Wednesday 19 January 2011

THROUGH THE WIRE: MONDAY

Nov 1, 2010; Los Anglees, CA, USA; General view of the Staples Center exterior before the NBA game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Clippers. Photo via Newscom

24. The last time these twin city teams met on the same (Clipper's turn) floor Derek Fisher hit a clutch lay-up to win the game. This time he was almost hit in the face as he tried to break up a scuffle to close out the game. The Lakers where obviously frustrated as this weekend it was the Clip show who owned STAPLES in more ways than one. As their 99-92 victory over the Lakers came to a head, Lamar Odom got into a shoving match with Blake Griffin after battling for a rebound, which also saw Ron Artest and Baron Davis get into it. All four players where ejected as this battle of Los Angeles rivalry intensifies. The hotter this Griffin/Gordon/Davis tandem Clipper team gets, the more heated this same city/same building rivalry gets. The Clippers have won 9 of their last 13 games and may soon rival the New York Knicks in the improvement scales. Kobe had 27 for the Lakers and Bynum a double, 18 and 13. Gasol however was held to an opposite, 13 and 8 as he was also whistled out the game for fouling out. The Clips were all fire though as in a great guarded game, Eric Gordon scored 30 points and Baron Davis had 14 and 8 assists. While Blake Griffin dunked and muscled his way to 18 points and 15 rebounds. Now that's strength from the young underdog.

48. Just when things were going great for Miami's superfriends kryptonite has hit voltron, but don't worry these heroes will rise again. LeBron James, Dywane Wade and Chris Bosh just all sat out of practice Monday for what Wade dubbed, "Heat history". This indeed was the first time all three sat out-bar a few shots. Wade was looking after a sore knee, while Bosh and James joined what seems like everyone else in the league with ankle injuries. All three however aren't looking at serious problems but want to stay fresh for an upcoming road trip that will be a real excursion, not in the sense of their opponents, but their time between games with gaps of around 5 to 6 days. Hope you like hotel rooms guys.

82. Congratulations are in order for Vince Carter who has reached 20,000th points for his career. The recently acquired, Phoenix Sun is only the 37th player in league history to do this (and the eighth active). As Vince climbs the scoring charts he shows he is still a potent force in the L, even though he constantly gets written off my disgruntled fans and critics who think he's all hops and no yeast. Still through all this get Carter hate, this better talent of the league keeps his love for the game going, dunking, scoring and achieving. Good on him. Well done.

O.T. On the 25th anniversary of MLK day, the NBA and the world remembers an extraordinary, genuine iconic, historical figure, Martin Luther King Jnr. Thank you and rest in peace...also to mark this day Willie Mays and NBA Hall of Famers Willis Reed and Lenny Wilkens were honored by the Memphis Grizzlies as they received the 'National Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Award'. An honor that recognises the athletes who have made significant contributions to civil and human rights in the world. Congratulations and appreciations are in order...Joakim Noah hopes to return to the Chicago Bulls soon...while the Houston Rockets veterans will have to carry their own bags for awhile as they have assigned rookie guard, Ishmael Smith to the D-League...now I know you want to know about Carmelo. Well he insists he'll still be a Nugget this week, while his Denver team have granted a meeting between the player and New Jersey. A meeting Net coach, Avery Johnson knows nothing about. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

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