Every legit NBA title contender this season seems to have that one Lottery-bound team that poses problems for them. For the Celtics, it has been Detroit. For the Spurs, it’s been Minnesota. For the Heat, it’s been Indiana. The Lakers? They’ve been having a tough time with the Rockets for the last couple of years now, Yao or no Yao. Last night’s matchup was another nail-biter … It’s easy to see why the Rockets are a bad matchup for the defending champs. None of L.A.’s point guards can stay in front of Aaron Brooks, none of their bigs can match Luis Scola‘s energy (or he’s just really good at blinding them with the sweat flying from his hair), and, well, nobody can really stop Kevin Martin. Guarding him is like fighting M.Bison on the hard level of Street Fighter II … The Lakers led by seven in the fourth quarter before Scola went on a tear, scoring 10 of Houston’s last 12 points in regulation. With under a minute to go, L.A. was up two as Kobe (32 pts, 11 asts) kept trying to deliver the dagger, bricking two tough jumpers over K-Mart. On Houston’s next possession, Pau Gasol got caught watching Brooks and left Scola (24 pts, 15 rebs) wide open under the rim for an easy layup. Houston took a four-point lead in overtime, but Gasol (26 pts, 16 rebs) proved to be too much inside and L.A.’s defense picked the right time to tighten up … Fun fact: Martin (30 pts, 8-15 FG) was the only member of the Rockets to shoot free throws. He went 10-for-11 … How does Lamar Odom put up 20 points, 20 rebounds and 4 assists and still leave you feeling like he could have done more? Is he so talented that we’ve placed his expectations too high? Maybe it’s because even L.O.’s best games include one or two bonehead plays … If the Kings can bottle whatever they had against the Celtics last night, they’re going to challenge the Warriors and Clippers as our favorite late-night West Coast League Pass option. The only reason Sacramento kept it competitive against Boston is that they simply played their butts off and out-hustled the C’s most of the night. Tyreke Evans (20 pts) and Beno Udrih constantly tried to push the pace and attack the basket, Sam Dalembert (5 blks) and the rest of the defense tried to swat every shot that crossed their faces — Tyreke had one catch-from-behind block where he pinned Rajon Rondo‘s layup on the glass — and everybody crashed the boards … Donte Greene was the star of the first half, scoring 15 points before the break, capped by a shot-clock-beating turnaround jumper in Paul Pierce‘s eye that one Sacramento announcer called “heat check” before Greene even released it. Greene ran back doing the Jordan shrug, as the Kings took a nine-point lead into the locker room …Read More>>
If only the game had ended there. You knew Boston would make a run in the second half, which they did, gradually sapping the energy out of the building before Pierce’s dagger late in the fourth quarter put everybody in their place … Some guys in the Dime office had predicted beforehand that KG would do something evil to get inside DeMarcus Cousins‘ head, but the rookie held his own. In the second half, Cousins (20 pts) was still feeling bold enough to hit a three and mock Nate Robinson‘s bird-flap … Bill Walton, rocking a tie-dyed Kings t-shirt and khakis, sat with the Sacramento announce team for a while. About 12 seconds in, he called Boston’s win over the Lakers last weekend “one of the great games in Celtics franchise history.” A few minutes later, Cousins took a charge and Walton said, “He’s playing like Bill Russell.” SETTLE DOWN … Fans in the front row at ARCO Arena yesterday got a signed sneaker from a member of the Kings. We would have loved to see the disappointed reaction of the person who got Darnell Jackson‘s shoe … The Spurs also found themselves in a battle, dropping a road game in Portland. LaMarcus Aldridge owned this one, putting up 40 points, 11 boards and 3 steals. When the Spurs went small, LMA dominated the glass and scored over the top. When they went big, Aldridge stuck outside jumpers … The Hornets’ play-by-play guy summed it up their win over the Wizards: “You get a heavy dose of Jason Smith early, and a larger dose of CP3 later.” … To translate, Smith — filling in for the injured Emeka Okafor — played out of his mind, deucing all over every Wizard in his line of sight, scoring 20 points while making his first nine shots. In the second half, the Wizards were put out of their misery by Chris Paul (15 pts, 9 asts) … Aaron Gray also deserves a shout-out for covering Okafor’s absence, taking advantage of the newfound PT by grabbing 8 rebounds. But one time Gray air-balled a free throw, which is how his night will be remembered … The Hornets announcers were KILLING Rashard Lewis. When he fouled out after scoring just 4 points, Gil McGregor snapped sarcastically, “Wow, Rashard. I think I’d change my name to Richard Lewis and see if I did a little better.” … Game of the night, though? Kentucky vs. Ole Miss. John Calipari‘s guys were down double-digits in the second half before rallying to take a one-point lead with under 1:30 remaining. The score was the same with 10 seconds to go, Ole Miss ball. The Rebels got it to senior star Chris Warren (22 pts) — think Jacob Pullen of the South, an undersized combo guard with a sick beard and sicker jump shot — who looked for his spot around the arc before dropping in an NBA-range bomb with two seconds left. UK’s Doron Lamb got a running trey at the buzzer, but it didn’t go as the 10th-ranked Wildcats went down … We’re out like Richard Lewis …
