The Heat lost to the Pistons in South Beach last night. Miami now has a record of 18-20 against teams with a .500 record or better. They really need to improve on that if they plan on contending for a championship. The way the Nets are playing right now, I'm tempted to put them over the Heat right now. Plus, the Nets are within striking distance of overtaking Miami in the standings.

And Melo... ::sigh: damn, a get-well card ain't gonna help him. Not even chicken soup or bed rest could cure this sickness. So, I think he's gonna be sick for a looooooooooong time.

Quote of the week: Andrei Kirilenko, on making the Playoffs this year.

Andrei Kirilenko speaking english is hilarious. I remember earlier in the season when he got injured, he said something along the lines of, "It feels not good. It feels bad. I don't like feeling bad. That's not good."

Some other hilarious quotes when he got that 5x5 this year.

All I can say to that is "LOLWTF!?"

The Nets winning streak ends today at 14 (which ties their franchise record). They lost to the Cavs 108-102. Both of those teams have been showing me a lot over the last month or so. They should have a lot of momentum going into the playoffs. Whether that translates into postseason success remains to be seen. It's still the Pistons, Heat... and everybody else when it comes to the East, but they are closing the gap.

Ahahaha, that's gold.


Oh yeah! New Jersey's winning streak just got snapped. Way to go, Lebron: 37 points, with 18 of those in the final quarter.

Did anyone see the Lakers-Suns game last night? I went to bed early, because I was exhausted from having just an hour of sleep the night before. Did Kobe hit 50 again.

Yep, 51 this time... and they still lost. ahahaha! GOTTA. LOVE. IT!

I'm looking at the boxscores now. Wow, Kobe regularly takes more than 30 shots a game. He jacked up 33 shots last night.

To compare, Kevin Garnett has only taken 33 shots once in his entire career.

Oh, Kobe Bryant needs two more technicals this season to receive an automatic suspension. He has 14 on the season now.

Speaking of technicals, Sheed got of his suspension for getting his sixteenth technical too. An awful performance, but what's to note here is that he's gonna have a career low for technicals in a season. With only a few more weeks left, he can't possibly outdo it, with the enusing suspensions following each.

Kobe needs to get injured. Oh wait, they're losing with im doing well. Nevermind. Keep losing.

It's one suspension for every additional two techs, if I remember correctly.

'Sheed has been a relatively good citizen ever since he went to Detroit.

Guys like Kobe and AI are scorers. They'll jack up as many shots as possible regarldess of the situation, how many defenders are on them or even if they have open teammates sometimes. KG is a shooter. He doesn't take as many shots, but 90% of his shots are quality ones. For a scorer, it's all about FGAs... for a shooter, it's about FG %. That's how I think about it.

Haha, what it comes down to is what their supserstar abilities in NBA Live 06 are. :p The New York Knickerbockers are a team of scorers. FAIL.

Oh yeah, it's a suspension for every two. I forgot.

umm... I'm not sure what you mean heh. :P Are you saying if a team has just a scorer, it can't be successful? AI took his team to the Finals a few years back when he was the only REAL scoring threat Phily had. So yeah, what exactly do you mean? Or were you just joking?

At some point, the best type you can be is not a "scorer" or a "shooter" -- but simply a basketball player.

If a player is double or triple-teamed, the logical basketball move/deicison is to pass the ball. Kevin Garnett does that. He is a basketball player.

Lebron James is a basketball player. Steve Nash is a basketball player.

Kobe is a one-man team.

The difference between Kobe and Iverson is that Kobe takes needlessly difficult shots, with people draped all over him. Most of Iverson's shots are either drives or open jumpshots that he earns by shaking people. AI attempts a lot shots, but at least he's usually open.

Nah man, you got what I was saying all wrong. Calling someone a "basketball player" really has nothing to do with how they shoot the ball. People call them that because they don't fit at one specific position. KG can play several positions seamlessly, hence why he is a basketball player. Same thing with LeBron. He can play SG, SF, PG. Being a "basketball player" means you are versatile and can wear more than one hat. Steve Nash doesn't really fit that mold to me, so I don't know if I'd call him a "basketball player", per say. He's a PG, always had been.

AI and Kobe are different in the sense that, yeah, AI tries to involve his teammates more, but that's not what I was saying. Just because AI can break a double team, or shake a defender up to get a shot, doesn't always mean it's a "good shot". When two, three people are coming at you, you know what that means, there is someone on your team open. :P

If you're talking about being an all-around great player, knowing the fundamentals and such, then yeah guys like Steve Nash, Tim Duncan and others are definitely in that mix. But you won't see Nash playing PF, and you won't see Duncan playing SG or PG. That's what a "basketball player" is. That intells way more than just shooting or scoring.

Basically what I'm saying is that being a basketball player or a shooter/scorer are two different things.

Ah I see. But I wasn't disagreeing with what you were saying. I was just throwing my two cents in there regarding the subject, and taking shots at Kobe :p. What I was trying to say with the "basketball player" thing, is that players like KG, Lebron, and Nash make sound basketball decisions. Not necessarily about being versatile or all-around players.

But I think I know what you mean now :) Yeah, in that case, you're right: Being a "basketball player" has nothing to do with a player's being in a category of shooter/scorer.

Ah! I get what you're saying now as well. And yeah, anytime I can get a shot in on Kobe, I take it too! :D Watching him get his points and his team still lose is priceless.... classic, even!

So the Sixers and the Bulls play again tonight.

Philly really needs this one. If they lose tonight, they lose the season series 1-3 to Chicago, and thus lose the head-to-head tie-breaker.

But Chicago has won four straight games, while Philly has lost three straight.

Yeah, like I said earlier, I think the Bulls will get that final spot. Even if the Sixers win tonight, it's gonna be tough for them overtake Chicago. Sucks though, 'cause the NBA needs it's stars in the playoffs. But, on the other hand, it'll give the world a change to get a closer look at the young, up and coming stars on that Bulls team. Guys like Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Chris Duhon and Luol Deng deserve some more exposure.

The Sixers ended up winning that game. Both teams now have identical records, with the Bull holding the tie-breaker.

Looking at the standings, the Pacers have dropped two straight, and the Bucks have dropped four straight. The Sixers may have a decent shot after all.

San Antonio and Dallas are still in that fight for the first spot. The Spurs just narrowed beat the Grizzlies last night to avoid their third straight loss.

New Jersey is trying to catch Miami to grab that number 2 seed. I don't think they'll do it.

Philly has manned up in their last 2 games. They blew out Chicago in a must-win situation and defeated the Wizards. At this point, it looks like the Sixers will make it in. The Bucks are falling.. fast! So, Chicago will have to hope that Milwaukee keeps losing so they can wind up with that 8th spot.

The seeding format the NBA has right now sucks. Dallas is just a half game back of San Antonio for the best record in the West. Whoever doesn't get that top spot automatically gets the 4th seed. That would mean that the Mavs and Spurs would meet in the 2nd round of the playoffs. That does not make sense at all. I know the divisional leaders should get rewarded but it's just weird.

LeBron James hit his second game-winning shot last night. This time against the New Orleans Hornets. Right now, for me, the road to MVP is a 3-man race between LeBron, Kobe and Nash. It's gonna be interesting to see who wins out. All 3 have had incredible seasons.

The Pistsons are 62-15 as of this post. They have 5 games remaining. If they win out, which I don't think they will, they'll finish the season 67-15. Seeing how good this team is goes to show, not only how tough it is to win 70 games, but also shows how amazing that 95-96 Bulls team was. I think it'll be quite sometime before we see a team like that again.

Yeah, Bucks are fading fast. I hope the Sixers make it. They're still at ninth place right now, and they next two games are against the Nets and the Heat.

They have their work cut out for them.

Yeah, the format is a bit weird. Denver's record isn't that good to deserve the third seed. And it'd be strange to see a Dalls-San Antonio matchup on the second round. The West Finals may be anti-climactic.

Second gamewinner -- nice. It's a tough pick for MVP. Lebron stuffs the stat sheet every night with 32-7-7. That is incredible.

Steve Nash, considering the fact that the Suns don't have Amare, Nash has elevated his own play even more, and made Marion so good.

Then there's Kobe. I'm watching the Warriors-Lakers game right now, and Kobe has 30 points. ...It's halftime.

I'm looking at the Pistons last few games, and I don't think it's a stretch to say they can win out: Cleveland, Toronto, New York, Milwaukee, Washington. It's very possible they can finish 67-15. Which, yeah, is still a far cry from the '95'96 Bulls.

That Bulls team just stampeded over the league. But that team, surprisingly, did lose two straight games at one point in the season. No NBA team has ever finished a season without losing consecutive games.

Ha, Allen Iverson scored 40 points in a crucial blow-out win over the Nets.

The Sixers are fighting for this.

Yeah, and 10 dimes to go along with those 40 points. Chris Webber has been playing pretty well during this stretch run too. They have a tough game next against the Heat, if they win that game, they're in.

The Cavs got hammered by the Pistons yesterday. LeBron got hurt with a sprained ankle but it doesn't look serious at all. LeBron is having a sick season. He's now among a select few players to average 30+ points, 7+ rebounds and 6+ assists in one season. That short list includes Michael Jordan, as well as Oscar Robertson, who did it an astonishing 5 times!

The Mavs took a huge hit in their bid to take over the Spurs for that #1 spot. They lost to the Warriors last night. Now, they back 1 and a games behind San Antonio. The Spurs have a slightly easier schedule down the stretch, so I think they'll end up being the #1 seed.

Toronto just beat Detroit. Really.

Mike James scored a career-high 39 points, and is averaging 20.1 points for the season.

Sixers got pounded by the Heat tonight.

And these are cool:

http://www.nba.com/media/cavaliers/L...400_060412.jpghttp://www.nba.com/media/JamesMourning400.jpg

It looks like the Bulls are going to beat the Wizards, so Philly will not make the playoffs.

EDIT:

Yep, Bulls win. Ben Gordon was ON from long range tonight. He tied an NBA record for most 3-pointers without a miss, going 9-9 from beyond the arc.


Now THAT'S levitation, holmes!

Alonzo Mourning has been on the receiving end of some pretty nasty dunks this season. The one by Vince Carter earlier this season is the most noteable one.