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Quote of the Night: “What we told Glen was, ‘He’s taller than you. You’re heavier than him. You’re not going to grow today, but because you have a low center of gravity, get into his legs and try to push him off the block. You can’t get frustrated. … He did that a couple of times.”
-Doc Rivers to Big Baby on how to guard Tim Duncan
Line of the Night: Amare Stoudemire (6.1). 31 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. 10-17 from the field, 10-10 from the line. Two game-clinching free throws. It’s Stoudemire’s second straight game of at least 30 and 10. I think you could say he’s enjoying life without Shawn Marion. And the Suns seem to be doing OK for themselves too.
Honorable Mentions: An all-around good game for Vincesanity* (5.3). Carter went for 29/9/3 off 12-20 shooting and added 2 steals and 2 blocks; The Black Mamba (5.3) shot 10-15 from the floor and 11-11 from the line and finished with 33 points, 5 assists, and a couple steals as the Lakers beat Miami 104-94; and The Matrix (5.0) fit in pretty good with the Heat in his first game. Marion had 15 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks.
Waiver Wire Line of the Night: If this is the Mark Blount (4.1) we’re going to see on the Dwayne Wade/Shawn Marion Heat, then I’m buying. Blount started at center and played 36 minutes, scoring 22 points with 5 rebounds and a couple blocks. His rebounding numbers will continue to be atrocious playing alongside Marion, but offensively, he’ll certainly be able to take advantage of Marion’s presence (and passing ability).
Short-term: If Dorell Wright (3.9) is available in your league, he’ll be a decent short-term option while Haslem is out. Yesterday Wright scored 15 while pulling down 7 rebounds and stealing a couple balls; and Roger Mason (3.6) will have fantasy value as long as Antonio Daniels is out with his ankle injury. He scored 18 (off 4-10 from three) in the Wizards most recent loss.
The Biggest Loser: The actual worst game of yesterday belongs to Eric Snow (1.1), who scored 1 point and was 0-5 from the floor in 26 minutes. But since we expect things like that from Eric Snow, this one really goes to Leandro Barbosa (1.5). Barbosa was 2-12 from the floor and finished with 5 points and 2 rebounds in 23 minutes. Maybe I should cut the guy some slack because he eventually left the game with flu like symptoms, but if you’re willing to pull a Michael Jordan be prepared to live up to some lofty expectations.
*I had to build a walk-in closet in my house to store the stale collection of nicknames I have from 5+ years ago.
