Tony Allen, Tom Thibodeau and Big Baby‘s personal pork chef could have filled in for ABC’s announce crew and told you how yesterday’s Lakers/Celtics game was going to turn out. To put it simply: Kobe Bryant cannot beat Boston by himself. Despite 41 points (16-29 FG) from the Black Mamba, L.A. saw its slim halftime lead slip away as the C’s dominated most of the second half in a convincing 109-96 win on Kobe’s floor in what was supposed to be a Game of the Year candidate … Just like he’d done in the first half when it seemed his teammates were in lazy-Sunday mode, Kobe went on a personal rampage in the fourth quarter to cut Boston’s lead to four with about five minutes left. But L.A. never got any closer, as Kevin Garnett (18 pts, 13 rebs, 5 asts) hit a couple jumpers and finished a lob-and-layup from Rajon Rondo during Boston’s game-ending run … Paul Pierce (32 pts, 11-18 FG) only had one bucket in the fourth quarter, but he made his mark in the third, when he scored 14 of his team’s 16 points to turn a seven-point deficit into a six-point lead … Shaq‘s age is Boston’s version of DeJuan Blair‘s knees: Not one Celtics game goes by that we’re not reminded Shaq is the oldest active player in the League. Keyword: active. It’d be a different story if Greg Oden were playing … You know Channing Frye was grinning when Pau Gasol slashed KG across the dome and drew blood. Too bad that was the biggest impact Pau (12 pts, 7 rebs) made all day. Garnett had to go to the locker room and came back with a bandage from the Paul Pierce Over-Dramatic Collection … Where does Lamar Odom‘s three-shot foul on Big Baby at halfcourt rank on the list of dumbest NBA fouls of the season? … Eddie House is about to make somebody slap him upside the head again. House can get under an opponent’s skin even when he’s not playing, but put him on the court and let him stick a couple huge shots? He’s downright insufferable. For the second game in a row, House saved Miami with fourth-quarter daggers — this time knocking off the Thunder on the road … With under a minute to go, Kevin Durant (33 pts, 10 rebs, 16-19 FT) gave OKC the lead on a straightaway jumper that fell through the net softer than good cornbread. Dwyane Wade (32 pts, 9 rebs) then bricked a turnaround jumper, but Mike Miller tapped the rebound out to LeBron (23 pts, 13 asts, 4 stls, 3 blks), who thought about a wide-open three but handed it to House, who had an even more wide-open three. After burying the shot from the wing, House went into the Sam Cassell Big Balls Dance and ran around the Ford Center like he’d just found out he’s not the father. Mike Tirico could only watch so much before he channeled Joe Buck and wagged his finger, calling House’s celebration “silly” and telling him to “act like you’ve hit a big shot before.” … Durant missed a shot and Wade split a pair of free throws, then Russell Westbrook (21 pts, 7 rebs, 10 asts) kicked the ball away and House iced it with two more at the line … Chris Bosh (20 pts, 7 rebs) is back. During the stretches when Durant was guarding him, were they comparing notes on how to survive on a diet of carrot sticks? Both of them could use a trip to Five Guys …Read More>>
Crazy finish in Phoenix. The Suns were up eight on the Hornets with 20 seconds left before Chris Paul (26 pts, 12 asts) buried a three. Trevor Ariza then stole Grant Hill‘s inbound pass, and CP3 was fouled while taking another three. He made the free throws, and then Hill made another bad inbound pass that sailed over Steve Nash‘s head out of bounds. So with 10 seconds left, the Hornets had the rock with a chance to tie or win. David West hit Marcus Thornton under the rim, but Hill spiked his layup off the glass — or he goal-tended, depending on which team you root for … Some of the Dime crew was at MSG for Knicks/Pistons, where Amar’e Stoudemire scored 33 points, Danilo Gallinari had 29, and Timofey Mozgov stumbled into 23 points and 14 boards off the bench in a blowout win … Even before the game, though, the mood in the Detroit locker room was about as lively as the waiting room at the free clinic. We can’t tell if it’s just the losing, or if these guys all hate each other, or both. (Probably “C.”) We won’t name names, but some Pistons were even complaining about the group of kids practicing the national anthem across the hallway … Other stat lines from Sunday: Stephen Curry had 27 points and 7 assists to lead Golden State past Utah; Andre Iguodala posted 24 points, 7 assists and 4 steals to lead Philadelphia past Denver; and Dwight Howard had 20 points and 20 rebounds as Orlando pieced Cleveland … The Pacers fired Jim O’Brien and promoted assistant Frank Vogel to interim head coach. Indiana had lost seven of their last eight, and that one win was against the Nets. At 17-27 going into Sunday’s schedule they were two games out of the 8th seed in the East, and Larry Bird made it clear their expectations this year were to make the playoffs. Vogel, 37, is a Rick Pitino guy (so is O’Brien) who used to be an assistant under Pitino at Kentucky and with the Celtics. He said all the right things in the press conference, including a somber, “This is difficult” to begin with. Vogel almost made it seem like he wasn’t just doing the Rick James Get a New Couch Dance when he found out he’d gotten a promotion … We’re out like J.O.B. …
