The Good: Shane Battier exploded for 26 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 8-0f-9 from beyond the 3-point line to lead the Rockets past the Raptors on Thursday night. Houston shot 56% from both the field and 3-point range and tallied 30 assists on their 47 made field goals. Andrea Bargnani led Toronto with 16 points on 6-of-11 from the field. The Raptors also shot 50% from the field and got a respectable 27 assists on 45 made field goals, but lost the game at the 3-point line, shooting only 2-of-13 as a team.
The Bad: Chris Bosh shot only 4-of-12 for Toronto and rookie Chase Buddinger was only 2-of-10 in his 26 minutes.
Dallas 113, Detroit 88
The Good: Dallas' bench was the key to this win, as four reserves scored in double-figures, including a team-high 21 points by 6th man Jason Terry. Terry made his mark on the outside, contributing four 3-pointers and shooting 8-of-10 from the field, as Kris Humphries (14 points and 9 rebounds) and Drew Gooden (16 points and 7 rebounds) did the damage inside. Rodney Stuckey led the way for Detroit with 20 points.
The Bad: Will Bynum had been a huge surprise in Detroit's first few preseason games, but he was disappointing against Dallas, logging only 13 minutes and shooting 1-for-5 on his way to 4 points.
The Ugly: Where has Detroit's championship-caliber defense gone? They allowed Dallas to shoot 55.8% from the field and 54.5% from the 3-point line.
Miami 97, New Orleans 81
The Good: The return of Dwyane Wade meant the first win of the preseason for the Heat, who completely shut down the Hornets. Wade had 14 points and 6 assists on a poor shooting night, but the Heat also got 15 points from Daequan Cook and 11 points and 11 rebounds from Michael Beasley. Bobby Brown came off the bench to score 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting to lead the way for New Orleans.
The Bad: New Orleans shot only 36.7% as a team, including 2-of-10 from David West and 3-of-9 from Chris Paul. Paul also added only 4 assists, as the team only made 29 field goals.
The Ugly: Peja Stojakovic went scoreless and contributed nothing but 2 rebounds and 7 missed field goals in his 22 minutes.
Utah 99, Portland 96
The Good: The Jazz shot 52.2% from the field and 5-of-10 from 3-point range in holding on to beat the Blazers. Utah had six players reach double-digits, including Deron Williams, who posted 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists in just 25 minutes. Portland was led by 19 points off the bench by Steve Blake.
The Bad: Portland cut a 11-point fourth quarter deficit to just three behind a strong showing by their reserves, but it just wasn't enough. The Blazers' starters looked lost without Brandon Roy, who got the night off. LaMarcus Aldridge played only 6 minutes, but missed all four of his shot, Greg Oden gathered in 9 rebounds, but shot only 3-of-10 on his way to 7 points, and Martell Webster scored 6 points on just 2-of-9 from the floor. Travis Outlaw also posted a 2-for-11 shooting effort off the bench.
The Ugly: Portland had more offensive rebounds (25) than defensive rebounds (22) against Utah. And, while the Blazers will likely be the best offensive rebounding team in the NBA this season, if they can only manage 39.8% shooting as a team, it won't matter.
LA Lakers 98, Sacramento 92
The Good: Andrew Bynum led L.A. with 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting and a respectable 10-of-12 from the free throw line, and added 8 rebounds to post his third strong performance in as many games for the defending champs. Kobe Bryant also added 18 points for the Lakers, who only had three players reach double-digits. Sacramento's young front court of Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes combined for 37 points and 23 rebounds, and Tryeke Evans just missed out on a triple-double, posting 13 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals.
The Bad: Rookie Omri Casspi may have been the difference in the game, as he posted a +/- rating of -20 in only 16 minutes for Sacramento.
The Ugly: Sacramento remained winless on the preseason largely due to their difficulties at the free throw line. As a team, the Kings shot just 14-for-24, for 58.3%.
The Bad: Rookie Omri Casspi may have been the difference in the game, as he posted a +/- rating of -20 in only 16 minutes for Sacramento.
The Ugly: Sacramento remained winless on the preseason largely due to their difficulties at the free throw line. As a team, the Kings shot just 14-for-24, for 58.3%.
No comments:
Post a Comment