Put the Magic on that list of teams who could give the Celtics a serious problem come postseason. Orlando handed the C’s another loss yesterday when Hedo Turkoglu (27 pts) stuck a three-pointer at the buzzer. With the game tied and the clock running out, Hedo took it up top, being guarded by Paul Pierce (24 pts, 9 rebs, 3 stls). Hedo started to drive left, but Kendrick Perkins showed out on him, he turned and went back to his right before launching the triple in Pierce’s eye. Buckets, and cue the Always-Awkward Hedo Turkoglu Post-Game Interview … Sans Kevin Garnett (ab strain), Boston closed a 16-point gap in the second half, and Ray Allen tied it up with a triple with 14 seconds left before Hedo’s heroics … What was going through the minds of Boston fans when Rajon Rondo had his ankle stepped on by Mo Evans and went down face-first looking like his season was done? Probably something along the lines of “Get Damon Stoudamire’s agent on the phone!” … The Magic fans were bringing it with the “M-V-P!” chants for Dwight Howard (18 pts, 16 rebs, 5 blks, 6-for-6 FTs) … On the flip side of Hedo’s game-winner, you’ve got Mo Williams. Final seconds of the fourth quarter, Bucks and Wizards tied, Milwaukee ball. Mo milks the clock and pulls up for a three at the buzzer. Brick. Now Michael Redd was out injured, so we’re not getting on Mo for taking the shot. But he could’ve at least tried to get to the rim or at least a little closer, right? Of course, if he knocks down that shot (like Hedo) no one’s saying anything … The Bucks won in overtime, and Mo went nutso without Redd around: 25 points (9-for-22 FGs), 5 triples, 5 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals and 6 turnovers. In other words, everything Milwaukee did ran through Mo … Caron Butler scored 40 in the loss. Did you know Caron has made something like 70 free throws in a row? He hasn’t missed at the stripe since Dec. 28 … Kobe vs. LeBron lived up to the hype. ‘Bron put up 41 points, Kobe had 33, and both guys were prominently involved in crunch time, going shot-for-shot in the fourth quarter. LeBron hit two free throws with 9 seconds left to put Cleveland up by three, and when the Lakers tried running an inbounds for You-Know-Who, the Cavs used two guys to deny the ball and Luke Walton ended up with it. Luke should have shot it, but he tried to get a quick pass back to Kobe and time ran out … During the game, LeBron passed Mark Price for third-place on the Cavs’ all-time scoring list. Barring the dreaded Knicks/Nets thing that no one in Cleveland wants to think about, you know ‘Bron is going to absolutely own that franchise’s record book … A notch below Kobe vs. LeBron, Brandon Roy and Joe Johnson traded shots to decide Blazers/Hawks. Only thing is, J.J.’s shots weren’t going down. He finished with 19 points in a loss. Roy (24 pts) got into the lane more than once to convert big-time shots down the stretch, plus he nailed the go-ahead free throw with 2.3 seconds left and forced Johnson into some bad shots earlier in the quarter … Yao sat out last night’s game against the Jazz (upper respiratory infection) and the Rockets didn’t have it on offense to make up for his absence. Utah, on the other hand, was clicking offensively — Boozer, Deron, AK-47, Korver and Harpring all scored between 10 and 17 points apiece. Korver stuck some clutch threes in the fourth to put the nail in the coffin … The play-by-play guy filling in for Kevin Calabro during Sonics/Kings was talking about Ron Artest getting ejected from Sacto’s previous game against the Jazz and said, “Apparently he and Jerry Sloan had something going on.” Color commentator Snapper Jones quipped, “Yeah, Jerry doesn’t like him, that’s what was going on. He doesn’t like anybody on the other team.” … After Kevin Durant dimed Jeff Green on a 2-on-1 break and Green dunked on Brad Miller (who decided not to jump), Miller immediately turned back towards the rest of the Kings doing the “Who’s got him?” thing … Warriors/Knicks, Andris Biedrins pulled down 26 rebounds (!) to go along with 11 points. Eddy Curry had four rebounds and only played about 6 minutes due to foul trouble, but he also managed to scored 17 points. Odd night for him … Are the Nets officially playing worse than anyone else in the League now? Last night’s loss to the T’wolves was the 9th L in a row for Jersey. Al Jefferson busted NJ’s front line wide open, dropping 40 points and grabbing 19 boards … Smack reader MBeazy (not Michael Beasley — at least we don’t think so) had this question yesterday: “Has anyone had the unfortunate experience of running full court 5-on-5 with dumbasses with iPods in their ears? This is happening in my hometown and I was wondering if this stupidity was isolated or nationwide.” Let us know if you’ve run across this problem, because we know we have over the past year or so. The worst is when the iPod-wearer gets his headphones ripped out then glares at whoever was guarding him like it’s their fault … Starting yesterday, Chris Andersen, a.k.a. “Birdman,” can apply for reinstatement into the NBA. Birdman was kicked out of the League two years ago for substance abuse, but his agent says he’s clean and being tested weekly. If the League and the Player’s Association both agree to let Andersen back in, the Hornets have first crack at him. If they take a pass, he becomes a free agent. If we’re the Hornets, we’re not taking the risk; the team is in too good of a position right now. But a losing team that needs a boost? They might find a spot for a 6-10 athletic guy who’s still only 29 years old … We’re out like balling with an iPod …
Related posts:
January 28th, 2008 at 5:45 am
knoc says:
first
January 28th, 2008 at 5:58 am
georg says:
yeah call me a dirk homeboy, but stop ignoring him and the mavs, he came up pretty strong last night, at least worth a mention ..
January 28th, 2008 at 6:02 am
KIdd w/in says:
fuck NJ just trade jason kidd for god’s sake! damn trade him to a fucking contender like LA or Spurs or cavs
January 28th, 2008 at 6:24 am
Amar says:
jazz are 10-2 since the korver trade, but whatever, i *fully* expect houston and some weak-ass east teams to be ahead of them in the rankings tomorrow.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:24 am
YOUNGFED says:
Just got back from vacation what did I miss?
PS…I wouldn’t call going (9-22 fg) and 25pts going nutso. Playing with an IPod in your ear thats nutso.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:31 am
Sam says:
Actually I’m one of those people who play while listening to music… I’m only doing here on campus though… And it’s only because nobody here wants to play as a team, or at least try to play some defense, so I just gave up…
January 28th, 2008 at 6:42 am
sans says:
Sam, everyone hates you. You’re THAT GUY that irritates people on court. It’s ok, man, just get some help.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:44 am
sans says:
Oh, and Hedo’s “happy place” dance was great.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Daytonbball says:
may te ipod players are in ohio too and they suck. after they play a game with an ipod, nobody ever picks them up so i think they get the idea
January 28th, 2008 at 7:02 am
K-Dizzle says:
Eddy had 17 with 4 boards?…sounds about right.
Y’all didn’t actually expect him to use his size to start reboundin now…
January 28th, 2008 at 7:06 am
chance says:
playing with an ipod… i guess they like getting their @$$es whupped to a soundtrack…
January 28th, 2008 at 7:13 am
tobacher says:
where is the mavs-nuggets at? granted lots o stuff happening but 2 contenders-or-so and mvp dirk scoring fourteen of the last sixteen, 12-of-17 with 32/11/4/2… wonder if hedo is the new european everybody talks about…
January 28th, 2008 at 7:56 am
boogey banger says:
if some dude busted my arse with an ipod in his ear I would have to hang up my kicks. I don’t care if it was LBJ my pride couldn’t take that kind of beating
January 28th, 2008 at 8:23 am
Kobeef says:
Bassy had another decent night with 12 pts and 4 assists (1 TO) that makes 2 solid outings against the best PG’s in the league (Kidd-Nash) in one week. And the team is winning…weird.
The lakers-cavs game was weird - nobody mentioned it yet but Phil sat kobe for quite a while in the 4th - he was trying some of his voo-doo stuff to get the rest of the team motivated - didn’t work - they lost ground and the game. On a more positive note for the lakers - we saw that Lebron’s supporting cast also sucks (Big z fouled out against …Kwame?)
Mo Williams…what else can you say. 6 turnovers + 22 field goal attemps = this guy doesn’t get it. Dude - you are supposed to be a PG. Dude - you are not Kobe. Painful to watch.
I think Durant needs to stop taking 20 shots per game. Everyone else on the sonics is hitting a decent percentage and he is just wasting shots with his 25% field goal percentage.
January 28th, 2008 at 8:33 am
fuck kobeef says:
yo kojerkoff, big Z sucks because he fouled out against kwame? if kwame busted Z for a 20-20, now THAT would be sucking, your ignorant mafucca.
January 28th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Celts Fan says:
The Magic can’t give us a run in the post-season with KG in and if Doc doesn’t coach that with his head planted firmly up his @$$. Anyone notice that the Celtics went small down the stretch? We had Leon Powe, an undersized (6-8) four, playing the 5 against Dwight Howard and no other legit bigs out there. I like Posey at the 4 against teams like the Suns, but you can’t go small against the Magic when Dwight’s out there! Also, there’s no reason at all that Big Baby shouldn’t have gotten any PT. Even w/ KG out and Perk in foul trouble, you could still play a bigger lineup with Pierce slid down to the 2, Posey at the 3, and Big Baby and Leon Powe in the post, instead of Posey at the 4 and Tony Allen (who was not having one of his good games where he can drop 10-15 off the bench) at the 2. We should have lost that game by much more than just 3. I’m still fully convinced we beat Orlando in a 7 game series pretty handily if we’re completely healthy, but Doc Rivers is a wild card. Having him as a coach is like starting down 10 every night. Other teams dictate our lineups EVERY GAME, and why the f*ck would Brian Scalabrinie ever start? Jesus I hope we run off like 5 straight L’s and he gets fired and gets replaced by someone more competant, like Hellen Keller.
January 28th, 2008 at 8:35 am
djKianoosh says:
way to go Korver, the jazz really helped themselves with that trade… is it too early to make judgments on that trade? cause it’s looking like this is yet another deal the sixers made that benefits the other team more than it helps them. Kyle just fits that Utah system nicely. But I think he’d fit in a lot of places, like San Antonio, Miami, Orlando. Places that go down low and/or pick n’ roll as a first option. Not sure if he’d fit in places like Denver or Detroit.. maybe phoenix could use him, since they dont care about defense…
on the flip side, i’m happy the sixers are getting more ping pong balls at the moment.. please dont screw that up guys. get better by all means, just keep losing for now…
January 28th, 2008 at 8:54 am
one66soul says:
What is underneath that patch on Jamal Crawfords shoulder?
January 28th, 2008 at 8:57 am
jz_smoove says:
stoudamire is NOT the answer for the Celts. he is only an option but definitely not a solution, they can do much much better than his guy.
wondering how much worse the Heat would be if Mo signed with them instead of re-upping with the Bucks. but then again, he jus used Miami as a tool for negotiating purposes and it worked. he also knew he only had redd in front of him on the Bucks lineup(which he is skipping in the first place) while wade and shaq ahead of him in the depth chart for the Heat. he is jus another marginal player with a superstar contract.
Durant has the green light to go shoot from 3/4 court if he chooses. the Sonics are not built to win right now, only to nurture and babysit durant for the future.
give love to hedo for becoming more of a decoration like a lot of euros. he’s come a ways from the guy that used to sit almost at the end of the bench for the once mighty Kings. i think he’s actually provided some swagger into that Magic lineup.
January 28th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Top Gun says:
What about suckers who dribble and shoot like Rodman and call themselves Jordan.
Vince Carter started shooting around before games with an iPod on, but i guess that’s not as bad.
LeBron’s game is pretty ugly compared to Kobe. He has some weird looking layups and even shots.
If Garnett played yesterday, the outcome would have been different. I have to give it to the Celts though, they do a lot of damage in the paint.
January 28th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Andrew-PL says:
E-City playing 6 minutes and pulling 4 rebounds? Sorry, but I dont belive in miracles. 17 points in 6 seems just fine, but you guys need to be mistaken about the rebound count. According to NBA.com he played 18:18 min, just to put it out there.
January 28th, 2008 at 9:38 am
bsteezy3 says:
Time to recognize the Magic as THAT team that no one wants to play come playoff time (well, except maybe the Pistons). These guys can beat anyone on any given night… The thing is, they will beat the Celtics, then lose to the Grizzlies or something. But no one wants to play these guys. Dwight Howard has definitely improved, but so has Turkoglu…(I’m a Magic fan, and I’m just NOW becoming a Hedo fan…I used to hate the guy, but he’s improved a lot)
January 28th, 2008 at 9:40 am
bsteezy3 says:
Oh yeah, Celts fans that say “Garnett wasn’t even playing”…so what!? He played the first time and we beat ‘em. Series 2-1.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Celts Fan says:
calm down bsteezy. I blamed that L on Doc and that entire rant was on his horrible coaching. I didn’t say a word about being w/out KG (yesterday anyway, I did say that at full strength in the playoffs, I think we win the series) except to say that it was inexplicable that Big Baby wouldn’t get any minutes with KG out. Go back and reread that rant. It’s all about how bad of a coach Doc Rivers is (and as a Magic fan, I’m sure you’ve witnessed it first=hand too.)
January 28th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Celts Fan says:
What was going through the minds of Boston fans when Rajon Rondo had his ankle stepped on by Mo Evans and went down face-first looking like his season was done? Probably something along the lines of “Get Damon Stoudamire’s agent on the phone!”
More like, “I wonder if the Clippers would take a late 1st rounder for Cassell. If not, let’s call Damon’s people and tell him to leave the bong at home.”
January 28th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Myrie says:
Did anyone notice/get free games this week from NBA League Pass
January 28th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Myrie says:
Did anyone notice/get free games this week from NBA League Pass?
January 28th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Top Gun says:
Celts been playing badly lately, but I still think they’re the better team.
The Jazz made the perfect trade acquiring Korver, if only other teams would be more active before the trade deadline. Best trades this season was getting:
1.KG
2.Ray Allen
3.Kyle Korver
4.Nazr Mohammed
5.Morris Peterson (signing)
January 28th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Top Gun says:
actually jason richardon in the 5th spot
January 28th, 2008 at 11:01 am
rodnets says:
warm up or shoot with the ipod is one thing, I do it and its good.
5×5 with ipods its weird.
January 28th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Sho-Nuff says:
NBA League pass is free for the week. They want that 1/2 season money.
January 28th, 2008 at 11:44 am
s.bucketz says:
yooo i think it was either z-100 or ktu but they jocked ur shit…they had a mix goin for the giants that started off wit Prince Akeem talkin bout the giants of new york triumphing over the packers of fudge…then they kicked in wit that celebrate good times track nd some sound bytes from the nfl this season(they had T.O. “thas ma quaterback” lol)
y is ny already actin like they won the superbowl lol…i guess gettin ther is kinda like winnin it all
January 28th, 2008 at 11:52 am
ian says:
“The worst is when the iPod-wearer gets his headphones ripped out then glares at whoever was guarding him like it’s their fault”
LOL
shit i remember when hedo couldnt get playing time with the kings and betting with my friends that he could be better than peja , i had to pay a couple of seasons ago but i think i can get my money back now it only took him like 15 seasons. i guess better late than never.
January 28th, 2008 at 11:54 am
ian says:
top gun
we have to of those in our league that all they do is dribble and shoot but cant score for shit
the worst is when those tow motherfuckers pick the teams
January 28th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
seth says:
shooting around by yourself with an ipod = cool
playing pickup with an ipod = douche bag
January 28th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Top Gun says:
Ian you should get your players to harrass them when they dribbling, double the fool if you have to. I’m sure it’ll lead to a steal or atleast a bad pass.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
doc says:
In Philly somebody with a Ipod on tryin to ball would be told to sit they ass down until they songs are over. We looked out for Utah with Korver but I dont want them to make the playoffs so we get they pick. Bron game might be uglier than Kobes but it damn sure is effective and he always sshines on Kobe in Lakers vs Cavs look it up. And I think the Cavs is he team nobody wants to see. I aint hyped up on the Magic Dwights a beast but the rest of them dudes is perpatraiters right now. They’ll be exposed in the playoffs with Boston.Detroit and Cleveland will be battlin it out again.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
D says:
yo, what’s up with the lack of Kings coverage? You only mention Miller getting dunked on by Green and you don’t even say what the outcome is? I love Dime, but come on! you guys got that league pass thing, throw some love out west to the Kings. This is starting to feel like ESPN’s coverage (or lack thereof)….
January 28th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Bron42 says:
jameer nelson didnt play either, and even with KG the celts have lost to magic before..
if you remember back when he was a king, hedo has always had swagger cept he didnt perform all the time. Him and gerald wallace were just the cool guys at the end of the bench now their both shinin and the kings suck. who said petrie doesnt make bad roster choices.
anyone who says 90% of lebrons game isnt just barreling down the lane and bullying people for layups is crazy.
Last night jumper IS the reason why vince carter is considered soft and guys like wade and jordan arent. you ever see MJ settle for a jumper like that with the game on the line? even in his older un athletic days he would at least took a foul line jumper, not some fade away 3 steps beyond 3 point like with someone in his face. 60 million dollar man carter
January 28th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Mike C says:
If there ever will be a game that Kobe would try to go for 80 again, it’s tommorrow night against the Knicks.
The Lakers lost three straight now, prompting whispers here in LA about Bynum having more to do with Lakers’ recent success than him. Also, he has now lost five(!) straight games against LeBron’s Cavs, four of which he was soundly outplayed by James. Now there’s talks all over the internet about LeBron surpassing him as the best player in the L..
What I’m basically trying to say is, Kobe has got be FUMING right now. He’s gonna say eff the world and go ballistic on the Knicks tommorrow. You heard it here first.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
ian says:
top gun
i can concentrate on D playing with them i feel like punching them
January 28th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Legend says:
sans - It looked to me that he was trying to do a form of the Cassell’s “Big Balls” dance. Am I the only one who noticed that?
Of course he did have his hands clenched so it could have been “Small Balls” dance.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Bron42 says:
like everyone said, its the “marbles dance” from the major league movie. It actually compares kinda nice since dwight is a movie buff, he would be like pedro sorano and hedo would be the lil asian guy lol
January 28th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
bsteezy3 says:
Hey CeltsFan…when I posted earlier, I wasn’t calling you out specifically. I was talking to Celts’ fans…lol and you just happen to have that nickname. Yeah I’ll admit, Doc did some dumb moves; another close one though…
January 28th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
isotope says:
Was at the rockets/utah game. Horrible game. Rockets cant hit free throws for nothing. Ihe offense was ugly but it looked like they were more excited to play O, well except for Novak. Yes Novak got in the game. Made all his shots but then TMac aka ball hog stopped giving him the ball. (WTH if dude is hot, feed him!!!!!). If he cracks the rotation and is automatic from the 3 he’s going to be Yao’s new fav teammate.
January 28th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
isotope says:
Lebron’s game IS ugly, even his dunks are ugly. The lakers should have won that game. PJax needs to chill with his mind games. This is a different team without Bynum and Ariza. Go to Plan B: Project give Kobe the ball and make him happy or you get benched. Its working for the Cavs. Well their record isnt that good but they’ll make it in the East.
January 28th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Bobby B says:
C’mon Dime, you guys could have at least mentioned Wilkins’ clutch 3 at the end of the Kings-Sonics game. Then, Martin racing down the court to stick a baseline jumper, with Wilkins on him, for the win.
And, who are these ‘tards playing ball while listening to their iPods?! I’d be throwing ‘bows trying to knock those shitty white earbuds out of their ears. If you have an iPod, don’t listen to it while playing ball. And, do yourself a huge favor and pick up a decent pair of cans; the stock earbuds are straight up shit!
January 28th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
UncheckedAggression says:
I just had to comment on the ipod thing. That pisses me off just to hear about it–I would light up any idiot that would disrespect the other players on the court like that. And I don’t think any decent ballplayer that knew how to play the game well would do it.
I also think there should have been something about the end of the Kings game last night. Huge shots by Wilkins and Martin. Then again, there was a lot of close games last night.
January 28th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
??? says:
where are these dudes now???
Latrell Sprewell
Cedric Ceballos
Richard Dumas
Is Sprewell doing anything hoops related? I bet he wishes he had that 27M to feed his family.
January 28th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Celts Fan says:
fair enough bsteezy. and what was with that ‘bow Dwight whistled by Rondo’s head? Thought your boy was a devout Christian…
January 28th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
??? says:
even Cain struck down Abel
January 28th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Celts Fan says:
hahaha going Biblical huh? very nice…
and I’ll tell you where Spree isn’t is on his yacht.
Pretty sure Dumas and Ceballos are sharing a table at the local Sizzler for the all you can eat buffet.
January 28th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Celts Fan says:
for real though, heard Dumas got into drugs and haven’t heard about him since (hopefully he’s got himself back together) and I think I read that Ceballos is doing games for the Suns now…
January 28th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Amar says:
thought he was a virgin too, but well . . . we now know that’s not the case.
January 28th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Celts Fan says:
come on, We all knew he was a devout Christian, but I never thought he was AC Green…
January 28th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
mavsgirl75 says:
I agree Georg. No mention of the Mavs win over the Nuggets and Devin Harris going down with the ankle injury? Wasn’t that game on National TV, for the love?
January 28th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
K-Dizzle says:
lol, damn.
church was yesterday
January 28th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Dank says:
i would love to see LeBron do something and actually beat the Mavs, Spurs, and Suns. I dont get it, he gets all excited for when he sees the Lakers, like hes tryna prove something for Nike. But when his team gets raped by those 3 teams mentioned above, no one EVER says shit about how he doesnt step it up. hmmmm….
January 28th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
K-Dizzle says:
bron steps up against the players, not the teams. He gets up for kobe like kobe got up for mike.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Bron42 says:
plus all those teams u named are legit better teams than the cavs. lebrons game is just bullying people down the lane, cant really get away with it that well against those teams…well maybe the suns but they have the fire power to keep up.
January 29th, 2008 at 12:42 am
D-lite says:
I know it was late but how can ya’ll not mention KmartII’s heroics along with Hedo, Kid hit a one handed tip in off a inbounds play drew up by Theus with Kurt Thomas holding him down by the left arm, then Kevin took the rock 94″ to drain the leaner and proceed to say “lets go home! Dude should be an allstar and he will in due time. enough of voting for hasbeens! NBA where %^$&^%*^Y&*( happens nightly )