Thursday night was not a night loaded with a bunch of powerhouse match ups but surprisingly enough, there was tons of exciting basketball to spectate. With college football over for this season and the NFL playoffs on break during the weekdays, basketball has full control of sports broadcasting from ABC to ESPN. If you're a huge fan of basketball, this has to be one your favorite months of the year. With that said, I'd like to start off with the NBA games that displayed plenty of highlights for the night.
Portland tipped off the night against New Jersey in the IZOD center as the first quarter showed more than enough scoring. Vince Carter, who played despite a sprained ankle, had a more than impressive night racking up 13 points 9 rebounds and 5 assists in a losing effort. This game was neck and neck as neither team really took a commanding lead until it was in the fourth quarter that Brandon Roy and rookie Jerryd Bayless led the way for the Blazers in a 105-99 victory. Bayless didn't lead the scoring on this night but was a standout performer, putting up a career high 23 points off the bench. Bayless has struggled plenty of times throughout his first season in the league but is most definitely going to be a big time contributor for the Blazers in the coming future.
Game 2 of the night was a blow out waiting to happen as Cleveland visited Chicago. The Cavaliers came in with the best record in the East and had plans on walking out of the United Center with another victory to add in their overflowing win column, but the hometown squad had other plans. LeBron James quickly showed his dominance on the court as his team took the lead in the first quarter but the Bulls made sure that LeBron wouldn't have it entirely his way. As the first half came to a close, the Bulls trotted to the locker rooms as even their own fans were amazed to see that their team was only down by 2. As the second half begin, the crowd showed plenty of support while still being confused by how close the game was. When the 3rd quarter came to a close and the score was all knotted up, the Chicago fans erupted out of their seats as they cheered on their young stars. The fourth quarter was a trench fight as both defenses showed their toughness. With just 17 seconds left in regulation, Derrick Rose came in the clutch by dropping two free throws to tie the game. A last second stand allowed an extra quarter to be played as the clock expired. The Cavaliers' offense looked lost as LeBron scored all six of the visiting teams overtime points, and the Bulls took full advantage of this opportunity as Luol Deng hit back to back threes to seal the deal with a final score of 102-93. Everyone contributed on this night for the Bulls but my performer of the night is Luol Deng as he came out with a purpose, racking up the stats with 22 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals. LeBron had another MVP performance with 28 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists but it just wasn't enough. Come on, everyone should know that one guy can't single handedly carry a team to victory EVERY night. Right?...
The third game is a match up of two talented Western Conference teams and this game is currently at half time so I'm not going to say anything about this one. But the score is close and both the Nuggets and the Suns are looking to score plenty of baskets in the second half so if you're looking for some fast tempo basketball tonight, I suggest you turn your television to TNT right now.
In the world of College basketball, this nights line up of games looked like it was going to be full of blowouts and early deciding conclusions. At least I thought so. I was wrong (I tend to be wrong a lot lately).
#19 Purdue can tell you all about how they almost lost to a Northwestern team that looked like they weren't even going to be a threat, but on this night, the boys in purple came out firing and playing smash mouth defense by holding the Boilermakers to only 21 points in the first half. Northwestern led by 13 at half time. I don't know if Purdue's coach said something in the locker room or the players decided to actually come out and play, but the second half was a completely different story as the Boilermakers patiently cut the lead down until they finally had their first lead of the night with a little over a minute left to go in the game.
#17 Minnesota, a surprise team in the top 25, almost lost control as they trailed early to a sleeper team in Wisconsin. The Gophers trailed by 11 at half time but had just enough fire power to even up the score to take the game into overtime. Minnesota showed good composure and used their second half momentum to lead them to victory in extra time.
#16 Xavier, the usual top ranked team out of the Atlantic 10 conference, played down to their opponents' level as it took a full 40 minutes for the Musketeers to pull off a win on the road against a weak Rhode Island squad.
Arizona at #7 UCLA was one game that I told everyone to keep an eye out for but nothing happened like I expected it to. I said this game could possibly be a close one and Budinger would drop 30 regardless of the score. With 12 minutes to go in the game, the score seems to be a blow out in the Bruins' favor and Chase has only a mere 13 points on the night. Unless the Wildcats can somehow turn it around, the night looks to be over as I was completely wrong. Shows how little I know. Shame on me.
That's all my opinion has to voice for tonight, so to all you faithful readers, until next time.
-Jason Chong
No comments:
Post a Comment