Do you think this whole Obama thing has a lot of NBA players psyched? Looking at stat sheets from around the league last night, I'd say so. Carmelo Anthony said he'd score 44 for Barack Obama (who will be the 44th president of our country), and while he didn't crack 30 in a loss to Golden State, I think it's safe to say that his excitement was a sentiment shared by many throughout the league.
Let's put it this way, Dwyane Wade missed a rare five-by-five by two blocks (FYI: a five-by-five is when a player tallies at least five points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks) and LeBron James posted 41/9/6 on a bum ankle that he rolled in the first half, and neither one of these guys even came close to posting the SECOND BEST individual performance of the evening. That's right, 41 by LeBron or a box score busting all around game from Wade didn't even crack the top two.
Although he didn't vote on Tuesday, Mr. Eva Longoria Tony Parker absolutely went off in a double overtime thriller in Minnesota, posting a downright gaudy line of 55 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds whille hitting a buzzer beating jumper to force double overtime and hitting an acrobatic lay up in the final period to seal the victory. The line pretty much speaks for itself, however it's worth mentioning that the Spurs point guard became the first player to post 55 and 10 since some nobody named Michael Jordan did it in 1997, and he became only the second player ever to post at least 55/10/5 since the legendary Oscar Robertson put up 56/12/9 in 1964. Impressive, no? But here's the scariest part: Parker's line didn't even make him leader of the pack last night.
Topping all other masters of the roundball last night was the winner of the genetic lottery, Amare Stoudemire. In a regulation game, Stoudemire scored 49 points on a mind blowing 17-21 from the floor (plus 15-15 from the stripe), grabbed 11 rebounds, dropped 6 assists, had 5 thefts, and swatted 2 shots in a colossal 44 minute effort against the Pacers last night. As John Hollinger so finely explained last night on ESPN, Stoudemire's performance was tops last night (despite having a "worse" raw game score than Parker) because of his deadly efficiency and the fact that he did so much in less time than Parker had to post his impressive stat line. To give a little bit more perspective, Hollinger rated Stoudemire's game as the 15th best individual performance in the last seven years, using a ridiculously complicated metric that adjusts for pace, efficiency and a lot of other factors to determine the "true" value of an individual performance.
Where were the Celtics in all of this stat stuffing mayhem? They were simply carrying out business as usual, relying on their trademark balance to earn another convincing victory against Kevin Durant's Powder Blues (I'm not going to dignify Clay Bennett by giving his "new" team any recognition). Building on an impressive win in Houston, the Celtics overcame a 29 point first quarter surge by Oklahoma City and cruised to victory on a stout defensive effort by all. The C's did a great job of taking care of the ball (only 12 turnovers) and pressured OKC all night. I can say right now with confidence that Boston misses the hell out of James Posey, but their games thus far have contained many positive signs that have me looking at the glass as half full for the time being.
Hopefully I'll have more in the coming days for you, my dedicated readers, but my laptop is currently out of commission so it may be difficult for me to keep posting on a regular basis. The gears are turning on Antonio McDyess, and I should have something on him done by the weekend.
