The NBA went absolutely bananas tonight
The Celtics didn't play tonight, but for anyone who didn't pay attention to the rest of the NBA landscape as a result of that - you missed out. Let's list the insane things that happened tonight, shall we?
1. Curry scores 54. Stephen Curry channeled a combination of Larry Bird, Bernard King and (insert ridiculous NBA scorer here) tonight at MSG, going for 54 points on 18-28 shooting (not to mention an absurd 11-13 shooting from downtown). Curry outscored the rest of the Warriors starters (Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes and Andris Biedrins) 54-13. He was a machine. He scored from anywhere he wanted, anytime he wanted, but yet - it wasn't good enough. The Knicks beat the Warriors 109-105 despite Curry going for a league season high in both points, and three pointers made. Watch the amazingness below.
2. Tyson Chandler grabbed 27 rebounds for the Knicks in their aforementioned win against G-State, the second highest total of the NBA season behind Nikola Vucevic's 29 rebound game earlier this year. At first I was wondering to myself, "Hey I wonder if a dude has ever grabbed 27 boards in the same game that someone scored 54 points?" And then I remembered..Wilt Chamberlain existed. Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds PER GAME during the 1961-62 season. So Curry and Chandler can rest their heads on their pillows tonight knowing that they were slightly better combined than big Wilt's average game back in '61.
3. Phoenix snapped San Antonio's 18 game home winning streak as 18.5 point underdogs. One of the cool things about sports is that on any given night, anything can happen. Except the Suns beating the Spurs tonight. That couldn't happen. It couldn't happen because the Spurs had the best record in the NBA (45-13), and had won 18 straight games at home. It couldn't happen because the Suns had the worst record in the West (19-39), and just got annihilated by the Celtics without KG. But then it happened anyways. To make matters even weirder, Phoenix was led by 22 points and 13 rebounds from Jermaine O'Neal. Yes the same J.O.N. who stole $12 million bucks from the Celtics from 2010-12.
4. Monta Ellis hit this ridiculous buzzer beating three off of one foot.
What the hell was that? Just your typical 28 foot fadeaway three off of one foot that does a full spin around the rim before falling to win the game I suppose. But in this battle of 8 seeds, unfortunately the Bucks knocked off the Rockets. This is important for 2 reasons; 1. The Bucks moved within 1.5 games of the Celtics with the W, and 2. The Lakers moved within 2.5 games of the Rockets with their L. Not good at all.
5. Kevin Durant had a triple double by the end of the 3rd quarter, and Oklahoma City won by 45. Most nights one of the NBA's premier players going for a triple double within the first 36 minutes of a game while his team won by nearly half a hundred would be a huge story. But not with tonight's insanity. While Durant's 18/11/10 line in just 27 minutes will be overshadowed by Curry's magnificence, it should be noted the incredible step forward Durant has taken this season. He is beelining towards the greatest season ever by a player who doesn't win the MVP (obviously that's going to Jason Collins).
As I write this there are a few minutes left in the Blazers/Nuggets game, and with how the rest of the night has gone, I fully expect Andre Iguodala to win the game with a dunk from half-court, "MJ" style.
The NBA is cool.
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