Lakers Defeat Mavs; Week In Review

Portland's Hero

NBA Recap

Bryant

Just after Dwight Howard admitted that his poor conditioning lost the Lakers games he and the team were on the court to face the Dallas Mavericks. Kobe Bryant's free throw with 4 seconds left put the game out of reach at 103-99 and that is how it finished. Kobe scored 38 points on the night and also had 7 assists. For the Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki dropped 30 and grabbed 13 rebounds.

Luke Ridnour's shot with one second left did not hit the mark leaving the Minnesota Timberwolves one point shy of overtime. Jarrett Jack was the most crucial part of the Warriors victory scoring 23 points and dishing out 8 assists. Derrick Williams played strong in the 100-99 loss with 23 points and 12 rebounds.

The Cavaliers put themselves in a position to beat the Heat last night with a 36-17 3rd quarter to give themselves a 1 point lead going into the fourth. The Heat pulled out the comeback to win their 11th game in a row by a score of 109-105. Lebron James had 28 points and 8 assists agianst his former team. Dion Waiters led the Cavs with 26 points.

The Hornets swept the Kings under the rug 110-95 thanks to Anthony Davis's 20 points. Greivis Vazques had a double-double for the Hornets with 12 points and 13 assists.

The Grizzlies and Nets decided to not partake in offense as the Griz pulled out a 76-72 win. Zach Randolph was crucial in the victory with 16 points and 14 boards. Deron Williams had 24 points in the loss.

Despite Jrue Holiday's 30 points the Sixers came up 6 points shy of the Knicks in a 99-93 loss. Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points as the Knicks broke their four game losing streak.

The Spurs used a dominating 2nd quarter effort to bury the Suns 97-87. Patty Mills and Kawhi Leonard both led the Spurs with 16 points while Leonard had an additional 8 rebounds. Marcin Gortat was the Suns' best performer with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

The Trail Blazers defeated the Celtics 92-86 in Portland thanks to Wesley Matthews 7 points in the last 2:13. On top of his heroics in the closing minutes, Matthews finished with 24 points including a 5-8 performance from 3 pt land. Paul Pierce played well for the Celtics scoring 23 points, dishing out 8 asssists, and grabbing 7 rebounds.

The last game of the night was a blowout as the Thunder surprisingly destroyed the Bulls 102-72. The Bulls only shot 29% for the game with their leading scorers being Luol Deng and Nate Robinson who only had 13 a piece.  The Thunder were led by Russell Westbrook's 23 points and and Kevin Durant's 19/16/6 performance.

NBA Week In Review

NBA League Leaders - Feb 18, 2013 to Feb 24, 2013
Points		P	Assists		A
	1. James Harden	31.7		1. Goran Dragic	12.2
	2. Kobe Bryant	31.3		2. Greivis Vasquez	10.5
	3. Kemba Walker	24.8		3. Jeff Teague	9.7
	4. Lebron James	23.5		4. Lebron James	9.2
	5. Dwayne Wade	23.5		5. Ricky Rubio	8.7
Rebounds		R	Turnovers		TO
	1. Zach Randolph	56		1. Goran Dragic	16
	2. David Lee	55		2. Russell Westbrook	15
	3. Joakim Noah	42		3. John Wall	15
	4. Nikola Vucevic	42		4. Stephen Curry	14
	5. Reggie Evans	41		5. Deron Williams	14
Steals		S	Blocks		B
	1. Ricky Rubio	4.7		1. Larry Sanders	12
	2. Goran Dragic	3		2. Serge Ibaka	11
	3. Mike Conley	2.5		3. Tyson Chandler	9
	4. Al- Farouq Aminu	2.5		4. Joakim Noah	9
	5. Trevor Ariza	2.3		5. Al- Farouq Aminu	9
Field Goal % (minimum 35 attempts)		FG%	Free Throw % (minimum 10)		FT%
	1. J.J. Hickson	67.6		1. J.J. Redick	100
	2. Al Horford	66.7		2. Kyrie Irving	100
	3. Marcin Gortat	60		3. Anthony Davis	100
	4. Lebron James	59		4. Kevin Durant	95.7
	5. Mario Chalmers	57.6		5. Russell Westbrook	95.2

2-18 to 2-24 All NBA
Eastern Conference		Western Conference
Pos	Starters	Pos	Starters
PG	CLE- Kyrie Irving	PG	SA- Tony Parker
SG	MIA- Dwayne Wade	SG	HOU- James Harden
SF	MIA- Lebron James	SF	OKC- Kevin Durant
PF	ATL- Al Horford	PF	DAL- Dirk Nowitzki
C	MIL- Larry Sanders	C	POR- J.J. Hickson

Perry's overtime winner

NHL Recap

Rask

Tuukka Rask made 34 saves on 35 shots to improve to 8-0-1 on the year in the Bruins 4-1 win over the Panthers. 

Martin Brodeur left ice during the warmups due to soreness and Johan Hedberg had to take his place. The Jets took full advantage of that to walk away from New Jersey with a 4-2 victory. Evander Kane scored his 7th goal of the year while in the third period teammate Andrew Ladd netted his 10th.

The Canucks got off to a hot start scoring 3 goals in the first, two from Daniel Sedin, to get a 3-2 lead going into the second. That is where things turned south for the Canucks as the Red Wings went on a scoring rampage with three of their own in the second. Things were not done there as Damien Brunner scored his 10th goal of the year and second of the game halfway through the third. To make the game 8-3 Joakim Andersson netted two goals a minute apart from each other at the end of the final frame. Damien Brunner had two assists in addition to his 2 goals and Jonathan Ericsson had two assists as well.

Evgeni Nabokov got the night off as the Islanders went with Kevin Poulin in net. Things looked good for the Islanders as they were off to a 2-0 start thanks to goals by Matt Moulson and John Tavares. The Islanders kept on to their lead until 47 seconds left in the second when Jordan Staal scored a minute after his older brother Eric to tie the game up. Alexander Semin assisted on both of the goals. The game continued to tied until halfway through the third when Bobby Sanguinetti scored his first NHL goal with assists from Patrick Dwyer and Jordan Staal. Alexander Semin then capped his 3 pt night off with an empty netter late in the game to polish off a 4-2 Hurricanes' win.

The Blackhawks have still not lost in regulation time in their first 18 games thanks to a shutout performance by Corey Crawford, his 7th win of the year. It was not exactly a powerful victory however as they only scored one goal, Andrew Shaw's at the end of the second period in the 1-0 win over the Blue Jackets.

Sidney Crosby scored two of the Penguins three first period goals and also assisted on another as the Penguins defeated the Lightning 5-3. The Lightning got within one during the third period with goals by Eric Brewer and Steven Stamkos but it was not enough.

Torres had two on the night

The Flames and Coyotes played a very good, high scoring game last night in Calgary. The Flames started off the scoring 2 minutes into the game with a goal from Tim Jackman but the second period was split 2-2 between the teams which set up for a great third period. Raffi Torres scored in the first couple minutes to tie it up and then his teammate slipped the puck past Joey McDonald to make it 4-3. The Coyotes seemed to be in control of the game until 1:23 left when Jarome Iginla netted a goal with help from Alex Tanguay and Matt Stajan. Both teams were probably expecting to go to overtime but Curtis Glencross scored his 7th goal of the year with a minute left to win 5-4.

The Ducks outshot the Avalanche 39-23 but the score was much closer. Cody McLeod and P.A. Parenteau scored for the Avs in the first as they entered the second with a 2-0 lead. The Ducks then answered with two of their own but then John Mitchell scored 30 seconds after Teemu Selanne to get the Avs their lead back. The Avs had their lead for about 20 minutes until Ryan Getzlaf scored on the powerplay to even things up. Once in overtime, Corey Perry scored on the man advantage as the Ducks win 4-3.

NHL Week In Review 

Very nice to see 3 Flyers in the points list and Ilya in the leaderboard for the Goalies.

NHL League Leaders - Feb 18, 2013 Feb 24, 2013
Goals		G	Assists		A
	1. Steven Stamkos	4		1. Jakub Voracek	7
	2. Max Pacioretty	4		2. Pavel Daysyuk	5
	3. Jakub Voracek	4		3. Claude Giroux	5
	4. J, Carter, C. Giroux, B. Schenn	3		4. Small Army	4
	5. D. Brunner, E. Kane, and many others	3		5.
Points		P	D-Man Points		P
	1. Jakub Voracek	11		1. Niklas Kronwall	6
	2. Claude Giroux	8		2. Paul Martin	5
	3. Steven Stamkos	8		3. Francois Beauchemin	4
	4. Wayne Simmonds	7		4. K. Letang, S. Weber, O. Ekman-Larrson	4
	5. Half the NHL	6		5. about 10 players	3
Takeaways		TA	Blocks		B
	1. Adam Henrique	10		1. Greg Zanon	17
	2. Martin St. Louis	8		2. Dan Girardi	16
	3. Patrick Kane	7		3. Mark Streit	14
	4. J. Mitchell, J. Tavares, B. Pouliot	6		4. M. Giordano, J. Harrison	13
	5. 6 people	5		5. 5 players	11
Saves/ Shots Against		SV-SA	Wins		W-L-OTL
	1. Ondrej Pavelec	114/124		1. Ben Bishop	3-0-0
	2. Ben Scrivens	109/117		2. Ilya Bryzgalov	3-1-0
	3. Mike Smith	97/104		3. Ondrej Pavelec	3-1-0
	4. Ilya Bryzgalov	91/103		4. Ray Emery	2-0-0
	5. Semyonb Varlamov	88/97		5. Marc- Andre Fleury	2-0-0

2-18 to 2-24 All NHL
Pos	East Starters	Pos	West Starters
C	PHI- Claude Giroux	C	COL- Paul Stastny
C	CAR- Jordan Staal	C	DET- Pavel Datsyuk
LW	WPG- Evander Kane	C	ANA- Ryan Getzlaf
D	TOR- Dion Phaneuf	D	Oliver Ekman- Larsson
D	NYI- Mark Streit	D	DET- Niklas Kronwall
G	WPG- Ondrej Pavelec	G	SAN- Anti Niemi

Finally getting around to it: Friday February 22nd

NBA Recap
Rudy Gay of Toronto and Carmelo Anthony of New York each scored 32 points as the Raptors pulled out a thrilling 100-98 victory.
Ty Lawson's 27 points and 12 assists were not enough as the Nuggets fell to the Washington Wizards 119-113. Emeka Okafor had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards.

The Bulls accomplished an easy feat last night destroying the Charlotte Bobcats 105-75. Taj Gibson led the Bulls with 17 points while Kemba Walker scored a game high 27 for Charlotte.
David West had 18 points and George Hill had 15 as the Pacers blew by the Detroit Pistons 114-82. Will Bynum led the Pistons with 17.
The Rockets took down the Nets thanks to 22 points each from Carlos Delfino and James Harden. Brook Lopez had 27 points and 6 rebounds in the 106-96 loss.
The Hawks were down by 2 entering the second half but overcame that deficit to beat the Kings 122-108. Isiah Thomas scored 30 points and had 9 assists for the Kings while Al Horford scored 24 and grabbed 8 rebounds.
Vince Carter hit a three pointer late in the game to give the Mavericks a 104-100 win against the Hornets. Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points and Vince Carter had 9 rebounds in addition to his late game heroics. Ryan Anderson had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets.
In Oklahoma City, the Thunder took care of the TWolves pretty easily thanks to 37 points and 9 assists by Russell Westbrook. Kevin Durant also scored 27 points for the Thunder while grabbing 7 rebounds and dishing out 7 assists in the 127-111 win..
Jeff Green led the Celtics with 31 points in a 113-88 victory over the Phoenix Suns. Goran Dragic was a bright spot for the Suns getting the double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lakers had a come from behind victory last night at home against the Trail Blazers. Kobe Bryant led the way with 40 points while Dwight Howard had 19 along with 16 rebounds. They won the fourth quarter 31-25 on the way to a 111-107 win.
Lastly, the Warriors upset the Spurs 107-101 in overtime. Jarrett Jack had a double-double with 30 points in a 10 assists and was a crucial part in a 26-25 fourth quarter that helped put the game into overtime. David Lee also had a great game with 25 points and 22 rebounds. Danny Green had 20 for the Spurs.

Friday, February 22, 2013
Award	Player	Pos	Team
Most Valuable Player	Jeff Green	F	BOS- 11-14 FG, 6-7 FT, 31 Points
Defensive Player of the Year	Bernard James	PF/C	DAL- 1 Steal, 4 Blocks
All-NBA 1st Team
All-NBA 1st Team	Russell Westbrook	PG	OKC- 37 P, 9 A, 7 R, 13-22 FG, 9-9 FT, 2-2 3PT
	Jarrett Jack	G	GS- 30 P, 10 A, 11-22 FG
	Kobe Bryant	SG	LAC- 40 P, 7 R, 15-23 FG, 9-9 FT
	Jeff Green	F	BOS- 31 P, 7 R, 4 A, 5 Blocks, 11-14 FG
	Marc Gasol	C	MEM-19 P, 13 R, 8-11 FG

NHL Recap
There were only three games last night but 12 today so let's get at it.
The Penguins defeated the Panthers 3-1  in a game that was tied at 1 heading into the third period. Matt Niskanen and Dustin Jeffrey scored in the third to give the Birds victory. Unfortunately for the Penguins, center Evgeni Malkin was hurt in the game. Most telling statistic was that the Penguins outshot the Panthers 40-23.
Roberto Luongo picked up his 5th win of the year to remain undefeated in games lasting only three periods. Dale Weise scored the only goal of the game to give the Canucks a 1-0 win over the Predators.
Two days ago the Blackhawks tied the record for best start to a season and yesterday they broke it with a 2-1 win over the Sharks. Brandon Saad broke a 1-1 tie 3 minutes into the third period for the win.

2/22/2013 All NHL
Pos	1st Team	Pos	2nd Team
C	Jonathan Toews-CHI- 15-4 FO, 4 SOG, 1 Hit, 1 TA	RW	Dale Weise- VAN- 1 G, +1, 3 Hits, 1 Block
LW	Brandon Saad-CHI- 1 G, +1, 14:57 TOI	RW	Joe Pavalski- SAN- 1 A, 3 SOG, 2 TA, 1 Hit
C	Brandon Sutter-PIT- +1, 14-4 FO, 1 Block	LW	Victor Stalberg- CHI- 1 G, 5 SOG, +1, 2 Hits
D	Johnny Oduya- CHI-1 A, 3 Hits, 3 Blocks	D	Matt Niskanen- PIT- 1 G, +1
D	Duncan Keith- CHI- 1 A, 1 Block, 1 Hit	D	Dan Hamhuis- VAN- 1 A, 4 Blocks
G	Roberto Luongo- VAN- 23/23, 1.00 SV% W	G	Antti Niemi- SAN- 32/24, .941 SV% L

Kings Vs Canucks ends in Shootout

NBA Recap

Omer Asik

David Lee led the Warriors in Points (21), Rebounds (12), and assists (7) in 114-102 victory of the Raptors. In Philadelphia, Marc Gasol and Evan Turner both put up 27 points in Memphis's 103-100; the game was tied going into the fourth quarter. Emeka Okafor of Washington had a double double with 23 points and 15 rebounds in the Kings' 96-94 victory in Washington. Brooklyn Nets blew out the Orlando Magic and their point guard Deron Williams fell an assist shy of a double-double scoring 20 points. Bulls defeated the lowly Bobcats 93-85 in Chicago; Joakim Noah had a game high 18 rebounds and 7 assists. Indiana and Denver played a close game with Denver winning 102-101 and the Houston Rockets defeated the Jazz soundly with James Harden scoring 25 and Omer Asik grabbing a league high 19 rebounds.

All- NBA Team
Guard- Deron Williams- Brooklyn The leader of the up and down Nets has become a staple on this list and had another solid game last night. Scored 20 points and dished out 9 assists in only 33 minutes of play. A great job shooting with a 66% FG% on 12 shots and was 4-7 from behind the arc.
Guard- Jerryd Bayless- Memphis Led the Grizzlies in assists last night in their win over the Sixers with nine. Also did a good job putting the ball in the bucket scoring 21 points along with grabbing 5 rebounds. Was a perfect 4-4 from the stripe.
Forward- Joakim Noah- Chicago Again, a very popular name on the list. He has kept up his pattern of getting a lot of rebounds and a fair amount of assists for a big man. Last night in the win over Charlotte, Noah scored 13 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and dished out 7 assists while only committing 3 turnovers. He also blocked 5 shots and his performance earned him the Player of the Night title.

Marc Gasol

Forward- Marc Gasol- Memphis Memphis's second player on the list and Gasol and Bayless scored 48 of the team's 103 points last night. The younger Gasol scored 27 points comprised of a 10-15 mark from the field along with a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe. As an added bonus he converted on his only 3 pt attempt on the night. Aside from the scoring, Gasol blocked 2 shots, grabbed 7 rebounds, and dished out 7 assists.
Forward- Emeka Okafor- Washington It was a tough loss last night for the Wizards losing to the Kings 96-94 but Okafor had an outstanding game. Although he played limited time Okafor was able to score 23 points and grab 15 rebounds. He was an efficient scorer shooting 10-15 from the field and a solid 5-6 from the line.

NHL Recap

Tyler Seguin

It was a slow night last night with only 5 games being played but there three very exciting games. In Carolina, the Bruins and Hurricanes were tied going into the third period but Daved Krejci's goal with just under two minutes left put the Bruins up 4-3 and then Tyler Seguin followed up with another to cap of the Bruin's 5-3 victory. The Stars and Blue Jackets also participated in a great game; Philip Larsen (Dallas) and Derek Dorsett (Columbus) both scored in the second period but in the 3rd the Blue Jackets prevailed when Vinny Prospal scored his second goal of the year early in the third period. The Coyotes defeated the Predators 4-0 and the Oilers joined in on the rollover parade easily defeating the Avalanche 4-1. The Endcap of the nigh was the Vancouver- LA Kings game. Vancouver has had a goalie carousel all year and they decided to go with Luongo tonight. He had 26 saves but let in a goal on the Kings last shot during the shootout to lose the game 3-2.

All NHL

Patrice Bergeron

Forward- Patrice Bergeron- Boston Assisted on Brad Marchand's first period goal in the Bruins' 5-3 win. Finished the game with with a +1 and won about 2/3 of his draws going 17 and 8 at the dot.
Forward- Anze Kopitar- LA Had an assist and also had 3 steals against the Canucks. He did struggle with puck control with 2 giveaways but most importantly he scored the only goal of the shootout.
Forward- Alexander Semin- Carolina Played the playmaker role for the Hurricanes last night assisting on two of their three goals. Despite his team losing 5-3 he was able to finish with a +3 rating. He did try to score launching 5 pucks on net.
Foward- Antoine Vermette- Phoenix Scored one goal in the Coyotes' 4-0 thrashing of the Predators. Played the body well finishing with 3 hits and his time on ice was well spent with his +2 rating.
Defense- Zdeno Chara- Boston- The big Slovakian converted on the powerplay and also chipped in two assists.
Defense- Keith Yandle- Phoenix Scored on the powerplay for the Coyotes and finished the game with a +2 rating. On the defensive side of things he had one takeaway.
Defense- Derek Morris- Phoenix Had one assist and two shots on goal to become the third Coyote skater on this list. Knocked three Predators to the ground.
Goalie- Devan Dubnyk- Edmonton Although the score looked like a blowout the Oilers were out shot 38-27 and Dubnyk deserves all the credit for the win. He stopped 37 of 38 shots for a .974 SV % to pick up his third win of the year.
Goalie- Chad Johnson- Phoenix There was a lack of superb goaltending last night and even though Johnson only faced 21 shots on net, he still recorded the shutout.