NBA Preseason-October 17th

LA Clippers 103, Utah 96

The Good: Blake Griffin, Chris Kaman, and Eric Gordon scored 16 points apiece for the Clippers in their come-for-behind victory over the Jazz. Baron Davis added 10 points and 9 assists, and Craig Smith chipped in with 12 points and 4 rebounds before each fouled out. As a team, the Clippers recorded 29 assists on their 36 made field goals. Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 8 rebounds, and Deron Williams posted 19 points and 6 assists for Utah.
The Bad: Ronald Dupree had 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals in 18 minutes for Utah, but posted a +/- rating of -21 over that span, 15 points worse than any other Jazz player. Utah led by three points to open the fourth quarter, but were outscored 30-20 over the final 12 minutes to lose by seven.

New Orleans 108, Indiana 96

The Good: The Hornets outscored the Pacers by 14 points in the fourth quarter to turn a two point deficit into a twelve point win. New Orleans was led by Chris Paul, who overcame a poor shooting night to post 21 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists, and 2 steals in 34 minutes. Peja Stojakovic bounced back from a 0-for-7 game against Miami on Thursday with 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting against Indiana, including four 3-pointers. Indiana got 23 points from Danny Granger, 22 from T.J. Ford, and 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists from Troy Murphy.
The Bad: Marcus Thornton was just 3-for-6 from the free throw line for New Orleans, but Indiana's Luther Head did him one better (or worse) by shooting just 2-for-6 from the charity stripe.

Memphis 115, Detroit 94

The Good: Memphis was hitting on all cylinders against Detroit. Rudy Gay led the charge for Memphis, posting 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists, while O.J. Mayo chipped in with 21 points, 5 boards, and 4 assists, and Zach Randolph added 17 points and 12 rebounds. Each of the Grizzlies' starters posted a +/- rating of +20 or better. Will Bynum led the way for Detroit, scoring 19 points in 25 minutes off the bench. Swedish bruiser Jonas Jerebko got his first start of the preseason and played well, adding 12 points and 4 rebounds to the cause.
The Bad: Aside from Jerebko, the other four Pistons' starters shot just 9-for-27 from the field, and Detroit only managed 14 assists as a team.
The Ugly: I hate to sound like a broken record, but how soon is too soon to call the second overall pick a bust? Hasheem Thabeet only logged 10 minutes and had all of 1 point, 1 rebound, and 1 blocked shot.

Dallas 93, Cleveland 82

The Good: Dirk Nowitzki made 8 of his 11 shots on the way to 19 points, and Kris Humphries had another strong showing for the Mavericks, adding 12 points and 9 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench. Jason Kidd also had a JKidd-like showing, posting 5 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. The Cavaliers (playing without LeBron, Shaq, and Mo Williams, among others) were led by 18 points and 10 rebounds from Jamario Moon, and tallied 20 assists as a team on their 28 made field goals.
The Bad: Dallas only shot 60.7% from the free throw line in the win, but luckily Cleveland could only manage 37.8% from the field. Coby Karl was 1-for-7 from the floor for the second straight game for the Cavaliers.
The Ugly: The Cavaliers scratched 3 players from the game with flu-like symptoms, which also held LeBron James from action earlier in the week.

Milwaukee 101, Minnesota 87

The Good: Andrew Bogut had a double-double, posting 10 points and 13 rebounds, and rookie Brandon Jennings had 16 points and 7 assists in his first start of the preseason for the Bucks. Michael Redd and Hakim Warrick also pitched in, with 15 points apiece. Rookie Jonny Flynn led the way for Minnesota with 19 points and 5 assists. Minnesota shot better from behind the arc (50%) than from in front of it (35.7%) for the second straight game.
The Bad: Minnesota struggled without rebound machine Kevin Love. Aside from the 9 boards collected off the bench by Oleksiy Pecherov, Minnesota's team high was just four. Ryan Gomes was just 2-for-9, making him 2-for-14 over his last 2 games.
The Ugly: The Timberwolves failed to block a shot and managed only 5 steals defensively.

Sacramento 101, Golden State 94

The Good: Sacramento secured its first win of the preseason by holding the fast-paced Warriors under 100 points. The Kings were led by 32 points from Kevin Martin and 20 points and 20 rebounds from Jason Thompson. Golden State made 22-of-23 free throws and got 28 points from Corey Maggette and 22 points from Stephen Jackson.
The Bad: The Kings won despite committing 24 turnovers to the Warriors' 14 and only tallying 17 assists on 38 made field goals. They also made only 3-of-13 3-point attempts. Golden State, meanwhile, was out-rebounded by 18 and made only 4-of-15 of their attempts from beyond the arc.
The Ugly: Desmond Mason shot just 1-of-8 for Sacramento, while Stephen Jackson, Monta Ellis, and Stephen Curry combined to shoot just 16-for-45 (35.6%) for the Warriors.

LA Lakers 91, Charlotte 87

The Good: The Lakers got a fourth straight strong performance from Andrew Bynum, who looked healthy on his way to 15 points and 5 rebounds. Kobe Bryant struggled through an off shooting night on his way to 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists, and Josh Powell, Sasha Vujacic, and Jordan Farmar also reached double-figures. The Bobcats had six players reach double-digits, led by former Laker Vlad Radmanovic with 15 points.
The Bad: This game was plagued by mental mistakes. The two teams combined for 43 turnovers and only 13 steals and 6 blocks. The Bobcats' last 2 first round picks, D.J. Augistin and Gerald Henderson, struggled mightily, combining to shoot just 1-for-10 from the floor.
The Ugly: This game featured significantly more totals fouls (66) than made field goals (55).