Friday was an absolute bonanza of basketball, both college and pro. NCAA Tournament games all day and a 12-game slate of NBA games had us locked in sitting in front of a TV from noon til after midnight … Arguably the best game of the entire day was the Bulls/Pacers overtime battle in Indy. Two weeks ago it looked like the Pacers’ season was a wrap, but after outlasting Chicago 115-108 last night have now won three of their last four … Seriously, the Tyler Hansbrough thing is starting to become ridiculous. He had another monster game, going for 29 point and 12 boards, and when he fouled out in OT, it seemed like there was a definite “Uh oh, what do we do now?” vibe among the Pacers and their fans … Odd night for Derrick Rose. He tied a career-high with 42 points, but he only had 2 assists in 39 minutes. Yes, the Pacers were doubling him all over the place, but for a guy who has the ball in his hands 80% (maybe more) of the time on Chicago possessions, he needs to be setting up guys better than that … Ty Lawson (nine points, four turnovers) had a nightmare of a game against the Magic. With the Nuggets down two with about 30 seconds to go, Lawson ran a pick-and-pop with Nene that saw Ty throw the ball away. Orlando’s color guy, Matt Goukas, let him have it. “He’s not a point guard,” said Goukas after the turnover. “He’s got point guard size. He played point guard at UNC. But he’s made three straight terrible plays.” A few minutes later, with the game tied at 82, Jameer Nelson got an iso at the top of the key as time was winding down. He took a dribble or two to his left and raised up and buried the three to win … right in Lawson’s face … It’s been a while since LeBron has blown up and completely dominated a game. The Atlanta Hawks got the business from Bron in the worst way last night when he gave them 43 on 61-21 shots, including five threes. James ripped off 23 of those points in the third quarter alone to bust the game open … Read More: Some drama brewing with the Knicks? The Spurs come up with another impressive win and yesterday’s Madness …
Things are not good with the Knicks right now. They had a terrible Pistons team down 11 in the fourth and blew it on some poor defense, poor shooting and turnovers … After Carmelo went 2-12 from the field for a sad six points. the New York Times‘s Howard Beck tweeted this after the game: “After his worst game as a Knick, Carmelo Anthony went straight to the bus, without speaking to the media. Second time this week.” That’s not to mention the fact that he reportedly didn’t even get off the bench during a timeout because he was pouting. Something bad is brewing already … Impressive win by the Spurs in Dallas as they beat the Mavs 97-91. Their Big 3 dominated as Parker had 33, Manu had 25 and Duncan had 22. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you let all three of those guys get theirs, you’re gonna lose … Ahh, one of the annual rites of spring that we always look forward to came to pass yesterday afternoon: Bruce Pearl gets the pantsed coached off of him in the NCAA Tournament. This time it was John Beilein and his Michigan squad destroying the Vols, 75-45, most likely sending Pearl to a TV studio for next season … Incredible stat from that game: Michigan is the first team in NCAA Tourney history to win a game without making a single free throw … The Villanova Wildcats lost to George Mason pretty much the same way they lost their final five regular season games: the wheels came off down the stretch. They could make shots, they couldn’t hold on to the ball, they couldn’t get key boards and they couldn’t get stops … This guy was a monster yesterday … Kyrie Iriving looked good as new in his return to the Duke lineup. He scored 14 as they murdered Hampton 87-45 … The Georgetown train of NCAA misery keeps rolling along after they got smoked by play-in No. 11 seed VCU last night, 74-56. In the last few years, the Hoyas have now gone down to VCU, Ohio and Davidson. Inexcusable for an elite program … Maybe the funniest tweet from yesterday came from ESPN college writer Eamonn Brennan: “Highlight of the day: Walking in on the half-dressed Zips mascot in the locker room. Human torso, kangaroo base. Startling.” … We’re out like Pearl.
