Boston Celtics 95, Cleveland Cavaliers 89 in Cleveland - First game of the night and instead of writing a nice little recap of the action (there will be plenty of time for that over the next eight months), I’m just going to give my observations in a hyphen taking the place of a bullet form. I'll be doing that for all of the games tonight:
- These are two very good teams that will assuredly be at the top of the Eastern Conference and battling all season long for the NBA’s best record. With that said, both teams have some big time holes in their armor. The Celtics are susceptible to coming out of the gate slow early on and not doing the proper things against big teams to start the game off properly. Outside of Rajon Rondo (who still gambles a little too much on defense), they’re going to have a hell of a time defending quick perimeter players. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce are too slow and Marquis Daniels simply isn’t good enough to slow down good wing scorers.
- The Cavs maybe have the worst offense of any good team I’ve ever seen. They were able to jump out to an early lead because the Celtics came out cold from the perimeter. They forced turnovers, grabbed rebounds, and got some easy buckets to build a quick double-digit lead before relinquishing it in the second quarter. Why did they relinquish it? Because once the lead was established early on, the rest of the team seemed content with letting LeBron James do all of the work. They give him the ball, get the hell out of the way, and allow the opposing team to scheme towards stopping him without having to worry about his teammates stepping up. The Cavs still can’t defend the three very well (as we saw against Orlando in the playoffs).
- Outside of Shaquille O’Neal, there didn’t seem like anybody was willing to step up and try to help LeBron James on offense. This will be a huge problem at certain times of the season (see: playoffs).
- LeBron James is the best transition shot blocker of all time. I’m confident in saying that.
- I feel like the Cavs despite all of their depth with role players need to go out and acquire a good athletic defender at the small forward position. Everybody wants to talk themselves into LeBron James being a good defender and that’s fine if you want to believe in fairytales but the fact of the matter is that he can’t guard guys like Paul Pierce at the end of games and they need somebody who can.
- By the way, can someone give LBJ a scouting report and some tape on Pierce at the end of games? If he dribbles hard to the right with one dribble on the right elbow, he’s pulling up for a semi-fade away jumper. If he goes to take a second dribble towards the free throw line, the spin move is coming next. We all see it coming; so should you.
- The Cavs sorely miss Delonte West. If he’s playing in this game, Ray Allen probably doesn’t shake free for his second made three-pointer.
- Kendrick Perkins is one of the few low post defenders that can handle Shaq one-on-one. He’s so good at keeping guys out of their comfortable post position that he’s extremely effective against the overly large guys like Shaq and Dwight Howard.
- With that said, Shaq is still a huge load in the paint. Most teams will have to double him and that should open up things for the Cleveland role players.
- Keep your rebounds high and tucked under the chin with your elbows out when Rajon Rondo is on the court. He’s coming for the swipe.
- You can pretty much predict the typical LeBron James jump shot from too far out when he gets a mismatch switched out on him in the fourth quarter. He SHOULD be driving to the basket and getting to the line (at worst). Instead, he tries to be Paul Pierce and just isn’t a good enough shooter to do that.
- This was the first Celtics win in Cleveland in 12 games, including postseason. That was astounding to me, considering how competitive these two teams have been.
- Rasheed Wallace and KG on the court defensively together is pretty fun to watch.
- Daniel Gibson is an awful NBA player.
- The box score says Zyndrunas Ilgauskas played but I don’t believe it.
- And finally, Kevin Garnett looks really healthy and it was good to see how active he was. The quickness isn’t all the way there but against most players in the NBA, it doesn’t have to be. He took a few collisions, dusted himself off and continued to mix it up. He finished with 13 efficient points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. It was great to have to back, sir.
Washington Wizards 102, Dallas Mavericks 91 in Dallas - Gilbert Arenas has been working as hard as anybody over the course of the past few months in order to get back to his former self. It seems like he’s missed nearly half of his career over the past couple of seasons due to this knee problem and it was only natural to doubt him. After all, he was supposed to be back last year without a misstep and instead missed roughly 80 games. But he did the right thing in getting with workout guru Tim Grover this summer to get back to his former self and I have to say that he is officially back.
- I was trying to find a great comparison to Gilbert Arenas and his career path and decided after seeing this video that he’s probably most similar to Eminem.
Eminem and Gilbert are similar in that they both seemingly came out of nowhere to the mainstream audience and set their respective industries on fire by being outside of the norm, painstakingly honest with their fans and critics, and doing things in their profession that many would question on a regular basis. Both guys went away from what they do for an extended period of time and after deciding to take their fields of interest serious once again, have come back strong to prove when they want, they still have everything it takes to be a force in their industry.
- Of course, that theory could have been complete bullshit and just a reason for me to post that video. Not only did Mos Def and Black Thought butter you up perfectly with their rhymes but then Eminem came in and just slayed the rest of the performance.
- Oh by the way, Gilbert Arenas is officially back. The quickness, the daggerdom, and the All-Star game are all there. He finished with 29 points on 10/21 shooting (9/17 from two), nine assists and only three turnovers. He reminded everybody that he was still nearly impossible to guard and that Jason Kidd was getting older. He attacked the basket really well and was aggressive without forcing the issue. It was good to have him back.
- There was a play fairly early on in the game in which J.J. Barea drove on Randy Foye, was cut off in the lane and basically backed Foye down before turning and getting an easy lay-up. It reminded me that Randy Foye really isn’t THAT good of an NBA player and was still a bad defender. Then I remembered that Ricky Rubio is still in Barcelona and I cried for 45 minutes.
- The Mavericks shot roughly 31% from three in the preseason, which in case you didn’t remember is a pretty bad percentage for a team that is looking to score a lot of points off of poignant long-range shooting. They were just four of 18 tonight for 22%.
- The Mavericks starters only racked up seven assists and that’s because Jason Kidd had six of them. They’re going to have to find a better way to move the ball, instead of just relying on Dirk Nowitzki (still a very good player in case you were wondering) to bail them out.
- Perhaps it’s just a hitch in his game at this point but Mike Miller is still reluctant to take shots, which dates back to his entire season with the Wolves. He managed four attempts in 22 minutes. Also, I officially can’t tell the difference between him and Lou Amundson.
- Although he didn’t shoot well in the fourth quarter, Andray Blatche had a fantastic game off the bench after Fabricio Oberto got into foul trouble early. Blatche finished with 20 points on 8/14 shooting. He’s someone that needs to get out to a start like this to get his confidence high.
- There is something about Shawn Marion’s freshly cut head of hair that gives me a Will Smith in I Am Legend vibe. I’m pretty sure I like it too. He’s going to have a great year for Dallas.
Portland Trailblazers 96, Houston Rockets 87 in Portland - I’m not sure how many games the Houston Rockets will win this season. They’re scrappy and good enough to never give up in games and keep them relatively close, even when they should be blown out of the water. But they have very little in the department of reliable scoring and it shows in key stretches. You just have to wonder where their scoring is going to come from.
- When Aaron Brooks was on the floor, the Rockets were able to hang pretty tough with the much bigger Blazers. Brooks finished with 19 points and five assists while being a +7 in 42 minutes. But he can’t play the entire game every night and when he’s out of the game, the Rockets have serious issues attacking the opposing defense.
- We can all now admit freely that Trevor Ariza is nothing more than a nice role player, right? He can’t really create his own shot and he’s a bad outside shooter, despite his nice performance in last year’s playoffs. He just doesn’t have what it takes to be a constant positive force for his team when he’s on the court and clearly needs another top-notch defender or two by his side to truly affect the game on defense.
- How many games will the Rockets shoot over 45% from the field this year? Three? Maybe four?
- David Andersen looks to be a nice piece stolen away from the Hawks. He had 11 points off the bench and five rebounds in 19 minutes. He would actually be the perfect backup to Yao Ming if he were still alive.
- Greg Oden had a really weird game. He controlled the glass and protected the rim with 12 rebounds and five blocked shots. But he finished with just two points on 1/3 shooting in 26 minutes and turned the ball over seven times. Seven!!! He also finished with five fouls after going on a bit of a spree towards the end of the game in which he committed three fouls in about three minutes. Overall, I’d say he did his job against a team with no real inside threat to score. But offensively, he’ll need to be allowed to get into a rhythm much earlier so that he doesn’t look like he has two left feet when he’s trying out his post moves.
- Welcome back, Martell Webster (14 points). It was great to see you on the court tonight.
- If Webster can stay on the court and be an effective starter, we might have to seriously consider Travis Outlaw for this year’s 6th Man of the Year award. He had 23 points on 9/14 shooting from the field off the bench and looked to pick up where he left off last season.
- Andre Miller is the only player of the last 40 years to shoot a set shot instead of a jump shot. Even Bob Cousy thinks he should get some lift on it.
- Brandon Roy struggled to make shots (5/18) but managed to get to the free throw line 11 times and finished with 20 points. He was able to run Ariza and Battier ragged off of screens while doing his Rip Hamilton impression. He just gets better and better and you can see how he can still positively impact a ball game even when things aren’t falling for him.
- The Rockets announcers were truly terrible tonight. I’m willing to chalk it up to first game jitters for the opening season and they weren’t nearly as terrible as the Heat’s broadcasters but I’ll definitely be watching Rockets games on mute if they have another homerism-filled performance like this.
Los Angeles Lakers 99, Los Angeles Clippers 92 in Los Angeles - The Lakers got their championship rings tonight in a ceremony that was just dripping with an LA vibe to it. All of the legends of Lakers past and Rick Fox showed up to congratulate the latest title-winning team. Robert Horry seemed to get the biggest and best cheers. A.C. Green was still sporting the same hair from his run with the Lakers in the 80s. And the aforementioned Rick Fox dressed up for the occasion with a hoodie on. Way to be classy.
Most importantly for the Lakers tonight was the ceremony they held specifically for Tex Winters after the third quarter. People don’t realize what he’s meant for the game of basketball and 10 of the last 19 championship teams. He deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame before he passes away. Very touching moment to see on TV tonight and I’m sure it was really cool to see in person.
- The Lakers absolutely did not take the Clippers seriously after they could see Baron Davis wasn’t the same player with his injured foot. This normally would have been a 35-point blowout but the Lakers seemed more intent on enjoying their night, rather than defending their title. And that’s actually not a bad thing. They were still able to walk away with the win.
- Speaking of Baron Davis, what in the hell was wrong with him tonight? I know he has a bum foot but seeing him play this poorly reminded me of Tony at Western University. He was just 1/10 from the field with 2 points in 28 minutes. He missed a three-point shot so badly that it can only be measured as being off by 2 feet by 3 feet. It was the first time that I felt like I should calculate the square footage of the miss. He also seemed completely hesitant and timid when it came to getting into the paint.
- I think Eric Gordon might be the fastest shooting guard in the open court (outside of Dwyane Wade of course). I’d also like to see Gordon in an open court crossover competition with Deron Williams. Not saying he’d win but he’d put up a hell of a fight.
- The Clippers backcourt of Gordon and Davis out blocked their frontcourt of Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby two to zero. When you’re playing a team with the size of the Lakers, that’s a problem.
- The Lakers bench was pretty bad tonight. They finished at -9, scored just nine points, and shot 4/13 (30%) from the field.
- Rasual Butler is making a push for the distinction of being the worst ball-handler in the league. He turned the ball over four times in 29 minutes and seemed to lose the handle every time he put the ball on the floor.
- I’ll be happy to admit that Andrew Bynum had a fantastic game against a solid Clippers frontcourt. He scored 26 points (9/15 FG) and made 8/10 free throws. He also grabbed 13 boards. Despite wearing a big, bulky knee brace, he moved very well on defense and was able to cut off the baseline against quicker players when they had to switch the screens. He filled in perfectly for Pau Gasol tonight.
- Khloe Kardashian looks like a Frank Caliendo character at this point. I’m not sure I can stomach many more shots of her in the crowd this season and we still have 81 games to go.
- In case you were still wondering, Kobe Bryant is good at basketball (33 points, 11/26 FG, 11/12 FT, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals).
- And finally, Ron Artest had what will probably end up being the typical line for him this season – 10 points, 3/10 shooting, 1/5 from three, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 turnovers. He played great defense against the Clippers small forwards and was imposing when he took his man into the post.
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Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site.. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 