Gameday Dish: Miami Heat vs. Denver Nuggets

January 13 by Leave a Comment

The Denver Nuggets have been playing with a lot hanging over their heads lately, namely Melo’s potential move via trade to one of the NY Metro area teams. Denver-born-and-bred, 14th-year vet PG Chauncey Billups is rumored to be getting shipped out as well in the Anthony deal against his wishes. And it remains to be seen whether former #1 overall pick Kenyon Martin, the team’s second highest paid player, will be able to contribute meaningfully night in and out with his problematic knees.

The Nuggets had a big win on Tuesday night over their Western Conference foe, the Phoenix Suns. Fourth-year off-guard Aaron Afflalo scored a career-high 31 points in the 34 point blowout at the Pepsi Center. The victory put an end to the Nuggets’ recent three-game losing streak. Over their last 12 contests, Denver is only playing .500 ball.

As for the other side of tonight’s matchup, the Miami Heat are coming off a 111-105 road loss to the Los Angeles
Clippers last night at Staples. This defeat at the hands of R.O.Y. frontrunner Blake Griffin and company ended Miami’s 13-game road winning streak as well as their 9-game win streak overall. Miami is now 18-3 when scoring more than 100 points in a game.

The Heat’s Big 3 may be temporarily downsized to a duo after LeBron James sprained his left ankle in the losing effort in LA. King James is listed as day-to-day and is questionable for tonight’s tip-off.

Coach George Karl and crew have had their struggles this first half of the 2011 season, but have defended their home court with ferocity, going 16-4 in the Mile High City (an exact 5,280 feet above sea level).

Carmelo Anthony has never lost to the Heat in Denver (6-0), and it’s been 9 years since any version of the Nuggets have allowed Miami to leave Colorado with a W. Denver is second in the NBA in scoring at 106.3 ppg, while Miami is only giving up an average of 92.7 ppg, good for third best in the league.

Will LeBron play tonight? Will this be one of Carmelo’s last games as a member of the Nuggets? Tune in to TNT at 10:30 PM ET to see the Heat make their only visit to the Rocky Mountain State.

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Gameday Dish: Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls

January 8 by Leave a Comment

No Kevin Garnett. No Joakim Noah. No name calling. Just two of the Eastern Conference’s top teams, two of the NBA’s premier point guards, a healthy Carlos Boozer and a red hot rookie from Notre Dame. Boston’s 12th man Luke Harangody just came off the best game of his paid basketball career, finishing with a career high 17 points and 11 rebounds in Boston’s 122-102 win over Toronto last night.

Tonight at the United Center the Chicago Bulls will attempt to stop the Boston Celtics for the first time this season. The Celts have bested the boys in red and black twice already this 2010-11 campaign, both times in Beantown. In the Windy City, the Bulls are an impressive 15-3 and tough to beat, just like a local favorite – the Italian Beef sandwich.

However, the upstart Bulls are coming off two consecutive road losses to New Jersey and Philly. They haven’t dropped three straight yet this season, but are only 5-9 against teams above .500. And the C’s posses the NBA’s second best record, an impressive 21 games above the .500 mark. If Chicago hopes to do better than the end of season 41-41 records they’ve compiled the past two years, they’ll have to start taking down the elite teams now and then.

Coach Doc Rivers and the Green enter tonight’s contest on a four-game winning streak, continued last night at home with a blow out of the Toronto Raptors, 122-102.  In fact, other than the Bulls, the top six teams in the Eastern Conference are all on current win streaks of at least 3 games, with the Sunshine State cousins Miami and Orlando both riding 8 gamers.

So a Bulls’ victory tonight would help first-year head coach Tom Thibodeau’s guys keep pace in the suddenly take-no-prisoners East and give him his first W against the team he worked for as an associate head coach and defensive mastermind for the previous three seasons.

Boston leads the NBA in assists and points allowed, a potent, both-ends-of-the-floor combo.  However, Chicago will look to utilize their team rebounding powers (third in the NBA) against a Kendrick Perkins and KG-less Celtic (27th in rebounding) frontline. Boston Celtics @ Chicago Bulls will be televised on NBA TV at 8:00 PM ET.

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Gameday Dish: New Year’s Eve in Chi-Town

December 31 by Leave a Comment

Ian and I will spend the last day of 2010 in the Windy City where the Nets and Bulls will battle to usher in the new year with a win. Led by Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer, Chicago’s very young nucleus of players leads the Central Division by seven games, and they have the third best record in the East. New Bull Boozer is clicking with elite guard Rose and helping to make Chicago one of the hottest teams in the league.

Trailed only by Washington and Cleveland in the Eastern Conference, the Nets continue to fight their way out of the cellar as they dedicate this season to laying the groundwork for the future when more depth and talent will be added to their roster. Avery Johnson has done an excellent job of staying positive and focused on his team’s long-term goals while they rebuild. Tune in to YES for live coverage of the New Jersey Nets vs. Chicago Bulls at 3:00 PM ET.

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Gameday Dish: Spurs at Mavericks

December 30 by Leave a Comment

The San Antonio Spurs own the best record in the NBA at 27-4 and are in the midst of the best start in franchise history. The Dallas Mavericks are tied with the Boston Celtics for the league’s second best record at 24-6. The Spurs lead the Mavs in the Western Conference’s Southwest Division by 2.5 games.

A little more than a month ago, Dallas went into San Antonio and beat the Spurs 103-94, ending San Antonio’s 12-game winning streak. So tonight, Coach Greg Poppovich, in his 16th year as headman for the Spurs, and his squad come north to Big D looking for a little payback. The Spurs beat the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night at home 97-82 despite a low-scoring performance from Tim Duncan.

On Tuesday, the Mavericks lost for only the second time in 19 games, dropping a home contest 84-76 to Toronto. Dallas shot only 41.3 percent as 9x NBA All-Star Dirk Nowitzki sat with a sprained knee suffered in Monday’s win against Oklahoma City. For whatever reason, 5 of the Mavs’ 6 losses have come
on their home court this season.

These two teams appear to have reversed identities. Dallas, who used to rely on outscoring their opponents, have shored up their defense over the past two seasons, and last year they were the best defensively that they’ve ever been. As they continue their commitment to improving on the defensive end, they now take a little more time with ball possessions and are more selective on offense.

Meanwhile, the once slow-scoring Spurs are now third in the NBA in assists per game and fourth in the league in scoring. They always ran their offense through Tim Duncan and are now taking a different approach of getting the ball down the court more quickly and shooting more quickly than in the past. By the nature of their game they are not quite the defensive presence they used to be.

Dallas has gotten the better of the Spurs in their last four matchups, but with the big German likely sporting street clothes again tonight they’ll have their work cut out for them against a San Antonio team that is balanced and good at passing the rock. The Mavs’ 76 points against the Raptors on Tuesday were a season-low, and 7 fewer than the 83 they managed in a loss on 11/19 to the Chicago Bulls. All of this means that with Dirk out of the line-up, the rest of Dallas’ roster needs to step up their game and try to fill in for the 2007 NBA MVP’s day-to-day absence.

Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller and I will be on deck at tonight’s big showdown between the Western Conference leaders. Tune into TNT’s coverage of the Lone Star State’s hardwood hoopla tonight at 9:30 PM ET.

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Gameday Dish: From the City of Blues to the Birthplace of Jazz

December 22 by Leave a Comment

The New Jersey Nets come to the Big Easy after back-to-back wins and will try to make it three in a row for the first time in almost two years. The Hornets return home after a loss at Detroit on Sunday in OT and a heartbreaking defeat at the buzzer in Indiana. Both squads are 3-7 over their last ten contests, but the Newark boys seem to be on the upswing while the Hornets have lost some of their buzz after starting the season 11-1.

The Nets ended a 10-game road losing streak to the Memphis Grizzlies last night by a score of 101-94. Center Brook Lopez led the team with a strong 26-point effort. Newcomer Sasha Vujacic came off the bench for 16 points, and seventh-year forward Kris Humphries pulled down 15 boards, including 4 on the offensive end. Coach Avery Johnson’s guys will have their work cut out for them trying to put points on the board against this stingy New Orleans team. The Hornets currently rank third in the NBA in points allowed at 92, while New Jersey is at the bottom of the league in scoring – 28th overall with 93 ppg.

We’ll get to see two of the NBA’s top point guards Chris Paul and Devin Harris go at it tonight. Former First Team All-NBA player (2008) and 3x All-Star Chris Paul leads the NBA in steals and is fourth in dimes per game. And All-Star Devin Harris has recently hit his stride, averaging 19.5 ppg and 7 apg over New Jersey’s last four games. Lopez will have his hands full with Hornets’ Emeka Okafor, a seventh-year center from UConn who had arguably his best game of this season in the loss to Indiana with a season high 15 rebounds. He also scored 19 points, had 3 blocks and 2 steals.

This should be a special night for New Orleans native Avery Johnson, who has remained connected to his hometown and will no doubt be greeted by many family and friends at the Arena. When New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton was hired back in ’06, he enlisted the local inspiration (who was coaching the Mavericks at that time) to serve as a motivational speaker for the team in its first training camp. Avery continued to be an ardent supporter and made subsequent pregame appearances including the Saints’ first home game in the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 Super Bowl. The Saints went on to become Super Bowl XLIV champs and Payton rewarded Johnson for his role in the team’s success with his very own Super Bowl ring.

Avery Johnson is hoping for a similar rise-to-success story for his Nets. Last night’s victory in Memphis, the home of the Blues, coupled with a win tonight against the Hornets in Crescent City, the birthplace of Jazz, would be sweet, sweet music to Nets Nation. Ian Eagle and I have the call at 8:00 PM ET on YES.

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