NBA Round Up: Shaq Attack in Recession

Will Shaq rebound?

No really. I don't mean from an injury or adjusting to a new team, or anything like that. Can he still...rebound?

What's a big guy to do? First, the flagrant on Stuckey. Now this. But first....

It was a light Monday night schedule with just three games. And a near record for the Big Diesel (not one he would want).

Houston Rockets (7-4) beat the Oklahoma City Thunder (1-10): 100-89

Who says that Rick Adelman is an offensive-minded coach?

The league's top defensive team (points allowed) the Houston Rockets, roll over, or should I say... limp over league doormat, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Houston Rockets record leads a division with three legit title contenders, including themselves. Their offense is 3rd worst in scoring in the NBA. The surprise is that record is good enough to make them the leader in this tough division.

What's not a surprise is all three Rockets stars played hurt last night. Tracy McGrady's surgically repaired knee began to bother him and he left the game for good early in the 2nd half, playing just 18 minutes. Yao Ming still has foot problems as he gutted out 33 minutes. Ron Artest turned his ankle, but played 38 minutes.

Luis Scola led the way with 23 points last night, followed by Yao Ming with a 19 on an efficient 7 of 8 shooting, and Ron Artest with 17 points. Ming and Artest both had double doubles with 12 and 11 rebounds.

Rocket coach Rick Adelman has the team playing well enough to compete with one star out, as evidenced by their play-off performance last season without Yao Ming. But two stars out would be asking too much. So far, that hasn't happened.

The Thunder have a few bright spots in what will be another long year. Their record drops to 1-10. Everyone knows that scorer Kevin Durant will work to hone his skills again this season. He led both teams with 29 points on 13 of 23 shots.

The Thunder's #4 pick in this years draft, rookie point guard Russell Westbrook had 3 straight steals and 5 in the game in an attempt to bring his team back by himself. He had 14 points in 28 minutes off the bench. His future looks bright. As he develops and gets acclimated to the NBA game, he will eventually supplant Earl (play me or trade me) Watson as the starting point guard.

The big red injury (so far he has made Greg Oden look healthy), 7 ft. Robert Swift got the start and had eight rebounds, two blocks and six points in 25 minutes for the Thunder.

Houston's wobbly run towards a a chance at an NBA Championship continues. The main thing is that they know defense is the driver. Take that - Adelman doubters! Keeping the team is another story.

Utah Jazz (7-4) beat the Phoenix Suns (8-4): 109-97

Phoenix's Shaquille O'Neal had just one rebound for only the second time in his career. Yes, you read that correctly.

Beyond that, Shaq, looking all of his 36 years, was blocked on three consecutive attempts. The first was by 6'8" Paul Millsap as Paul stood smack in the way of a Shaq rim rattling, power move. Millsap actually hurt his arm in the process but managed to reject the Big Diesel.

That was followed shortly after by two straight blocks by Andre Kirilenko. Shaq appears to have no lift left. The Diesel is carrying a heavy load and seems to be running out of gas. He doesn't even cross half court until very late on some plays.

Even more telling - (if the plus/minus is correct at NBA.com) the Suns were being beaten by 27 points while Shaq was on the floor in his 31:48 minutes. That means they outplayed the Jazz by 15 points in the 16 plus minutes he was on the bench.

Okay, so it was a bad night. We can't forget that the Suns are 8-4 right now, and perhaps surprising some people. Shaq must have something to do with that - like attracting defensive attention while Amare surgically cuts up opponents. Amare certainly knows Shaq's value.

Shad did have 5 assists, 9 points and 3 blocks of his own. But it seems the Jazz went right by him - often. And before anyone wants to bury the Big Aristotle.....

It may surprise you to know that Shaq's season stats are close to (slightly better) than Cleveland Cavalier big man Zydrunas Ilgauska's, in spite of all that. Look it up.

This is what Goliath might have looked like if he hadn't meet David and got to age. Eventually life catches up to you. You have good days and bad days.

The Utah Jazz have lost only once at home in the regular season since December 31, 2007. They are coming off three straight road losses while playing without Deron Williams (injury) and Mehmet Okur (personal reasons).

Unheralded Jazz high-school-to-pros 2nd rounder (2005) C.J. Miles started, scored 15 first quarter points and finished with 21.

The Jazz bench lit up the Suns for 59 points, led by Andre Kirilenko, Paul Millsap, Brevin Knight and Kyle Korver.

Brevin Knight helped out in Deron's with 12 points on 6 of 7, and 6 assists, in what was a great trade of PGs for the Jazz with the Clippers (for Jason Hart) in the off season.

Amare Stoudamire led the Suns with 30 points followed by Matt Barnes with 19. The Jazz were led by Carlos Boozer and CJ Miles with 21. Boozer added 15 rebounds, and Andre Kirilenko contributed 19 points in addition to his blocks.

The Jazz out ran the Suns with Shaq in the game to the tune of 20 fast break points to 4 for the Suns. To counter, the Suns scored 46 points in the paint to the Jazz' 34.  

San Antonio Spurs (5-5) keep the Los Angeles Clippers (1-9) frustrated: 86-83

The Spurs are now 5-5 without Manu Ginobili, but are 4-1 without Tony Parker and Manu. Go figure.  

Last night Spurs' new comer Roger Mason made the game winning shot with 8.4 seconds left to win the game. Baron Davis missed a three pointer for the Clippers as time expired.

This was after the Clippers closed the gap by 11 points in the last 6 minutes.

After scoring 55 points, Parker is out with an ankle sprain for the last 5 games, but the Spurs have bonded together as you might expect a Greg Popovich team to and are finding ways to win.

Tim Duncan still leads this team and had 20 points, 15 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. Former Wizard Mason led the Spurs with 21 and Michael Finley added 19 points.

Cuttino Mobley led the Clippers with 18 points, followed by Chris Kaman with 17 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks. Baron Davis shot just 5 for 17, finishing with 11 points.

The Clippers blocked 13 shots as Marcus Camby equaled Duncan with 6 blocks of his own. Many were against Tim as he was blocked 4 times.

Spurs' rookie point guard, George Hill started and had 8 assists, and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes of play.

"Cat" Mobley scored 13 of his 18 points in the 3rd period, including the Clippers first 11 points.

The Clippers outrebounded the Spurs 47-36, took 6 more shot, and blocked 5 more shots, but couldn't hit outside as they went 3-16 from the arc, while the Spurs were 8-20 with Mason and Finley going 3 of 5 from the three point line.

The Clippers played better than they have in many other games. They have the league's worst point differential as - 13.9 per game.

They have a talented core of players in Davis, Camby, Kaman, Mobley, and Al Thornton. The chemistry is just not there yet. It is just the opposite of the Spurs. Popovich has a well defined system and execute it well even with major players out of action.

So that's it. As the Ankle Turns....The Knee Bends....and the Diesel gets blocked. Until next time.