L.A. Is A New Team With Chris Paul; Boston’s Win Streak Is Over

Most nights when the home team gets run out of the gym, the arena is unusually quiet. Not last night in Philly. While the Clippers were busy laying a 17-point beatdown on the Sixers, the crowd was halfway in-between incensed and amazed. It really began in the third quarter, where the Clippers went on a run that put them up by 26. DeAndre Jordan had two dunks – one was off a Blake Griffin free throw miss where he puts his nuts in Arnett Moultrie‘s mug. The other came after Philly let a rebound slip right through their fingers. DeAndre came running from just inside midcourt to smash home a tip dunk. It was incredible – the Clips’ commentators coined him “the fastest big man they’ve ever seen.” Just moments before all of that, Griffin (20 points) had dropped a left-handed sledgehammer on the baseline that had the fans covering their eyes … Chris Paul (21 points, 11 dimes) has a pretty big effect on this team, doesn’t he? … Yesterday on DimeMag.com, we asked which young point guard would you pick to run your squad? Well, how about this: which backcourt would you rather have going forward – Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings, or John Wall and Bradley Beal? The young fellas (Washington) took out the old heads (Milwaukee… sort of) by 12 last night. Beal was super aggressive, and played perhaps his best game of the season (28 points) while Wall had 14 points and 10 dimes. On the other side, how many more games do we need before we realize Ellis and Jennings cannot play together – they seriously CAN’T both play great at the same time. Ellis went for 24 points and eight assists against the Wizards, but Jennings countered by missing more than that cat that shot at Pootie Tang, finishing 3-for-17. In their next game, it’ll probably be the opposite … “It’s like they’re thinking too much. They’re not ready to spring into action.” Cleveland’s broadcast dropped the knowledge last night halfway through the fourth in their eight-point loss to the T’Wolves. It was an understatement. Minnesota made eight straight shots in the final period as the Cavs were moving with all the speed of a burnt out fast food employee. We’re not sure if we should be excited or worried that Kyrie Irving (20 points) has already picked up on the “Kobe complex.” Basically, this means going one-on-five whenever he wants offensively (which, when he’s flowing, is unreal to watch) but then not giving one single f— about the other end. There were a few times in the fourth quarter where Irving stood so far off Luke Ridnour (21 points) that even your little sister could’ve hit those shots … Meanwhile, Jay Williams says that when he was a rookie in Chicago, some of the players on the team would hit the Mary Jane before playing in games. Do you believe him? … Keep reading to hear about the nearly impossible feat Josh Smith pulled off last night …

So much for the Celtics’ winning streak. They went down to Charlotte and coughed up a late lead, losing 94-91. A Gerald Henderson triple and then a Ramon Sessions (19 points) pull-up gave Charlotte the late lead. They held on to it after Kevin Garnett missed a jumper on the next possession, and then Paul Pierce and Avery Bradley both missed potential tying triples with nothing but tap water in their veins. Byron Mullens, one of the three best fantasy pickups of the week, dressed up as Wilt for the night, going for 25 points and 18 boards … Did you know Sessions has made the sixth-most free throws in the NBA this year? That has to be the most WTF stat ever … Henderson and Bradley were locked into an awesome physical battle in the third quarter. After three or four possessions of them dishing it out, Henderson got frustrated and tried to take Bradley off the dribble. Never a good thing. The play ended up in a breakaway Bradley dunk … Check out the final two minutes of regulation in Brooklyn’s five-point overtime win in Indiana: first, Roy Hibbert backed Brook Lopez into the paint and canned a nice right shoulder jump hook to push the Pacers in front. After that, Joe Johnson got ripped by George Hill (22 points), who finished on the break for a four-point lead, and on the following possession, Lopez (25 points) got sucked up by Hibbert in an isolation and lost the ball. Indiana’s game to win, right? Without Paul George (five points), who forgot to wear his big boy pants before fouling out, the Pacers had no offensive creativity, and never threatened once the game ended up in overtime … During the first quarter of Atlanta’s wild victory in Dallas, we saw something we’ve never seen before. Dirk (24 points) was posting up Josh Smith (26 points, 13 rebounds, six assists), and went into his one-foot fadeaway routine. Smoove not only defended it perfectly, but he got a piece of the ball and the thing bounced off the top of the backboard, nearly going out of bounds. Up until that point, we thought that was impossible. It was just another highlight in a long game of them for Smith, who did everything. He even made four of five triples … In other scores from last night: Ryan Anderson unleashed a 31-point night against Detroit in the Hornets’ 105-86 W; and while Stacey King was busy calling himself the “international man of mystery” because the game was broadcasting in China, the Spurs were waxing his Bulls, 103-89. Kawhi Leonard led everyone with 26. The Spurs had no Duncan, no Tony Parker, no Manu and their starting lineup looked like a random five at the Y… and yet they still won against one of the East’s best teams in their building. Someday, can we ask Gregg Popovich to take care of our health care problem too? … We’re out like Boston’s winning streak.