NBA Preseason- October 9th

Orlando 113, Houston 104

The Good: Orlando had a very well-rounded performance in coming from behind to beat Houston, with 7 players in double-figures. Marcin Gortat did his best Dwight Howard impression, as he posted 14 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 blocked shots, as Howard got the night off. Houston got strong showings from their two rookies, as Chase Budinger led the team in scoring with 17 and Jermaine Taylor added 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
The Bad: Jason "White Chocolate" Williams looked rusty on his way to 2 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists on 1-of-5 shooting in 21 minutes.
The Ugly: Houston made a huge commitment to Trevor Ariza in the hopes that he would be their next Ron Artest. So far in the preseason, it's looking like an ill-advised decision. Ariza followed up a 1-of-11 shooting night in Houston's last contest with a 4-of-12 showing against Orlando.

Philadelphia 93, New Jersey 92

The Good: Philadelphia came from 14 down at the start of the fourth quarter, to beat New Jersey by a point on an Elton Brand jumper with 7 seconds left. Marresse Speights led the '6ers with 16 points and Thaddeus Young notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Chris Douglas-Roberts led New Jersey with 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting.
The Bad: Devin Harris missed all five of his shot attempts, but facilitated well, tallying 8 assists. Samuel Dalembert, meanwhile, contributed no points and only 4 rebounds in 21 minutes for Philadelphia.
The Ugly: Andre Iguodala had 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals, but shot a horrendous 2-of-14 from the field.

Dallas 123, Washington 115

The Good: Shawn Marion looked like his old self, scoring 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting for Dallas, who also got 15 points and 7 rebounds from Kris Humphries and 14 points from rookie Rodrique Beaubois. Gilbert Arenas also looked like the Hibachi of 2006, scoring 12 points on a perfect 6-of-6 from the field. Javale McGee was also flawless from the field, scoring 14 on 5-of-5.
The Bad: Matt Carroll of Dallas and Randy Foye of Washington each shot just 1-of-7 from the field.
The Ugly: Washington lost despite shooting 53.2% from the field becuase they could only manage 61.9% from the free throw line.

Boston 96, New York 82

The Good: Boston got 13 points and 12 rebounds from their big off-season acquisition, Rasheed Wallace. Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Kendrick Perkins also reached double-digits for the Celtics.
The Bad: Paul Pierce shot just 4-of-12 in 24 minutes for Boston, and sharp-shooter Ray Allen was only 4-of-7 from the free throw line.
The Ugly: You didn't think I forgot about the Knicks, did you? Where to begin? New York scored only 8 points in the first quarter, and shot just 37.7% from the field and just 55.9% from the free throw line. Their wing-man rotation of Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Larry Hughes, and Jared Jeffries combined to shoot just 4-of-22 from the field, and Eddy Curry (down 40 pounds over the off-season) is still not fit enough to see the floor.

Toronto 112, Minnesota 97

The Good: Andrea Bargnani scored 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, as the Raptors beat Minnesota by shooting 53.9% from the field. Kevin Love shot poorly, but tallied 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Timberwolves.
The Bad: Three of Minnesota's starters shot 30% of worse from the floor: Sasha Pavlovic (1-of-5), Corey Brewer (4-of-14), and Kevin Love (3-of-10). Al Jefferson, who shot well, only gathered 1 rebound in his 18 minutes.
The Ugly: The Timberwolves shot just 1-of-14 from 3-point range.

San Antonio 107, Olympiakos 89

The Good: San Antonio played 18 players and shot 55.7% from the field in beating Grecian side Olympiakos. Second-year man George Hill led the Spurs with 17 points on 5-of-8 from the field. Josh Childress had 16 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and a block in his return stateside.
The Bad: Former Nugget Linas Kleiza was only 2-of-7 and former Arkansas standout Patrick Beverley was only 1-of-6 for Olympiakos.

Golden State 110, LA Lakers 91

The Good: The Warriors ruined the Lakers' return to the LA Forum, led by 24 points from Monta Ellis and 18 points apiece from Anthony Randolph and Kelenna Azibuike. Andrew Bynum led the Lakers in scoring for the second-straight game, with 19 points on 7-of-11 field goal shooting.
The Bad: After a huge effort in his Laker debut, Ron Artest struggled on Friday, shooting just 2-of-7 on his way to 6 points. Derek Fisher also struggled, shooting 1-of-6.
The Ugly: I hate to sound like a broken record, but Stephen Curry continued to struggle with his shot, managing only 6 points on 1-of-7 shooting, although he did facilitate well, contributing 8 assists in 24 minutes.

LA Clippers 97, Portland 85

The Good: The Clippers looked like anything but the Clippers in their win over Portland. LA shot 52.6% from the field and had 30 assists on 41 made field goals, including 10 assists from Sebastian Telfair and 8 from Baron Davis. Rasual Butler led LA with 14 points and top pick Blake Griffin added 8 points and 5 rebounds in 21 minutes, in his first action of the preseason.
The Bad: Portland shot just 38.2% from the field and got only 9 points and 4 assists from Brandon Roy, who shot 2-of-7 and committed 4 turnovers in 22 minutes. The Blazers also shot a disappointing 61.1% from the free throw line.