As one of the young up-and-coming teams in the league, it is their young, dynamic scorers who get all the attention. But please believe, it’s their defense that has teams flustered. We only wish people would start to notice … Yes, we are talking about the Grizzlies rather than the Thunder, the team Memphis beat last night by six to move a season-high seven games over .500. For much of the early portion of last season, Memphis and Oklahoma City were linked together as the next in-line in the West, both teams bent on ruining somebody’s season in the playoffs. The Grizzlies slowed while the Thunder took off to become the feel-good story of the league. Last night, they met up and Memphis’ Tony Allen (20 points) summed it up after the game when he told reporters, “We needed it more than they did.” Allen played like it, harassing Kevin Durant all over the court (23 points) and spearheading a tough 107-101 win. The balanced attack from Memphis was impressive – every starter was in double figures in the 10 to 20-point range … Durant struggled for much of the night (8-20 from the field), but he did have a vicious one-handed finish on the break in the first quarter … It wasn’t nicer than this guy’s dunks though … Read More: A T-Wolve got MVP chants last night, the Hornets tried to keep up without CP, and LaMarcus Aldrige has become a killer
Agains the Mavs last night, Kevin Love (23 points, 17 rebounds & some “MVP” chants) broke Moses Malone‘s record with his 51st straight double-double. It’s funny that Love hit double figures in points for the game in a way that Moses never could – by drilling a three … Despite the big night for Love, Dallas came from behind in the second half to beat the Minnesota by three. The T-Wolves hit their weary visitors with a 15-0 run towards the end of the third quarter to move ahead by 10. But late in the game, Dirk Nowitzki (25 points) and Jason Terry made the shots they had to, like they’ve done about a million times before. … Without Chris Paul, the Hornets were barely recognizable last night in Chicago. It took the Bulls a while to capitalize, but eventually they took care of business, 85-77 … This was an obvious trap game for Chicago, especially since they were coming off a couple of earth-shaking wins this weekend. The Bulls were obviously drained, and could’ve just gone through the motions, but the beast they have in the probable MVP Derrick Rose (24 points, 9 assists) wouldn’t let them lose … It was a colossal breakdown for the Magic at the end of their four-point loss against Portland last night. With less than 15 seconds left and the Magic down by four, instead of calling a timeout, Orlando went for the quick score. Hedo Turkoglu passed up a wide-open three to give it to Earl Clark, who seemed completely lost, driving in towards the basket. By the time he found Jason Richardson (22 points, four threes), who was the only guy doing anything with Dwight Howard sitting out his one-game suspension, it didn’t matter whether the shot went in or not. Clark (9 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks) actually didn’t play all that poorly, and appears to have found a home in Disney, but he couldn’t stop LaMarcus Aldridge (24 points). Actually, nobody can stop LA anymore … Other headlines from around the league: Blake Griffin (17 points, 15 rebounds, one rim assault) and the Clippers won in Charlotte by five; New York annihilated the Jazz by 22 behind Carmelo Anthony (34 points on 16 shots) and Amar’e Stoudemire (31 points in 24 minutes); and Houston ran away from Sacramento by 22 behind Kyle Lowry (19 points, 8 assists), who was just murdering anyone the Kings tried to put in front of him … We’re out like checking LA.
