by Daniel Shirley
News
- Mike Miller is reportedly very close to making his season debut. The team actually considered having him play last night but ruled against it close to game time. This is good news for Heat fans and Miller owners/potential owners.
- The stress fracture in Yao Ming’s left ankle will sideline him for the rest of the season. Even though we’re used to it by now, these kinds of injury-ridden players remain sad stories.
- Steve Nash left the Suns-Mavericks matchup with what he called a “stinger”. If it really was only a stinger, don’t worry about him at all. Still, keep an eye on the situation in case it turns into something more serious.
- Kobe Bryant injured his right pinkie last night against the 76ers. X-rays came back negative. The injury is being called a sprained pinkie. Bryant could possibly be effected in his next game, but don’t expect too much of an effect on his numbers.
Game Notes
- Kevin Martin’s stat lines are starting to look more and more like the ones we expected Danny Granger to put up this season. Last night, Martin scored 34 against the Grizzlies. He’s been scoring well all season, and he’s had a couple of scoring outbursts as of late.
- Speaking of Granger, he had 30 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Cleveland last night. He really has the ability to put up a line like that any given night.
- Miami Thrice scored a total of 84 points last night in Madison Square Garden. LeBron James had 32 while Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh each scored 26. These are the kind of numbers everyone anticipated for this group coming in to the season. While some might point to this as a turning point for the Heat, I would point out that they did this against a very poor defensive team in the Knicks. The Knicks are getting better with Amar’e Stoudemire leading the way, but they remain atrocious on the defensive end. Watch the Thrice in their next game and see if they work together as well as they did last night.
- The strength of the Lakers showed itself again last night in a win over Philadelphia. Lamar Odom scored 28 while the remainder of the team (except maybe Pau Gasol: 19 points) struggled from the field. Still, the Lakers won fairly easily. This team is constructed such that they have the ability to beat you in a number of ways. Championship teams win games when they play bad. Los Angeles did that last night.
- Blake Griffin just put the Clippers on his back last night and carried them to victory. Griffin’s 24 points and 17 rebounds led the way in a win over the Pistons. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Rookie of the Year.
- Demarcus Cousins scored 19 and grabbed 16 rebounds last night. He’s come through a bit of a rough patch on the floor recently. This might be indication that he has come through the other side a better player.
