Gilbert Arenas Is Alive; LaMarcus Aldridge Beats Dallas At The Buzzer

He didn’t win them the game. He didn’t bang a big shot. It only matters that he actually MADE shots. As Memphis lit the Heat on fire in Miami, Gilbert Arenas came off the bench to hit four triples for 12 points, shooting as if he’d forgotten he lost his legs around the same time he lost his mind. It was a perfect night all the way around for the Grizzlies, who led the entire way and blew out Miami by 15, and are nearing the end of a run of seven games in nine days (six against current playoff teams). They’re 4-2 so far. Zach Randolph had 14 and 14. Mike Conley gave Miami’s point guards detention slips for “failing to show up.” Memphis even held down LeBron James (21 points) and Dwyane Wade (20 points) without Tony Allen, who was probably out tweeting ridiculous s$%^ somewhere (He was actually out with a facial laceration.) … Miami’s 17-game home winning streak is now over. In the first half, they looked like they had just finished eating an entire meal of greasy food. Turnovers. Turnovers. Turnovers. In-between throwing up, Pat Riley probably left three or four messages on Steve Nash‘s cell … Indiana made their own statement last night, nearly blowing all of a 24-point lead before eventually holding on to beat OKC, 103-98. Roy Hibbert (21 points, 12 rebounds) was a man unchained with 16 in the first half. He tipped in a hoop and stuffed Russell Westbrook‘s (21 points, 11 rebounds, nine dimes) last possession drive. KD had a couple nice dunks and would go on to drop 44, but the Pacers were responding to their big man’s lead, not OKC. There was more airtime for the upcoming Pacers Dufflebag Night than Thunder highlights through about 30 minutes outside of one play. Doesn’t it feel like Hibbert is getting dunked on once a week? Last night he was late again, and Kevin Durant put one on his mug. Extra points for the announcer’s unique call: “UNCOILING LIKE THE RATTLESNAKE AND STRIKING!” … But after getting drilled like Black & Decker most of the night, OKC handed Durant the ball and the lead got sliced in half. A 7-0 Westbrook/KD spurt cut it to five. With the majority of Indy fretting, the Pacers did pretty much everything they possibly could to lose until Darren Collison made Derek Fisher eat the game-deciding jumper … With those two wins, Memphis and Indiana now join Atlanta as the only teams in the league to beat Chicago, Miami and Oklahoma City this year. We feel like this has to mean something right? … Did you know the team with the best record in the West now resides in Texas? Yes, it surprised us too, but the Spurs are now in the top spot after dismembering New Orleans and feeding their limbs to DeJuan Blair, 128-103. Eric Gordon‘s 31 points didn’t matter because San Antonio somehow scored 82 points off the bench. Read that stat again … Deron Williams might’ve dropped 19 and 13 in New Jersey’s double-digit win over the Wizards. But afterwards, the only number on his mind was 19… as in the number of days left until the end of the season. At least he didn’t go asking for Avery Johnson to be fired … John Wall (18 points) was up and down, but he did have one sequence where he caught an oop pass and reversed it, then came down and blocked a D-Will layup … Milwaukee’s new-look backcourt was phenomenal in their five-point win over Charlotte, but Byron Mullens unleashed a 31-point, 14-rebound night in the loss which might’ve been enough to keep Paul Silas from drinking himself to sleep … The Jazz got 30 and 11 from Al Jefferson to beat the Warriors 104-98 … And Isiah Thomas was dismissed as the coach from Florida International. Thomas-to-New York rumors starting in 3…2…1 … Keep reading to hear about LaMarcus Aldridge’s buzzer-beater …

There was a point in the midst of Raymond Felton‘s epic night (30 points, seven rebounds, six assists) where he made a layup and the TV guys asked, “Is it that dude’s birthday tonight?” For some reason, Dallas’ announcers were splurging all over Felton and Jamal Crawford for the entire 48 of Portland’s 99-97 overtime win. They should’ve been saving that for someone else on Portland’s roster. LaMarcus Aldridge (25 points, 12 rebounds) is not a fan of tanking. Tied in Dallas in overtime, the Blazers went to their big man, who had started the extra session with a sweet post move. Then on that final play, he finished it off, stepping back to hit a jumper at the buzzer … It never would’ve come to that if it wasn’t for one big Blazer run. Portland went on a 20-3 run to end the third quarter as Raymond Felton piled up something other than food for once: numbers. After that, Brandan Wright started dunking everything. He caught a lob, switch hands and windmilled it last night. In about 20 years, they are going to have to change the laws of the game. The boundaries are being pushed almost every night … Arron Afflalo (30 points) ended what Andre Miller and Kenneth Faried got going late in the fourth in Denver’s six-point win over the Suns. Afflalo dropped a three orange-ball, corner pocket to get up with 40 seconds left. Miller and Manimal owned the last five minutes, though. To get a 9-0 run going, Faried dunked over Channing Frye from a dead stop, then Miller found Faried for a half-court oop. Steve Nash (14 points, 11 assists) had answers with a three and a layup on each of Faried’s hoops but the Suns’ life was gone. Now the Nugs get the tiebreaker over Phoenix for the postseason … Cleveland beat Toronto by four behind the ageless wonder, Antawn Jamison (25 points). But down the stretch, the game was an adventure offensively. Loose balls. Bad shots. Bricks. Dribble turnovers. It looked like the opening night of high school tryouts … The Hawks avoided what would’ve been a crushing loss to Detroit by relying on Josh Smith (22 points, 12 rebounds) and… Jeff Teague? Yep, the point guard brought them back in the fourth quarter, and pushed them to a 94-89 win by going for 24 points and 11 dimes, breaking down some half-hearted Piston D in the closing five minutes … And Goran Dragic lit up the Lakers for 26 points and 11 rebounds as Andrew Bynum was ejected (AGAIN) in Houston’s 112-107 W … We’re out like Isiah Thomas.

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