Happy New Year, all.
There was much rejoicing in Los Angeles, where Andrew Bynum made his return. But should there have been?
After sitting out the first four games of the season for his sore-loser bodyblock on J.J. Barea in last year’s playoffs, Bynum had a huge debut with 29 points and 13 rebounds as the Lakers edged the Denver Nuggets, 92-89.
The Lakers had muddled their way to a 2-2 start and were sorely awaiting the return of Bynum. But even with the three-headed monster of Bynum, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol together for the first time this season, the Lakers needed a pair of huge gifts from the Nuggets and a hustle play from Derek Fisher to escape with a win over star-less Denver.
The Nuggets led by five points with 3:40 to go but didn’t score again. In that stretch, Ty Lawson missed a pair of free throws and Danilo Gallinari missed a breakaway layup, both of which would have tied the game.
And Bill Plaschke of the LA Times cautions everyone to not get too excited about Drew’s return. After all, he may not be around for very long. “The Lakers would be wise not to let old acquaintance be forgot. They can cherish the way Bynum dominated the court after his eight-month layoff, but they must remember how his brittle knees have forced him to sit out an average of 31 games in each of the last four seasons. They can enjoy the way he stormed through the Nuggets defense, but they must remember how he stormed off the court after tearing off his shirt and stripping the Lakers of their dignity in last spring’s playoffs in Dallas. Perhaps the best that can be said about Bynum’s performance Saturday is that it was good enough for praise, good enough for hope, but also good enough for the Orlando Magic to sneak a peek in case this whole Dwight Howard thing is still alive.”
Afterward, the Lakers were talking about Fisher’s hustle and a defense that has allowed an average of just 80.7 points during a three-game winning streak. But that’s what you have to talk about when you commit 20 turnovers and shoot 2-of-24 from the arc.
It should also be noted that the Devin Ebanks experiment is over. Matt Barnes started at small forward and had seven points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes. Ebanks had a DNP-CD.
Maybe we should focus on a truly good team – like the Oklahoma City Thunder, who remained a member of the shrinking “And-Oh Club” with an easy 107-97 home win over Phoenix.
How easy? The Thunder improved to 5-0 without a big game from Kevin Durant – or anyone else, for that matter. Durant could have become the first player in 25 years to score 30 points in his first five games. Instead, he had just a bucket in OKC’s 60-point first half and finished with 12 in 26 minutes, both season lows.
After winning their three previous games by a combined nine points, the Thunder toyed with the Suns, who are just plain awful. Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic partially explains why. “The worst part is that the offense’s generator, Steve Nash, has been battling a rib bruise that he suffered in Monday’s opener and it is making him lose his breath and move in pain during games. “I feel good every night and then the first play of the game undoubtedly it gets hit,” said Nash, who has made 7 for 29 shots in the past three games after years of being considered an elite shooter. “It’s not fun.”
Phoenix’s bigger problem is that Nash has no one to pass to. Its leading scorer is Hakim Warrick. Robin Lopez has the roster’s only 20-point game and has 15 points in three games since. And the Suns – once the model for offense in this league – have yet to score 100 points.
No longer members of the “And-Oh Club” are the Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers, both of whom lost on the road.
The Hawks were playing their fourth game in five nights and actually were the better-rested team because they were facing the Houston Rockets, who were playing their third game in three nights but got 18 assists from Kyle Lowry in a 95-84 win.
The Pacers ran out of ways to mask their awful shooting in a 96-88 loss to Detroit. They shot under 40 percent for the fourth straight game but had won the first three. Last season, Indiana was 0-19 when it shot below 40 percent.
Pistons coach Lawrence Frank ended a personal 20-game losing streak dating to April 13, 2009. You likely don’t remember Frank’s last win because it fell on Cambodian New Year.
With “The D” picking up a W, only Minnesota and Washington are still looking for their first wins. For you sadists out there, they play a week from today.
The unbeatens are down to three – Oklahoma City, Miami (4-0) and Portland (3-0). The Blazers visit the Thunder on Tuesday.
Elsewhere …
- The Spurs outclassed the Jazz as Manu Ginobili’s five 3-pointers gave Gregg Popovich his 800th career win. Mike Monroe of the Express News had a nice anecdote in his story: “Most Spurs fans know that when Popovich took over as the team’s coach in 1996, he put a quote from 19th century social reformer and journalist Jacob Riis on the wall in his team’s locker room, something for players to consider as they approached their athletic professions. The quote reads: “When nothing else seems to help I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet, at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” Now, other teams are using Riis’ saying, as well.”
- The Knicks stabilized themselves with a demolition of the Kings. With Amar’e Stoudemire sidelined, rookie Josh Harrellson started and notched 14 points – with four 3-pointers – and 12 boards.
- The Sixers used another third-quarter ambush to destroy the Warriors. Let the record show that the last basket of 2011 was a 3-pointer by Philadelphia’s Craig Brackins, the first of his career.