Ballin': Derrick Rose's Balky Back Will Make This a Nervous Week for the Bulls
By Jason McIntyre
Boston 95, Chicago 91: Who says the Celtics are old and can’t run? Here’s Rajon Rondo throwing two exciting alley-oop passes in a 30-second span. On the receiving end: Rookie JaJuan Johnson and Chris Wilcox. Disregard this score – Derrick Rose did not play (he’s seeing another back specialist this week – fingers crossed, Bulls fans). Rajon Rondo took full advantage of Rose’s absence – 32 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds.
Golden State 106, Houston 97: These are the two teams that dropped Jeremy Lin! Fools! The Warriors closed strong in the 4th behind Monta Ellis (33 points) and rookie Klay Thompson (14 points off the bench), and inched closer to .500 (10-14). Working under the assumption that two out of Ellis/Curry/Lee will get theirs, if Mark Jackson can find an unlikely third scorer every night – be it Dorrell Wright, Klay Thompson or Brandon Rush – I really think the playoffs are within reach. Of course, Biedrins will have to do more than 0 points and two rebounds in 10 foul-plagued minutes.
Detroit 77, Washington 98: The Pistons’ backcourt of Knight and Stuckey shot a combined 3-of-18 and the Wizards dominated the second half (53-32) to improve to 6-22. Detroit is 8-21. Depending on your fancy in the draft, these teams will probably end up slugging it out over UNC’s Harrison Barnes in the 3-5 range.
LA Lakers 94, Toronto 92: As if losing to Jeremy Lin Friday wasn’t bad enough, the Lakers nearly suffered the ignominy of blowing an 18-point lead in Toronto. Then Kobe nailed a difficult game-winner and looked at the Toronto bench (or maybe James Johnson?). In other news, it’s Take Advantage of Derek Fisher week/month/year! Jose Calderon scored 30 points to lead the Raptors, who were without Andrea Bargnani. The Lakers are desperate for guard help … bring on Gilbert Arenas!
Miami 107, Atlanta 87: The Heat grabbed a 22-point halftime lead and never let the Hawks off the mat. That’s good, because the Heat play road games Monday and Tuesday, as well. Milwaukee’s up tonight, and the Heat are 0-2 against them this year.
Utah 98, Memphis 88: Gordon Hayward scored a season-high 23 points, Al Jefferson went for 21-15 and the Jazz collected a nice road win over a wildly inconsistent (18 turnovers, including at least one by all 10 Grizzlies who played) Memphis team I can’t figure out.
[Celtics video via @Jose3030]