Another reason for the Toronto fans to boo Vince Carter next time they see him: he decimated their team last night. Vince dropped 37 points on the Raptors in front of his home crowd, helping put NJ up 2-1 in the series. The biggest difference for Vince in this game as opposed to Games 1 and 2? He attacked the basket instead of settling for jumpers. Of course, this has been the story of his career … We told you Jason Kidd was gonna play anyway on that bad knee, right? Not only did he play, he went for 16 points, 16 boards, 19 dimes and 3 steals. As PR put it, “That line was disgusting. I just threw up on myself.” Is it just us or does it seem like J-Kidd could play forever? … Chris Bosh was a non-factor on offense, finishing with 11 points and 11 boards in the loss. For Bosh, putting up Dwight Howard-like numbers simply can’t happen this time of year. The Raps need him too much in the scoring department. He’s a way more advanced offensive player than DH, and it’s not like the Nets frontcourt is comparable with Detroit’s, so games like last night are worse for Bosh than if someone like Dwight has put up the same stat line … Deion Sanders was in the crowd in Jersey … If the Warriors keep playing like this, they might mess around and win the whole thing. Last night was crazy. It was like the Mavs had knocked over a hornets nest and were being swarmed. It looked like there were eight Warriors on the floor, and they could all rebound and shoot threes … Jason Richardson dropped 30 points in the win, Baron Davis had 24, and Andris Biedrins (10 pts, 10 rebs) sparked this e-mail exchange:
Pat: “Andris Biedrins is running amok.”
Austin: “You sound like you’re describing a scene at some European zoo.”
Pat: “Don’t feed the biedrins.” …
Did you hear Bill Walton call Matt Barnes “a UCLA legend”? … Better yet, did you see David Stern work over Jim Grey and the Sonics ownership? Stern was at the Warriors/Mavs game, and after Grey gave him some softball questions about the GS fans and what-not, he tried to go hard at the Commish: Stephen Jackson questions, Joey Crawford, and he asked about the recent statement by the Sonics new owner that he liked Vegas as a possible home for the team should they move. Stern wore his famous tight smile the whole time, and you could tell he was trying to telepathically tell Grey to shut up. On the Sonics question, though, Stern said, “They didn’t say that.” Grey responded that it was actually confirmed in a statement by the team’s spokesperson. “Well, tomorrow they’ll be retracting that,” Stern shot back. Wow. Then Grey tried to ask another tough question before Stern cut him off, saying something along the lines of, “There’s a game going on here. Let your viewers get back to the game.” Grey quickly ended the interview, and the announcers never mentioned it again … Speaking of S-Jack, he played (16 pts, 8 rebs, 6 asts), but was $50,000 lighter in the wallet after the NBA’s fine for his actions in Game 2. (Don Nelson also fined Jackson and Davis.) In his NY Post column, Peter Vecsey quoted S-Jack as once telling a executive from one of his former teams, “I’d like to tell you I’m going to stop acting this way, but I can’t stop. You have to stop me.” And in the Dallas Morning News, when asked about Charles Barkley comparing him to T.O., Jackson said, “Oh, I don’t listen to Charles. I don’t get in conflicts with people that don’t have championship rings. I’ve got one.” … It’s one more and done for the defending champs. We really thought Miami had Chicago beat in the second half, but they let ‘em come back, and once Kirk Hinrich knocked down a three to put the Bulls up by 6 in the fourth, the writing was on the wall. Have the defending champs ever been swept out of the postseason the following year in the first round? … We read that Donnell Taylor’s twin brother Ronnell got over on the Wizards when he came out of the locker room for practice wearing Donnell’s gear and no one knew the difference. “I thought it was Donnell, swear to God,” said DeShawn Stevenson. “He could probably sneak on the bench and get into the game. They look exactly alike.” How do we know the Collins twins haven’t been doing this for years? … Marcus Camby picked up Defensive Player of the Year, beating out Bruce Bowen and Tim Duncan in the voting. Can you be the DPOY when your team routinely gives up 100-plus a night? Guess so … We’re out like the Heat …