The Good
Phoenix Suns 118 @ Oklahoma City Thunder 122
The Vince taketh, and the Vince giveth away. Carter made a three-pointer to tie the game with nine seconds to go in regulation and force overtime. After the Thunder got out to a good jump to start the extra stanza, back-to-back three-pointer by Jared Dudley and Carter gave the Suns the lead.
A bit of a controversy came up though in the next couple of plays as James Harden was awarded with an AND-1 on a dunk where it looks like Steve Nash wasn't even close to fouling him. He made the free-throw, giving OKC a 116-115 lead. The Thunder tacked on another FT with 21 seconds left.
Carter got the benefit of another phantom foul call on Phoenix's next possession but proceeded to miss 2 of the 3 free-throws. The Thunder closed it out at the line from there.
Vince may have choked on those free-throws, but the Suns wouldn't have had a chance without him according to The Bright Side of the Sun,
And then of course there's Vince Carter. Despite his missed free throws at the end, the Suns ARE NO WHERE near that far in the game without Vince Carter hitting some sick, sick shots when the Suns really needed them. He just needed some big-shot help on the court with him and no one stepped up besides Dudley once.
The Jazz aren't catching the Thunder or coming close for that matter. Phoenix is who the Jazz are fighting against for the pleasure of trying to overcome Memphis for the right to lose the Spurs in the first round. So it was good to see OKC pull this one out.
For more, check out,
Bright Side of the Suns
Welcome to Loud City
Two more games in the association last night. More after the jump.
The Meh
No meh games last night.
The Ugly
New Orleans Hornets 96 @ Cleveland Cavaliers 81
Forget the Hornets winning last night. That was secondary to the scary moment involving Chris Paul. He collided with Ramon Sessions after he lost the ball and tried to recover. He was on the ground for a couple of minutes before being carted off the court in a stretcher as a precaution.
Chris Paul Head Injury - Hornets @ Cavaliers 3/6/2011 (via nbafufu)
Woj later tweeted that he was diagnosed with a concussion and would miss their next game against Chicago. From all accounts, it sounds like he'll be okay. When it comes to head/neck injuries though, you can't be too cautious.
Check out At the Hive for more.
Memphis Grizzlies 104 @ Dallas Mavericks 103
This one hurts the most of last night's action. The Grizzlies just haven't slowed down since Rudy Gay's injury. Dallas had been pretty dominant in the first half but gave up 41 points in the third quarter and fell behind going into the fourth.
They started out well enough to start the last period but let the Grizzlies hang around. With Memphis down 1, OJ Mayo took a shot late that was blocked by Brendan Hayward but went right to Shane Battier who put back the bunny for a 1-point lead. With 14 seconds left, the Mavs got the ball to Dirk who made the would-be game winner with 3 seconds left in the game. Unfortunately that was enough time for the Grizz to go to Zach Randolph who made the high-arching jumper to win the game.
Can't count on Dallas for anything. The Jazz do have one more game in Memphis this season.
Check out:
Mavs Moneyball
Straight Outta Vancouver
Overall
The bad news outnumbered the good, 2-1. It could have been a great night had the Mavs held on. It was good to see the Suns fall back to the Jazz for now, but if you're looking for a playoff spot, you want Mephis to stumble. And the fact that they're not, with Gay out, is even more frustrating. When they get him back, they're going to make a push either way.
Looking forward to
Big night tonight. In addition to the Knicks game tonight, you have the Blazers @ Magic, Hornets @ Bulls, Thunder @ Grizzlies, and the Rockets (yes, they're creeping up) @ Kings.