NBA Recaps: Celtics/Suns, Blazers/Lakers, Grizz/Warriors

- The Season's Over -

NBA Recaps: Celtics/Suns, Blazers/Lakers, Grizz/Warriors

February 22, 2007

Celtics 99, Suns 99

A matchup of epic proportions, the regular season as we know it was on the line tonight in this hotly contested clash of titans. MVP candidate Steve Nash played his second game after returning from a ‘frozen’ shoulder, making a Suns victory about as sure a thing as there is in the NBA. The Phoenix Suns are simply the most difficult team to beat in the regular season, and the Boston Celtics are incredibly focused, with their eyes on the prize: Greg Oden. Nevertheless, it made for some good basketball and it was much tighter than it should have been most of the way. I loved seeing how the Celts young guys respond to this up-tempo style of play, and it’s always a treat to watch the Phoenix offense dismantle a less experienced team’s D.

Al Jefferson

Phoenix toyed with Boston early, down by 10 in the first quarter, but quickly made up the difference and went into the half up by 11. The Celts pulled back within four again in the middle of the fourth quarter, but simply didn’t have the ammo. I thought the quickness of the Suns would neutralize Al Jefferson’s low-post game, but he was consistently able to overpower the lithe Phoenix squad. Jefferson was especially impressive in the second half, totaling 23 points and 17 boards in the game. The way Baby Al was consistently able to dominate Marion, Kurt Thomas (who returned for the game) and Stoudemire on the low block was very telling. This game should not have been as close as it was. Until Phoenix learns to play half-court defense, they aren’t going anywhere in the playoffs. They also have to figure out a way to prevent penetration, as Nash is a revolving door on the perimeter.

From a fantasy perspective, the absence of Boris Diaw and Wally Szczerbiak was notable. Though perhaps not as notable as you might think, as neither player is providing much of anything to fantasy owners this season. Personally, if you have Wally World on your roster I strongly suggest dumping him, and depending on your needs, Diaw could be waiver fodder as well. He’s just not giving you that much in any category this season, and the TOs and FT% are definitely hurting you.

Gerald Green is another guy to keep an eye on. He can hit the outside jumper (41.6% 3-point shooting on the season) and he can obviously take the ball to the basket. Amare added to his monster season with 32 points, 12 boards and 4 assists (20 points and 9 boards in the first half), going 11-17 from the floor. Shawn Marion had 17 points, 11 boards and 4 blocks and Steve Nash added 13 assists, but 7 TOs. Ryan Gomes was impressive on the offensive end most of the game, and ended with 21 points with 7 bounds (7-15 FGs, 7-8 FTs) for the Celts. The Suns had 28 assists in the game to Boston’s 16, and ball movement down the stretch was ultimately the difference.

Fantasy Player of the Game: Al Jefferson – 23 points, 17 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 8-16 Fgs, 7-7 FTs. An impressive performance from the young man that kept his team in the game.

Fantasy Dud of the Game: Rajon Rondo – 0 points, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0-2 FGs. He has started cropping up on fantasy rosters over the last three weeks, and the matchup looked to suit his quickness, but he fell flat.

Trail Blazers 99, Lakers 99

Kobe Bryant was coming off of his second All-Star MVP award, but most importantly the Laker’s were coming off of their season’s worst losing streak, a five-game malaise. It became six games tonight. The Lakers had lost Vladimir Radmanovic in the final game before the break to a seperated shoulder (Out two months), and were also without center Kwame Brown and Most Improved Player candidate Luke ‘Curly Sue’ Walton. The loss of both wing players and spot-up shooters puts extra pressure on Kobe Bryant, as Brian Cook was the only real shooter left who can take advantage of Kobe’s double teams, but he was just 3-13 from the floor. It was also an exciting matchup between the most established swing man in the NBA and the promising rookie Brandon Roy.

Portland played the Lakers tough, and trailed only 52-54 at the half as Jarret Jack made 5-6 FGs before the break. A triple-double seemed to be in the offing for Mr. Bryant as he looked intent on getting teammates involved and not forcing his own scoring, totaling 7 rebounds, 5 assists and just 4 points before halftime. Unfortunately he didn’t fare much better in the second half, and finished with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. The lack of production can also be attributed to his increased effort on the defensive end versus Brandon Roy (16 points, 7 assists, 3 steals), as we saw earlier this year when Kobe shut Allen Iverson down.

Unfortunately the rest of the Trailblazers kept coming, led by Zach Randolph’s 22 points and 9 rebounds and Jack’s 30 points and 7 assists. This Jarrett Jack kid can play, contributing in assists and steals regularly with good percentages, and his scoring is coming along.

Fantasy Player of the Game: Jarrett Jack – 30 points, 7 assists, 2 3-pointers, 9-12 FGs and 10-11 from the stripe. Jack led the Blazers to victory, plain and simple. He couldn’t be stopped tonight.

Fantasy Dud of the Game: Lamar Odom – 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists in a game he should have played much better in. The defensively challenged Portland team should not have had an answer for Odom, but his numbers were disappointing for the 40 minutes he played.

Warriors 118, Grizzlies 115

Chester cheetah The Warriors were without several key players, including top playmaker Baron Davis, but last season’s leading scorer Jason Richardson made his return to the lineup after missing 22 games with a broken hand (and 30 on the season) and played reasonably well (10 rebounds, 19 points, 5 assists). Davis’ absence allowed spark plug Monta Ellis, an ETB favorite, to make his 36th start of the season, and he took advantage. He was just average for most of the game, but scored 9 points in OT (22 ppoints, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals on 8-16 FG and 6-7 FT shooting overall), and it was just enough. Golden State, a team who hasn’t made the postseason since the 1993-94 season, came into the game tied with the Clippers at .5 games back of Minnesota for the eighth and final playoff spot and now stands tied with the Hornets for that final spot.

A Don Nelson team is always going to have multiple fantasy options, but the Warriors have been silly this year. To name a few of the notables tonight, Andris Biedrins (21 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 10-15 from the floor), Stephen Jackson (26 points, 15 in the first half and 12 assists), and Al Harrington (22 points, 2 3-pointers, 9-16 shooting). The Grizzlies were paced by Mike Miller, who had 24 points before halftime and 45 for the game. He knocked down jumpers from all over in an incredibly impressive display of range. Pau Gasol also continued his push to be traded, with 22 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists. The surprising difference in the game was some timely defense by the Warriors who had 7 blocks and 15 steals to the Grizzlies’ 1 block and 5 steals.

The fun thing with a game like this is, with teams who play transition defense as poorly as these two do, there are always a ton of possessions in every game and a ton of chances for fantasy production. It was a treat to watch, with production coming from everywhere.

Fantasy Player of the Game: Mike Miller – 45 points, 9 3-pointers, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 16-27 FGs. Maybe Mr. Miller’s best game of the season, the kind of performance that can win you several categories in a close matchup this week.

Fantasy Dud of the Game: Mickael Pietrus – It was hard to find somebody who we expected to put up numbers that didn’t produce, so we’ll settle for this role player. He started, but recorded only 5 points and 4 rebounds in 25 minutes.

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