Paul Pierce Owns New York City; Kevin Durant One-Up’d By A Rookie

On a night where we all tried to watch a BCS championship that got so bad – think Spike running over the Little Giants – that Brent Musburger needed a hall pass by the end of the first quarter because he was getting distracted by A.J. McCarron‘s girlfriend, we saw more than enough upsets in the NBA to hold over even the most raucous Notre Dame fans. In the Mecca, Paul Pierce oiled up the machine, got the creaky gears working together again, and put on his “professional scorer” face in the fourth quarter of Boston’s 102-96 “don’t believe the hype” win against the Knicks. Pierce had 23 points, and three or four buckets in the fourth quarter that took the life out of the New York crowd, all the while just pleading for someone to start talking junk with him. He should’ve hopped into the Carmelo Anthony/Kevin Garnett beef. Anthony (6-for-26, 20 points) hijacked the New York offense because he got into a showdown trash-talking matchup with Garnett that lasted longer than anything we’ve seen this season. We’re not sure how it started – maybe KG confused ‘Melo with Boris Diaw or some other soft European? – but it included elbows, angry slap-downs and lots of cuss words. They were so into it you could hear them when Garnett went to the line in the last minute – Anthony was promising to see Garnett (19 points, 10 boards) later. Sure enough, after the game ended, Anthony was reportedly yelling outside of Boston’s locker room – he was either trying to fight KG, or he was looking for his jump shot … When New York needed a boost of energy, it wasn’t Carmelo speaking up nor was it Jason Kidd being the voice of reason. It was J.R. Smith (24 points, 20-plus in seven of his last nine games), who brought everyone together at one point to basically say “Get your s— together.” We were never sure we’d see the day when Smith became a leader, but he’s playing like one now. And near the end of the game, Smith got whacked across the head by Avery Bradley and came back in rocking a head bandage that must’ve looked awful to everybody but Paul Pierce … Remember the days when Amar’e Stoudemire and Kevin Garnett used to redefine the power forward position during their heated one-on-one matchups? Neither one of them can jump anymore, but Garnett still has an endless supply of old man tricks, while Amar’e finally showed a few glimpses last night with 13 points off the bench … Heard on Boston’s broadcast: Tommy Heinsohn yelled at referee Violet Palmer, “Violet, you’re a fraud!” At least Tommy didn’t threaten anyone’s life this time. We love League Pass … Down the stretch, Al Jefferson (15 points, 11 rebounds) unleashed the South on Dallas in the Jazz’s come-from-behind 100-94 W, but it was Gordon Hayward who was the difference. With a shaved head making him look like a third grader, Hayward had 18 points in the first half and 27 for the game. He also had the best move we’ve ever seen from him: a behind-the-back spin move that he finished in the lane against Darren CollisonRoddy Beaubois also tried to pack one on Hayward’s head at the start of the fourth quarter. He must’ve forgot Hayward is one of the sneakiest chase-down block artists in the league … And in desperate need of some rebounding, the Miami Heat invited Chris “Birdman” Andersen in for a workout. If this goes through, not only should Andersen give the Heat an extra body in the playoffs, but it’ll reunite Birdman with the original BirdmanKeep reading to hear about how a rookie upstaged Kevin Durant …

We found the kryptonite for how to take out the NBA’s best team: bring them to Washington, D.C. and have them play the league’s sorriest team. The Wizards have now beaten OKC two times in a row at home, and this time it took an up-and-under leaner from Bradley Beal with 0.3 seconds left to do it, 101-99. Outside of Kevin Seraphin‘s (19 points) sneaky good post moves, Beal (22 points) might be the only reason to watch Washington right now, and he delivered one of the best performances of his career when the Wiz needed him most. That’s because hometown kid Kevin Durant (29 points, seven boards, eight dimes) was in the midst of shutting the arena down while saving Russell Westbrook‘s ass (4-for-17 shooting, a dozen instances of “bad” Russ). Trailing most of the fourth quarter, KD scored four straight points, and then found Serge Ibaka (26 points, 11 rebounds) for a J before following it up with a triple from Rockville to tie it up in the final minute. But Martell Webster (22 points) connected on a crazy four-point play during that run, and then Beal finished off Washington’s wild upset … Another Western Conference power fell last night in New Orleans. The real Eric Gordon (24 points) showed up against San Antonio, turning the Hornets into a real team in their seven-point win over the Spurs. By just taking Austin Rivers‘ spot in the starting five, EG automatically upgraded New Orleans by five or six ugly jumpers, and he provided the offensive cushion the rest of the team – specifically Greivis Vasquez (14 points, 11 dimes) and Anthony Davis (17 points, nine boards) – needed to hold off the Spurs in the second half. During a stretch in the third quarter, if it wasn’t for Tony Parker dicing New Orleans’ defense up with four straight buckets, San Antonio would’ve fallen behind by 15. Everything was clicking for the Hornets… Robin Lopez even scored on a left-handed hook AND a face-up jump shot. Gregg Popovich looked like he wanted to crack open a bottle of wine and start reading a good book … In other story lines from Monday night: Chicago put a hurting on the Cavs, 118-92. Carlos Boozer mustered up some magic, grilling the team he once stabbed in the back with 24 points and 11 rebounds in less than 30 minutes; Portland and LaMarcus Aldridge (27 points, 10 rebounds) survived in overtime against Orlando, 125-119; and the Grizzlies blitzed Sacramento by 32, getting 26 points from Wayne Ellington off the bench … We’re out like the Fighting Irish.

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