Coaches and players coming to bat for each other, white hot Trailblazers and the worst night of injuries in recent memory.
1. Earlier in the week Deron Williams re-sprained an ankle that had been nagging him in the week prior and he will be sitting out a few games to let it heal properly. On Friday night we saw injuries to Andre Iguodala, Marc Gasol, and Derrick Rose. Gasol suffered a grade 2 MCL sprain in a loss to the Spurs but will not require surgery. His timetable for recovery at this point is unknown though. Andre Iguodala said he felt his hamstring "pop" after chasing down a lose ball late in the 3rd quarter. An MRI showed only a hamstring strain which is better than originally suspected. Derrick Rose after spending 18 months rehabbing a torn ACL suffered the worst injury of the night tearing the medial meniscus in his right knee (he tore he left ACL two seasons ago). He has opted to go with surgery to reattach his meniscus rather than cut it out, better long term solution but the rehab will cause him to be out the rest of the season. Depending on the length of some of these guys recoveries the landscape of both conferences could have been drastically altered Friday.
2. With Tyson Chandler out injured right now Carmelo Anthony is having to work much harder down below. In loses against the Pistons (25 pts 7 reb) and the Pacers (30 pts and 18 rebs) both big and physical teams Melo worked hard for his numbers. Every possession he had down low seemed like there could have been a call. He has complained about not getting the calls other top tier players would but it hasn't deterred him from staying down below and fighting it out. Even his coach Mike Woodson has come to his aide for which he was fined 25 large. Calls or not, much respect to Melo for putting in the work and not backing down.
3. If anyone knows Spurs coach Greg Popovich it's Rick Carlisle and the Mavs. Southwest division rivals and two of the best coaches in the game here is Carlisle's homage to Pop.
4. Kobe Bryant was given clearance to resume basketball activities last Monday marking just seven months from when he initially ruptured his achilles. With the Lakers not fighting for any records or playoff positioning at this point D'Antoni and Lakers staff have urged patience with Bryant who has already resumed practicing with the team., although in a limited capacity "no full speed drills and no defensive coverage". It will probably still be a while before we see the Mamba suit up but many are looking towards the Lakers Christmas game against the Heat for a return.
5. Once again Lebron carries the Heat to victory in a comeback win against the Magic on Saturday night.
6. The Portland Trailblazers have started out hot and are currently on a ten game winning streak putting them at 12-2. They are half a game behind the Spurs in the west who suffered their only loss at the hands of the Blazers. Led by the play of LaMarcus Aldridge the team has already faced some of the league's elite squads in the Spurs, the Warriors, and the Bulls.
7. There has been much speculation as to who the first coach to be fired will be and many have pointed to Wizard's coach Randy Wittman as a favorite. The Wizards fell short of the playoffs last year after showing some promise in the last half of the season and many believe Wittman doesn't have long to prove success in Washington before he's out, with the playoffs being a franchise goal this year. Wittman has said he is not concerned with losing the job but has voiced much concern over his team's heart for the game. Last week the players came to the defense of Wittman and said the blame should be placed on them which may buy him some time but unless the team makes a turn as a whole the end may be sooner rather than later.
8. While Friday was a terrible night for injuries Wednesday night was a great night in basketball. An early game between the Knicks & Pacers went to overtime on a questionable three point foul call on Iman Shumpert (especially considering some of the contact Melo was drawing that night) and the Pacers went on to close out in overtime. The Mavs & Rockets were the later game on ESPN and found the Mavs coming back from being down the majority of the game on two big jumpers from Shawn Marion, both of assists from Monta Ellis. In a later game the Warriors & Grizzlies went even later going into overtime. The Grizzlies were able to control the extra period and took the win.
9. Houston Rockets backup point guard Aaron Brooks had a monster game Saturday night against the Timberwolves. James Harden was out with an injured foot giving Brooks big opportunity. In just under 25 minutes Brooks scored 26 points of the bench with six of seven shooting from downtown.
10. Matt Bonner is awesome.
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