Has anybody seen these two because they were nowhere to be found in Phillips Arena in Atlanta against the Miami Heat.

The Atlanta Hawks got blown out by the Miami Heat 107-87 on their own home-court, Phillips Arena in Atlanta.  How do you not show up for a game against a powerhouse team on ESPN. Even the Sacramento Kings showed up on national television in their gym, the Hawks belong in the trashcan after that performance.

Joe Johnson and Josh Smith are the main suspects.  These two have to show up and Johnson is supposed to be an all-star? And I was complaining about Smith not making the team.  This is why Atlanta isn’t going anywhere because these two don’t want to show up in big games.

Joe Johnson 5-for-13 while Josh Smith hit 4-for-12. Neither two wanted anything to do with the second half, milk-carton ballers.

Willie Green and Zaza Pechulia were the two best players on the floor for the Hawks.  That isn’t going to notch you many wins against the Heat. Green 17 Pts, 3 Ast, 3 Reb and Pechulia 4-for-4, 8 Pts, 9 Reb.  Are you kidding me?

LeBron James killed them with 23 Pts, 13 Reb, 6 Ast, 1 Stl while Dwyane Wade 21 Pts in 23 minutes.

The Hawks are a pretender at 18-10.  To win you have to have a little bit of heart and these guys could care less, catch them out in the club celebrating their 20 point loss tonight in the ATL.

If I was the Hawks GM, I would be trying to trade both of these guys for Dwight Howard.  It’s smelling like a first round exit for the Hawks no matter how good they are and how many games they win this season.

There’s something DeMarcus Cousins like about the Atlanta Hawks.  You don’t want to react too much to one regular season game… but not showing up in a prime time game is throwing up all sorts of red flags.  Fire everyone and blow up the team, these guys are never going to win anything.  Same team, different year, expect the Hawks to bow out down the stretch or early in the post-season.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dEaBET7iDM[/youtube]

20 Pts, 8 Ast, 6 Reb, 3 stl for Jeremy Lin as the Knicks win their fifth straight despite Kevin Love going off for 32 points and 21 rebounds.  Lin’s 104 points breaks the NBA record for most points after four starts.  The previous record holder was the one and only Allen Iverson, who had 101.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xou8l5GRaNQ[/youtube]

38 Pts, 4 Reb, 7 Ast, 2 Stl

Jeremy Lin #17 jerseys and Linsanity shirts flew off the shelves all day and the newly crowned King of New York didn’t disappoint when the lights at MSG came on against the Lakers with yet another career-high. NYC has given birth to a star point-god out of Harvard.

The Jeremy Lin show part four started right from the beginning tonight against the Lakers in Madison Square Garden. Tonight marked Lin’s toughest test and he passed with flying colors in the national spotlight on ESPN. Four straight great games from Lin and four straight Knicks wins.  Another game, another career high for Lin with an amazing 38 Pts, 4 Reb, 7 Ast, 1 Stl.  92-85 Knicks beat the Lakers.

Lin racked up 7 points and 2 assists right away, helping the Knicks get out to a 13-4 start. His two assists were both setting up Tyson Chandler beautifully. The linsanity continued in the second quarter as he dropped dimes all over the court. He put an amazing spin move on Derek Fisher and finished the layup in traffic later in the second quarter on a play that is destined for the highlight reels.

Lin’s line at the half was 18 Pts, 2 Reb, 5 Ast, 1 Stl. He’s absolutely dominating out there and I don’t think anyone can argue competition level now and he wasn’t scared at all to take it to the rack against Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. He absolutely carved the Lakers up with his beautiful passing and scored his 18 points while making everyone around him better. Chandler said at the half that Lin has never played against seven footers before.

Kobe Bryant got it going in the last five minutes of the third quarter but the jumper was still shaky as he shot 5-for-16 after three quarters with 10 in the third. Lin was blowing by everyone, getting to the rack, getting to the line, he was the best player on the court with 27 Pts, 2 Reb, 5 Ast, 1 Stl after three quarters. This was the Jeremy Lin show all game long and it’s going to be amazing to see how good they can be when Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire return. Right now, Lin makes Jared Jeffries and Tyson Chandler look great, imagine how many dimes he will drop with two proven superstars to dish it to.

The Mamba kept it going and had 24 points and 10 quarters with the lead cut to down to three with nine minutes left and that’s when none other than Lin responded with a big jumper.  Although it was the Jeremy Lin show in every way, he got some help from his teammates and his success seems to have everybody playing well.  Rookie Iman Shumpert had some key buckets down the stretch. The Knicks have all the momentum in the world right now because of the Jeremy Lin show. He did everything tonight including hit the deep jumper and out duel one of the best scorers ever to play the game, Kobe Bryant (who had 34 Pts, 10 Reb). Four straight wins and a sure-fire everyday starting point guard in the NBA and maybe even a superstar.

Jeremy Lin is undefeated as a starting point guard in the NBA, a perfect 4-0. This is the miracle that the Knicks needed to be a championship contender, a true play-making point guard. Over 25 points per game for Lin as a starter and he’s shooting over 50%.

Not all the stars will be playing in the all-star game in Orlando. I hope Josh Smith and Monta Ellis didn’t have their bags packed.

The East and West all-star reserves have been chosen.  There are always going to be players every year who should get in but the Mississippi Missile Monta Ellis of the Warriors and Josh Smith of the Hawks got snubbed.

It’s especially bad since Ellis’ 48-point explosion against the Thunder is still so fresh on everybody’s mind.  Ellis is averaging 22.6 points per game, sixth in the NBA.  He’s one of the most exciting scorers in the game, capable of getting hot and taking the game over at any given moment.  He’s the type of player that opposing teams have to find the second he crosses half-court or it’s a bucket.

Aside from the huge scoring, Ellis dishes the rock out at an impressive 6.3 assists per game.  He has focused more this season on getting his teammates involved and not just volume shooting.

The reason he was left out probably has more to do with the Warriors sitting at 8-14 than the individual play of Ellis.  Dirk Nowitzki is the guy I would take out.  Dirk has been bad this season after winning a ring, it seems he could care less about another one.  His 17 points per game is down from his 23 per game last season.  His play this season doesn’t warrant all-star status especially not at the expense of a young scoring machine who has been snubbed before.

Josh Smith is another guy that deserved to be an all-star, without a doubt because he fills up every statistical category.  His season averages: 15.6 points per game, 8.9 rebounds per game, 3.2 assists per game, 2.0 blocks per game, and 1.5 steals per game.  He carries the Hawks who are a surprising (to me) 17-9.

Smith’s teammate Joe Johnson made the team instead with his 18.6 points per game.  Johnson can score but he doesn’t do anything else, 4 rebounds and 3.7 assists is pedestrian.  Johnson is the most overpaid, overrated player in the NBA with this all-star appearance.  Smith is the glue in Atlanta and one of the best defenders in the NBA.

Other stars left out: Rudy Gay, Kyle Lowry, Rajon Rondo, Brandon Jennings, Amare Stoudemire

2012 NBA ALL-STAR GAME ORLANDO – ROSTERS

EASTERN CONFERENCE
Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls)
Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat)
LeBron James (Miami Heat)
Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic)
Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks)
Joe Johnson (Atlanta Hawks)
Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics)
Luol Deng (Chicago Bulls)
Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers)
Deron Williams (New Jersey Nets)
Roy Hibbert (Indiana Pacers)
Chris Bosh (Miami Heat)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers)
Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers)
Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Andrew Bynum (Los Angeles Lakers)
Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder)
LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers)
Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves)
Marc Gasol (Memphis Grizzlies)
Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs)
Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks)
Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns)

The Truth spent three years in Lawrence playing under Roy Williams before exploding into superstar status with the Celtics.

Last night Paul Pierce passed up Larry Bird on the Celtics all-time scoring list and is now no. 2.  Pierce is a first-ballot hall-of-famer with no questions asked.

Truth has scored 21,812 points and every single one of them was as a Celtic.  In my mind over 20,000 points is almost an automatic bid into the hall at some point.  Even if it wasn’t, Pierce got the championship ring to seal his place in history.  When Pierce is done playing, he’s going to go down as one of the greatest player to ever wear the green and white.

I hate the Celtics.  However, Paul Pierce will always and forever be one of my favorite players because he attended Kansas University.  Pierce is the only NBA superstar besides Wilt Chamberlain to come out of Kansas.  There’s been plenty of great college players and teams but no superstars in the league besides #34.  Just by being so great for so long, Pierce has helped the program without even reaching out or being there.  Roy Williams wouldn’t even let Pierce shoot the three in college, he was more of a mid-range, slashing type player until he developed the deadly range as a pro.  Pierce average 16.4 points and 6.3 rebounds in three season at Kansas and was drafted 10th overall in the loaded 1998 NBA draft.

Just last season he put my Knicks to sleep in the playoffs game 3 with 38 points including 6-for-8 from three point range.  He’s 34 years old and has slowed down some but the jumper is the last thing that goes and truth is still averaging 18.4 pts, 5.7 reb, 5.6 ast on the season and is trying to put the Celtics on his back.  When it comes down the crunch time there are few better clutch scorers than Pierce and he deserves everything he gets for sticking with the Celtics when they were terrible for all those years.

Career Games: 48 points vs Nets 12/1/01, 50 points, 7 reb, 8 ast vs Cavs 2/15/06, 46 points, 6 ast vs 76ers in playoffs 5/3/02,  41 vs Cavs game 7 5/15/08, 37 points, 10 reb, 8 ast vs Indiana playoffs 4/27/03

It will be interesting to see if the Truth can play long enough to somehow pass John Havlicek, who had 26,395 for his career.  Even if he doesn’t, players like Paul Pierce don’t come around often so enjoy him while he’s here.

The Mississippi Missile Monta Ellis put a show on last night in Oakland with a career-high 48 points and did in on 18-for-19 shooting.  As you can see in the video, he can pretty much do what he wants with the ball.

Right out of the gates the Warriors got off to a 8-0 and Ellis punked every defender he saw.  David Lee added a triple-double with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists and it still wasn’t enough to get the Warriors a win.

Ellis gave the Warriors a one point lead with 16 seconds left and then the Durantula happened.  Durant hit a deep bank shot off an inbounds pass and didn’t even think about calling glass.  KD’s line looked like this 33 Pts, 10 Reb, 7 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk.

Ellis bricked a jumper at the end that would have given the Warriors the lead.  48 points is jaw dropping, but it ended with him shooting and missing a long jumper.

Mark Jackson and the Warriors are 8-14 and things aren’t looking the best for them out West.  They are a very tough team at home but they won’t win on the road. Despite that, Ellis can put the ball in the basket and deserves to be an all-star in Orlando.

I wonder what it would take for the Warriors to trade Ellis?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiMxx78KhuM[/youtube]

28 pts, 8 ast, 2 stl

Jeremy Lin has come through with back-to-back great games for the Knicks and looks like the point guard of the future in New York.

Tyson Chandler was in foul trouble, Carmelo Anthony hurt his groin five minutes into the game, and Amare Stoudemire was out due to the passing of his brother.  No Chandler, No Anthony, No Stoudemire?… No problem.  Point-god Jeremy Lin does it again as the Knicks roll the Jazz in the Garden.

28 points, 8 assists, 2 steals, and a barrage of MVP chants throughout the Garden every time Lin went to the line.  Every time he plays big minutes, he gets a new career-high.

Lin is doing everything that a quality everyday NBA starting point guard is expected to do.  His penetration game is what makes him so lethal as he’s able to finish at the basket or draw in the defense and find the open man.  I feel comfortable when the ball is in Jeremy Lin’s hands, he just gives me the feeling that he’s going to make the smart play every time.  So far it seems like the basketball gods are answering my gift for a legit point guard with the walking miracle that is Jeremy Lin.  Call me crazy but I think he could become the firm starter for the Knicks even when Baron Davis gets ‘healthy’.  You know Lin is doing something when he can quarterback a win over the Jazz with Steve Novak, Bill Walker, Landry Fields, and Jared Jeffries on the floor.  He played a whopping 45 minutes and led his team to victory.

Novak went out and completely redeemed himself with 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting in 16 minutes.  Last game against the Celtics, Novak missed the potential game-winning shot that he had no business shooting in the first place after he checked in just to play the final seconds of the game.  This game, you saw why D’Antoni would put in him just to take a shot because he’s a dead-eye shooter.

Although this was a great win for the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony injured his groin five minutes into the game.  Anythony’s injury problems this year are becoming very concerning.  When healthy, I think he’s the most dominant scoring machine in basketball but is he all of the sudden injury prone in his eighth season?  I’m counting on the Bully to get healthy and lead the Knicks to the playoffs.

The Knicks improved to 10-15 on the season and Lin appears to be the driving force behind the Knicks now two-game winning-streak.  53 points in his last two games, both wins… he scored 76 all last season with the Warriors.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIIo6GNW70k[/youtube]

25 Pts, 5 Reb, 7 Ast, 2 Stl