As I feast on loads of NBA games during the past weekend, two individuals and one team caught my fancy during the premiere week of the 2008-09 NBA season. First is Rudy Gay of the Memphis Grizzlies. This 6-9 forward's improve play brought back memories of Doctor J and Larry Nance. It was his incredible display of power and grace throughout their game against the visiting Orlando Magic , which was punctuated by a buzzer-beating jumper in the corner to give the Grizzlies an 86-84 victory. Gay led the team in scoring with 29 big points. With Mike Miller 's departure to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Gay had assumed the leadership position of the Memphis squad. I will not be surprise at all if Gay makes it to the next All-Star game.
Next is Nick Collison, the 6-9 power forward of the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder. The former Kansas standout had a double-double performance with 10 points and 10 rebounds as the Thunder recorded their first ever NBA victory with an 88-85 cliff-hanger over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves. I was amazed with his late game heroics as he pumped it two crucial baskets during the homestretch. Not to take anything away from rookie Russell Westbrook, who played a good all-around game and finished with 14 points, but it was Collison's strong post plays which was crucial to the historic win.
It was a holiday-like atmosphere in Conseco Fieldhouse as the Indiana Pacers played host to the visiting defending NBA champs, the Boston Celtics last Saturday night (Sunday morning Manila time). There were lots of festivities in Indianapolis leading off to their first home game of the season. The Pacers are starting a season sans erstwhile All-Star Jermaine O'Neill, who was traded to the Toronto Raptors during the off-season. Even on the road, the Celtics are always the team to beat, and nobody gave a chinaman's chance for the Pacers to pull off a Houdini-like kind of win. But the Pacers did not want to disappoint the hometown fans and elevated their game to an almost perfect kind of game brilliance as they scored a big upset win over the men in green, 95 to 79. Old hand Danny Granger led the Pacers with 20 points and new recruit T.J. Ford, who came in from the O'Neill trade, added 19 points.
Hey, this is just the first week and what a premiere week it was!
Next is Nick Collison, the 6-9 power forward of the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder. The former Kansas standout had a double-double performance with 10 points and 10 rebounds as the Thunder recorded their first ever NBA victory with an 88-85 cliff-hanger over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves. I was amazed with his late game heroics as he pumped it two crucial baskets during the homestretch. Not to take anything away from rookie Russell Westbrook, who played a good all-around game and finished with 14 points, but it was Collison's strong post plays which was crucial to the historic win.
It was a holiday-like atmosphere in Conseco Fieldhouse as the Indiana Pacers played host to the visiting defending NBA champs, the Boston Celtics last Saturday night (Sunday morning Manila time). There were lots of festivities in Indianapolis leading off to their first home game of the season. The Pacers are starting a season sans erstwhile All-Star Jermaine O'Neill, who was traded to the Toronto Raptors during the off-season. Even on the road, the Celtics are always the team to beat, and nobody gave a chinaman's chance for the Pacers to pull off a Houdini-like kind of win. But the Pacers did not want to disappoint the hometown fans and elevated their game to an almost perfect kind of game brilliance as they scored a big upset win over the men in green, 95 to 79. Old hand Danny Granger led the Pacers with 20 points and new recruit T.J. Ford, who came in from the O'Neill trade, added 19 points.
Hey, this is just the first week and what a premiere week it was!
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