The NBA typically has exclusivity late February and the week before March Madness begins to itself on the entertainment front, but one man and his 'winning' has hijacked it. On Tuesday, the Raptors, Pacers, Magic, Mavericks, Bucks, Grizzlies, Rockets and Lakers were on Charlie Sheen's team.
• Indiana Pacers 109, Golden State Warriors 100
Team FIC Differential: Pacers +11.2
Basketball is fundamentally a game of runs and this one had several. The Pacers had one in the first quarter, Golden State responded with a 21-1 stretch in the second and then Indiana had another big one within them in the third quarter. The two teams played the fourth quarter evenly and the team that plays better inside (52 to 30 on points in the paint), draws fouls (36 to 18 on free throw attempts) and converts those attempts at an impeccable rate (88.9%) is ultimately going to win the game 99 times out of 100.
Danny Granger forced the action offensively by aggressively getting into the paint and drawing fouls, which allowed him to score 27 points on just 11 shots.
Golden State received nothing at all from Andris Biedrins, which is to be expected at this point, while Monta Ellis and Dorell Wright had horrible offensive nights. Reggie Williams gave the Warriors bench scoring, but was torched defensively beyond recognition.
Game FIC Scores
Danny Granger, Pacers – 16.3
Josh McRoberts, Pacers – 14.0 (23.3 FIC40)
Reggie Williams, Warriors – 18.8 (30.0 FIC40)
David Lee, Warriors – 14.6
• Orlando Magic 116, New York Knicks 110
Team FIC Differential: Magic +13.6
A lot of fouling and a lot of Jameer Nelson in Orlando’s come-from-behind win over the Knicks. The Magic and Knicks combined to attempt 97 foul shots, which is more than two per minute for those scoring at home.
New York gave up 118 points per 100 possessions, which is impressive in its inadequacy considering they had one quarter in which the Magic scored just 15 points. But Orlando had a 69-52 second half advantage where Nelson penetrated and converted at will, and Ryan Anderson hit big three-pointer after big three-pointer.
As is always the case with the Magic, Dwight Howard set all of it up with his play against an undersized New York frontline. It was no coincidence that the Knicks turned the game in the second quarter when Howard came out of the game and that the Magic won it down the stretch with the Nelson/Howard pick-and-roll.
On the offensive end, Orlando did a great job in forcing Carmelo Anthony into a barrage of difficult jumpers. His 2-for-16 outing on jumpers was a microcosm of New York’s shooting woes (37.2% from the field). The Knicks were kept afloat offensively by the 36-for-42 from the line by Anthony, Chauncey Billups and Amar’e Stoudemire, but you’re not going to win many games when the field goal percentage differential is at 15.
Game FIC Scores
Dwight Howard, Magic – 24.9
Jameer Nelson, Magic – 12.5
Chauncey Billups, Knicks – 24.5
Landry Fields, Knicks – 10.6
• Dallas Mavericks 101, Philadelphia 76ers 93
Team FIC Differential: Mavericks +20.8
Jason Terry still has a few frightening scoring binges left in him, and he scored 30 on 18 shots to give the Mavericks a road win against a streaking team. Terry has routinely given Dallas these types of efforts of late and is what a veteran team needs on the road during this period of the season. Terry was unconscious with his jumper from the left side and Jodie Meeks was obvious incapable of stopping him.
Philadelphia has been playing excellent basketball over the past few weeks (best FIC differential over the past 10 games), but quality opponents haven’t been on the menu. The Dallas defense deserves some of the credit to hold the Sixers to just 16 fourth quarter points without Tyson Chandler, but this was a case where they were killed by their inability to hit jumpers against a zone conceding them.
Game FIC Scores
Jason Terry, Mavericks – 18.9 (25.2 FIC40)
Jason Kidd, Mavericks – 27.5
Andre Iguodala, 76ers – 13.8
Elton Brand, 76ers – 5.3
• Memphis Grizzlies 109, San Antonio Spurs 93
Team FIC Differential: Grizzlies +36.9
I have always been a big fan of back-to-backs since it can be a mini-playoff series if the right teams are involved and I regret I wasn’t born soon enough to experience them on a regular basis when there were so few teams in the NBA and charter flights were something that would happen in whatever time period the Jetsons lived.
The Spurs took the first one and Memphis dominated the middle quarters in the rematch.
Sometimes you can look at a box score and it tells you everything you need to know, as the Grizzlies were +9 on turnovers, +16 on fastbreak points and +28 on points in the paint.
This would be a fun first round series.
Game FIC Scores
Mike Conley, Grizzlies – 22.3
Zach Randolph, Grizzlies – 19.3
Manu Ginobili, Spurs – 8.9
Tiago Splitter, Spurs – 8.4 (23.9 FIC40)
• Toronto Raptors 96, New Orleans Hornets 90
Team FIC Differential: Raptors +33.0
Jay Triano pumped up Jose Calderon with his scoring encouragement, though I doubt he really needed it considering his Chris Paul history. He played his best game of the season, scoring 22 to go with 16 assists and seven boards. James Johnson put up another incredibly promising effort and Amir Johnson had seven blocks.
Chris Paul had another disheartening performance and we’ll get a glimpse if this is hurt or heart with how he performs against the Knicks on Wednesday amongst the 2012 questions he will be bombarded with. My money is on hurt and I hope it isn’t serious.
With two home wins against playoff teams, the Johnson trade, plus Deron Williams now with the Nets, those London games are a lot more interesting than they looked a few weeks ago.
Game FIC Scores
James Johnson, Raptors – 14.3 (27.1 FIC40)
Jose Calderon, Raptors – 31.6
Chris Paul, Hornets – 4.6
Jarrett Jack, Hornets – 11.5 (17.7 FIC40)
• Milwaukee Bucks 92, Detroit Pistons 90
Team FIC Differential: Bucks +10.4
The Bucks gave a solid defensive effort without Andrew Bynum and got a boost from Earl Barron in his absence. I was able to see Brandon Jennings’ block live against Will Bynum on the corner three-pointer in the final seconds on LP as it happened and couldn’t believe he reached him. The block culminated a 21 point night on 19 shots for Jennings, which was a good bounce back from his fourth quarter benching and subsequent comments following the Chicago loss.
Detroit scored 58% of their points in the paint, but this is was one of those games where the team hitting from distance simply wins.
Game FIC Scores
Brandon Jennings, Bucks – 12.5
Carlos Delfino, Bucks – 21.5
Rodney Stuckey, Pistons – 17.0
Greg Monroe, Pistons – 10.6
• Los Angeles Lakers 90, Minnesota Timberwolves 79
Team FIC Differential: Lakers +6.4
After being outscored by a vastly inferior team in the first half, the Lakers limited Minnesota to just 34 second half points while scoring 50 of their own. The Lakers have the best frontline in the NBA and Minnesota has Kevin Love flanked by Michael Beasley and Darko Milicic. The Lakers scored 28 second chance points, which Minnesota cannot withstand, especially when they shoot less than 40% from the field.
The Lakers were not themselves offensively and this would have been a L against most other teams in the league.
Game FIC Scores
Pau Gasol, Lakers – 14.4
Lamar Odom, Lakers – 12.0
Kevin Love, Wolves – 13.0
Wesley Johnson, Wolves – 12.8
• Houston Rockets 103, Portland Trailblazers 87
Team FIC Differential: Rockets +29.9
Kyle Lowry scored 21 on 17 attempts, plus 11 assists to lead the Rockets to a no-doubt-win over a team ahead of them in the playoff standings. The Rockets doubled up Portland in terms of points in the paint (52-26) and were very clearly the better team in every regard.
Houston has now won five games in a row, sitting comfortably at .500 with full momentum.
LaMarcus Aldridge couldn’t get going at all, which has been a rarity for weeks, but that’s what Chuck Hayes does.
Game FIC Scores
Kyle Lowry, Rockets – 20.4
Luis Scola, Rockets – 17.5
LaMarcus Aldridge, Blazers – 7.5
Gerald Wallace, Blazers – 12.3
• RealGM calculates the Floor Impact Counter using the following formula: (Points + .75 Defensive Rebounds + Offensive Rebounds + Steals + Assists + Blocks - .75 Field Goal Attempts - .375 Free Throw Attempts - Turnovers - .5 Personal Fouls)