard and power forward of the past decade were playing against each other.
Both teams wanted this win to prove something: Los Angeles to stop the people from all of the "are they worse than last season" talk, and San Antonio to prove they could beat the defending champions on their own floor.
This game lived up to all of that hype and then some, with a clinic of smart basketball going on, the score was destined to stay below the century mark, but it was an excellent game nonetheless, especially if you salivate over grinding basketball games.
The game was close the whole way through, the biggest lead being six points by San Antonio early in the fourth, which was quickly erased, and culminated to a buzzer-beating tip-in from an unexpected hero in Antonio McDyess, who tipped in Tim Duncan's jumper gone awry before the red ring of death circled the backboard.
When people call the regular season in the NBA meaningless, these are the games I point to. This game had meaning, and it was well worth playing and watching.
Play Of The Week
3 of 10I'll admit it, I have a bit of a man-crush on Blake Griffin's dunks.
Here we have a monster of a man receiving a perfect pass in midair from Randy Foye, going up and giving Kyle Korver a reason to remember why he doesn't play hard defense.
Dunkface ensues.
It's a perfectly timed, perfectly executed masterpiece that gets everybody up out of their seats, even me at home. Yup, I'm that lame.
Random Musings: Zach Randolph
4 of 10
I have a bit of a problem putting a finger on Zach Randolph.
Is he an All-Star snub or is he just a player piling up stats on a borderline playoff team?
Is he still the head case forward of the Jail Blazers era or is he a real team player this time around?
There is just a lot that I can't really figure out about Randolph. At least near the beginning of his career, I could put a label on the guy.
Randolph was a guy who could be excellent if he could get over his own ego, pull himself together and buckle down, but he just wasn't committed and was injured too often.
After a stint in New York in which he was wildly overpaid (shocker, right?), and half a season on the Clippers that now seems to have woken him up, I'm just not sure what he is anymore.
On one hand, he is a rebounding machine who just can't be boxed out and who can score at will.
On the other hand, he is the guy who was arrested for a DUI and sexual abuse, punched Luis Amundson in the face and was accused of being a major purveyor of pot in Indiana as recently as last summer.
For now I'll just take him for what he is, a 20-10 guy with 30-20 capabilities on any given night and yes, even an All-Star snub.
Ya got robbed, Zach!
Unheralded Player Worth Mentioning
5 of 10
Tyson Chandler has never been a player who needs to pad a stat sheet to be effective, but he very well could.
On any given night, Chandler could break out for 20 points and 15 rebounds, and he would do so with almost no fanfare, all while playing some of the best defense in the NBA.
He is just one of those guys who never seems to get the headlines unless he is being traded, and that's just a damn shame.
Chandler is doing something this season that is definitely of note: he is leading the NBA in both true shooting percentage, at 71.1 percent and in offensive rating, with a composite of 134.
So what, right? He's a big man, so he gets his shots down low, makes about 60 percent of them and moves on, right?
Well yeah, but the thing about both of those numbers is they would be NBA records. As in all-time, never before been reached numbers.
Now, there are some things about these numbers, they favor big men who can camp under the basket and put up 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 2-of-4 from the free throw line, but the numbers are impressive nonetheless.
If nothing they say that Chandler is one of the most well-oiled machines in the NBA.
Streak of The Week
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There is no question about this one, folks; the Cleveland Cavaliers have lost 24 in a row in a most embarrassing fall from grace.
Since riding a streak of losses combined with one win to move from 7-9 to 8-43, the Cavs have scored 511 fewer points than their opponents, which comes out to them being outscored by 14.6 points per game.
Even if you take the 55-point loss to the Lakers out of the equation, they are still down by an average of 13.4 points per game.
They have the worst-ranked offense in the league and the worst-ranked defense.
Cleveland has been scoring only 94 points per game, good for 27th in the league, but they have played at the 10th fastest pace in the NBA, meaning they miss a lot of shots.
21 of their 34 losses since Nov. 30 have been by double digits, 14 have been by 15 points or more, eight have been by 20 or more, and one glorious shining loss was by 55 points.
What a season.
Amazingly enough, they are third in the league in home attendance, a number that season ticket sales alone can't explain.
The people of Cleveland were reintroduced to loving basketball by LeBron James, and as painful as it is, I think we should thank him for that.
Ohioans are packing The Q, and if it weren't for a winter storm that dumped on the Midwest. this weekend, they would have sold out every home game this season.
Losing may hurt, but it makes winning oh so much sweeter, so buck up Cleveland, things can't get any worse.
A Quick Word About The Heat
7 of 10
There is something happening with the Miami Heat that should startle the rest of the competition in the league: they seem to be meshing quite well.
Like any team, they have their bumps along the way, but they are starting to work out some of the kinks that looked to be holding them back early on.
Dwyane Wade can score when LeBron is on the court and vice versa at this point. They no longer look like an overpolite boyfriend meeting his girlfriend's ridiculously strict parents for the first time when they play together.
There is no more, "after you, I insist," passes leading to a winding down shot clock and Mario Chalmers forcing a long jumper.
They still seem to be playing the "alternating leadership roles" game, but they're doing it more smoothly, as shown by LeBron's 51-point near triple-double against Orlando followed by Wade's triple-double against Charlotte.
I'm still not thoroughly convinced that they can pull off a championship this year, but they seem to be a much more dangerous team at this point.
Defensive Player Of The Week
8 of 10
This one had my wheels turning and my stomach knotting, but ultimately, over Al Jefferson, Shane Battier and countless others, I finally settled on LaMarcus Aldridge as my D-POW.
Aldridge had quite a week on both sides of the ball, highlighted by his 40-point outburst against San Antonio, but his work on the other end of the court helped his team out the most.
Aldridge, in four games, collected seven steals and eight blocks to go along with 40 rebounds, and he held his opponents to pennies compared to the dollars they are used to getting.
He banged up against Tim Duncan for most of the game against San Antonio, much more than Joel Przybilla at least, and held him to 15 points.
Al Harrington put up only seven points against the Blazers, Josh McRobers eight and JJ Hickson 11 on an ugly 4-of-11 shooting.
Aldridge had a very uncharacteristically stout defensive week.
Offensive Player Of The Week
9 of 10
I'll give you one guess at who the O-POW was this week.
Not sure? Well his name rhymes with DraCron Frames and his mom Gloria just had a birthday.
LeBron James had a huge week offensively and may quietly be sneaking his way back into the MVP race with the numbers he is starting to put up.
He put up 24 on the Cavs, a far cry from their first meeting, but still impressive, followed by 51 against Orlando, 19 against Charlotte and 12 against the Los Angeles Clippers.
James' average came out to 31.3 points per game, 8.3 assists and 60 percent shooting on the week while grabbing at least an offensive board in every game for good measure.
So come get your award and get out LeBron, and don't make eye contact with me, I don't want to be liable for what I may do.
Game to Watch This Week
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Let's take a quick look at the week ahead, shall we?
There's a huge number of good games coming up this week, headlined by the Clippers visiting the up-tempo Knicks in a game that is sure to feature at least two jaw-dropping dunks.
Amar'e vs. Blake is enough to make me want to watch, but this still isn't the game of the week, no, I'm going straight for a cop-out right out of the gate.
This Thursday features your average, everyday match-up of the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.
Last time the two teams met, which was just a bit over a week ago, Boston blew into Los Angeles with a scowl on their faces and went home with a win.
The last time they met before that was a little thing we like to call Game 7 of the NBA Finals, so there's probably a bit of bad blood here.
Kobe and the Kobettes still have the "are they good enough to three-peat?" whispers lingering after they failed to close out against San Antonio last week, so they should be hyped up to try to grab a win in Boston.
There is absolutely nothing to dislike about this game unless you're tired of the played out Celtics-Lakers rivalry, then there is plenty to dislike.
In that case just tune in and boo your television the whole time, and catch what should be a fine basketball game while you're at it.
That's it for this week, folks, if you all like this enough I suppose I'll pull out a weekly thing here, and write one for every Monday morning. Just let me know what's up.
