San Antonio Doesn’t Even Need Tim Duncan; Warriors Win A Wild Game

In Tony Parker‘s last three games in Atlanta, he’s scored 33 points a game. Knowing that, can we fault Gregg Popovich for sitting Tim Duncan in the Spurs’ five-point win over the Hawks? Not really, not after seeing San Antonio hold the Hawks down in their 98-93 win. Somehow, even without their best player, the Spurs jumped on the Hawks and led all the way until the third quarter. They were up by as many as a dozen points as Matt Bonner dropped 11 quick points in the second quarter, all from around the arc … Lou Williams is out for the year with a right knee injury, and that means more shots for sniper John Jenkins, which might actually be a good thing. Some of the Philly fans in the Dime offices are still recovering from the Lou Williams years … It took a while, but eventually the Grizzlies imposed their will on Chicago in their three-point win in overtime. Memphis was actually out-rebounded, and probably outplayed, but Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph combined for seven of the team’s nine overtime points … The end of Charlotte’s four-point loss to Sacramento went in the same way the rest of their season has. Kemba Walker got a good look, but his shot didn’t even hit rim, a complete garbage final play. Marcus Thornton had 18 off the bench, and DeMarcus Cousins had 17 and 10 … Watching Aaron Brooks get his shot redirected by Brendan Haywood last night reminded us of when Brooks was actually good. At this point, after seeing him lose his job and play worse defense than anyone all year, we should just chalk that Most Improved Player trophy he once won up to more shots and more responsibility … Sacramento might not be playing all that well but at least they had a few highlight plays in the first quarter. One was a Cousins-to-Thornton assist that the broadcasters accurately described as a “LeBron James pass.” Standing at the arc, DMC whipped it one handed underneath the rim to Thornton, putting some serious English on it. Then a few minutes later, Isaiah Thomas went four-on-five at the quarter buzzer (Thomas Robinson was on the floor in pain on the other end) and converted at the rim with a slick layup over the trees … Is there a more average player who’s played as long for one team as Francisco Garcia? … In college hoops last night, No. 13 Butler’s Roosevelt Jones (20 points) made a ridiculous shot at the buzzer to beat No. 8 Gonzaga by one. The Zags lost despite rocking some dope new uniforms, and having two guys drop 20 a piece (Sam Dower, Elias Harris) … Meanwhile, Louisville was ranked No. 1 in the country until they ran into ‘Cuse. The Orange took them out by two, getting 23 points from Brandon Triche in a close game … Keep reading to hear about Golden State’s wild win …

The Hornets might be one of the hottest teams in the NBA – sounds crazy, right? – but still, Golden State had enough last night to beat them by four, 116-112. In his return to Louisiana, Jarrett Jack dropped 25 points and 12 assists in another one of those “give me the Sixth Man of the Year” games, while Klay Thompson had 29 and Stephen Curry dropped 20 … The T’Wolves won a wild game over Houston, 92-79, as Andrei Kirilenko dropped 21 and 11. Most would’ve been surprised by the outcome, but the Rockets were playing their fourth game in five nights, their eighth in 12 days and their fifth back-to-back in 15 days. Because of injury, Minnesota has signed on so many guys off the street that we’re not sure the fans knew who to cheer for anymore. Terry Porter and Shawn Respert, two coaches, are even playing in practices, which led to this comment from Minnesota’s broadcast: “Shawn might be sore but he’s still pretty good looking. He might still be able to get a 10-day contract.” We know what you meant dude, but damn … Brandon Jennings might’ve lost a lot of his hype to some of the younger point guards, but he said his idol – Kobe Bryant – was the reasoning behind his big performance in Milwaukee’s 110-104 win in Portland. Jennings (30 points, eight dimes) wanted to play harder all the time, and it might’ve taken a night of full-court D from Kobe earlier this season to do it. Last night, he won his matchup with Damian Lillard (26 points, 10 assists) and the Bucks got it done because Ersan Ilyasova (27 points, 14 rebounds) found his game for the first time this season … In other story lines from last night: Utah took out the Cavs by 11, despite Dion Waiters (23 points) having one of the nastiest dunks we’ve seen from a rookie since Dwyane Wade and LeBron James were first-year players; and in the Clippers’ seven-point win, Chris Paul (22 points, 11 assists) out-played John Wall (24 points) … And who noticed Russell Westbrook singing Ke$ha on Friday night? He knew all the words, and had the cadence down pat. Can we add this to his 2K14 signature package? Maybe a part of his pregame routine? … We’re out like Louisville’s No. 1 spot.

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