Jerry Buss diess; Voracek gets hat-trick in rare Flyers win

NBA Recap
It was a goodnight for NBA fans last night with eleven games in action and seven of them ending with a difference of 10 points or less.
It was Rudy Gay's first game against the Grizzlies since being traded to the Raptorsand he put up decent numbers with 13 points and and 9 rebounds. The Grizz had an 11 point lead after the first half and were able to hold on for a 88-82 victory. Zach Randolph scored 17 points and collected 18 rebounds for the Grizzlies.
In a game that was close throughout the Pistons showed determination in a 105-99 win in Charlotte. Brandon Knight led the Pistons with 21 injuries despite only playing 30 minutes because of a leg injury. He is currently day-to-day.
The Pistons blew out the Knicks 125-91 in big part to a 44 point second quarter. The Pistons shot 11-14 from behind the arc led by Paul George who was 4-9 and scored 27 points. Tyson Chandler was the Knicks' best player with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The Cavs trailed the Hornets by one going into the fourth quarter last night but thanks to Kyrie Irving the Cavs were able to win 105-100. Irving paved the way for the victory scoring 35 points and dishing out 7 assists.
The Hawks were leading the Heat going into the  fourth but the Heat won that period 40-17 on their way to a 103-90 victory. Lebron James scored 24 points and dished out 11 assists while Al Horford led the Heat with 27 points and 9 rebounds.

There was another come from behind victory last night in Milwaukee. The Bucks were up by 8 going into the fourth but the Nets rallied behind Deron Williams and Andray Blatche for the victory. Blatche scored 12 points and had 12 rebounds while Williams scored 23 and dished out 8 assists. Brandon Jennings scored 31 points and had 11 assists in the 97-94 Nets' win.
A very high scoring game in Houston also featuring a comeback. The Rockets were down entering the fourth but James Harden changed things against his former team, the Thunder. He scored 46 points in 122-116 defeat while Russell Westbrook came close to a triple double for the Thunder. He scored 28, had 10 rebounds, and 8 assists. Thabo Sefolosha also scored 28 for the Thunder.
Nikola Pekovic had one hell of a game dropping 27 points and grabbing 18 rebounds against the Sixers for his third straight double-double. Evan Turner scored 17 points for the Sixers in their 94-87 loss.
Shawn Marion and Elton Brand each scored 17 points as the Mavericks depended on a 28-14 fourth quarter to defeat the Orlando Magic 111-96. Dirk grabbed nine rebounds for the Mavs while Aaron Afflalo scored 21 for the Magic.
The Lakers' owner Jerry Buss died today and his team honored with a win over old-time rival the Boston Celtics. Dwight Howard played very well offensively with 24 points while Earl Clark, another Laker big, grabbed 16 rebounds. Paul Pierce scored a game-high 26 points in a 113-9 Lakers' win.
The Warriors ended a 6 game winning streak with a 108-98 defeat of the Suns. Stephen Curry scored 20 points and also added in 11 assists while teammate Klay Thompson scored 28 and grabbed 8 rebounds. Goran Dragic recorded a double-double for the Suns with 20 points and 10 assists.

All NBA
Guard- Kyle Irving- Cleveland Shot 13-22 from the field as well as 7-7 from the free throw line on way to 35 points. Also dished out 7 assists while grabbing 5 boards.

Guard- James Harden- Houston *Player of the Night* Not only did he score 46 points due to 14-19 shooting from the field, including a ridiculous 7-8 from 3pt range, but he also played his greatest game of the year ball handling wise limiting himself to two turnovers. He also grabbed 8 rebounds and dished out 6 assists. Almost forgot to mention that he went 11-12 from the line.
Forward- Lebron James- Miami Got the double-double with 24 points and 11 assists but played great defense getting 4 steals. Shot 53.3% overall and 7-8 from the line.
Forward- Kevin Durant- OK City Really didn't have the best game by KG standards only scoring 16 points but he excelled in other areas. He grabbed 12 rebounds and also dished out 11 assists to record a double-double. He shot a poor 4-13 from the field including 0-2 from behind the arc but was a solid 8-9 from the line.
Center- Greg Monroe- Detroit I really have no idea what he did to make himself special this game (my formula deceives me). He scored 19 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and dished out 7 assists. He also blocked three shots.

NHL Recap
Only three games on the Pond but there were some good ones.

The Flyers and the Penguins with Tomas Vokoun letting in 6 for the Penguins and Ilya Bryzgalov letting in 5 for the Flyers (that means the score was 6-5). The Flyers were down 2-0 to start the game due to goals by Matt Niskanen and Evgeni Malkin of the Pens. With 8 minutes left Nicklas Grossman scored his 1st goal of the year thanks to assists by Mike Knuble and Sean Couturier. That goal was followed up exactly one minute later by Wayne Simmonds. Simmonds had other action in the first losing this fight to Tanner Glass.
The second period was a little emptier with Jakub Voracek's first goal of the game being in the only goal, good news was that it put the Flyers up 3-2. Voracek then put the Flyers up 4-2 only 18 seconds into the third on a goal assisted by Coburn and Giroux. It took the Pens 5 minutes to answer back when Tyler Kennedy netted his second goal of the year. In what seemed to be more of a ping-pong match Simmonds scored his second of the game and the Flyers again had a two goal lead. That lead quickly disappeared as the Penguins scored two unanswered goals by James Neal and Brandon Sutter to tie the game up with 2 minutes left. Thankfully Jakub Voracek was a Flyer last night and he completed his hat-trick with only 1:30 left on the clock as the Flyers went on to victory.
My comments on the game are: It was a shame to see Matt Read go down early in the game, he played great in the last game spending plenty of time on the ice with Giroux and Voracek and they were just plain nasty so hopefully he comes back soon. I'm glad to see that Coburn and Schenn were able to go a game without giving up a turnover. Also, Bryzgalov played a terrible game letting up 5 goals on 32 shots, I think Leighton deserves a start considering Boucher really hasn't been a competent backup.
David Jones scored the only goal of the game as the Avalanche defeat the Blues 1-0 in overtime. The Blues outshot their opponents 33-20 but Semyon Varlamov had a stellar game stopping all 33 shots.
Jeff Carter scored his 8th goal of the year as the Kings defeat the Flames 3-1. Trevor Lewis broke a 1-1 tie with 5 minutes left in the first.

ALL NHL

Forward- Jeff Carter- LA Kings Pains me to see him on the list but the next two names make me happy. Carter played an almost perfect game getting a goal and an assist while recording 1 hit, blocking a shot, and forcing one takeaway.
Forward- Jakub Voracek- Philadelphia Philly's hero last night scoring the game winning goal in addition to two others. Only finished the night with a +1 but that is all that matters.
Forward- Wayne Simmonds- Philadelphia Wasn't afraid to drop the gloves and even though he lost he still gets credit. He had a three point net scoring 2 goals and assisting on another.
Defense- Nicklas Grossman- Philadelphia I know this list seems really Philly based but they scored six goals last night. Grossman broke up the Pens' 2-0 start while hitting 3 Pens and blocking two shots.
Defense- Braydon Coburn- Philadelphia Last Flyer on the list because Ilya definitely didn't make it on here. He had one assist but played great defense in a whopping 26 minutes of ice time. He blocked three shots and recorded 2 hits.
Goalie- Semyon Varlamov- Colorado An obvious choice as he had the only shutout of the night and he also made the most saves (33).Wasn't perfect as he did have a turnover.

Heat defeat Nets in matchup of the Night

We'll start with the game from the title where the Heat defeated the Nets 105-85 in Brookyln. Lebron James led the Heat in Points (24), Rebounds (9), and assists (7).
Jrue Holiday led the 76ers with 21 points in their 92-84 win over the Wizards. Emeka Okafor had his third straight game with 15 rebounds grabbing 17 Spencer Hayes led the Sixers with 11 rebounds.
In Indiana, the Pacers improved to 27-19 with a pretty impressive 98-79 victory over the Pistons. Roy Hibbert recorded a double double for the Pacers with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
The Rondo-less Celtics defeated the Kings 99-81. Kevin Garnett was leading assist man for the Celtics only picking up 5. Pierce (16p and 10r) and Tyreke Evans (19p,11r) each picked up double-doubles.
Tyson Chandler scored 21 points as his Knicks beat the Orlando Magic 113-97 in New York. J.J. Redick led the losing side with 29 points.

Al Horford got the last of his 22 points with a dunk late in the game to give the Hawks a 93-92 win at home against the Raptors. Horford also had 10 rebounds to complete the double-double.
The Bulls continued their streak as Nate Robinson led the team with 24 points and Kirk Hinrich led the team with 8 assists.
Blake Griffin (26p and 13r) and Nikola Pekovic (17p, 12r) both had double-doubles as Griffin's Clippers beat Pekovic's Timberwolves. Eric Bledsoe threw in 10 assists.
Spurs beat the struggling Bobcats 102-78. Tony Parker scored 22 points while assisting on 7 buckets.

In a high scoring game in Denver, the Nuggets beat the Rockets 118-110. Danilo Gallinari scored 27 points for the Nuggets.
In an odd story of nicknames, the Jazz who use to be from New Orleans beat the New Orleans Hornets who were originally from Charlotte but are about to become the Pelicans. Now a group in Charlotte wants to the Bobcats to become the Hornets. The score was 104-99 and Greivis Vasquez had 17 points and 13 assists in the loss while Paul Millsap had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the victorious Jazz.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers in scoring for the first time in awhile but that didn't mean good things. The Lakers went flat in the 4th quarter giving up 29 points while only scoring 13. Kobe also led the team in assists.

We are just doing a top 5 today as not many guards played very well.
1. Forward- Al Horford- Atlanta Went 10-15 from the field as well as a late game winning dunk in the win. Finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks in over 43 minutes of playing time. Good ball control helped him finish without a turnover.
2. Forward- Kevin Garnett- Boston In only 28 minutes the veteran big man played a solid game scoring 13 points, grabbing 9 rebounds.
3. Center- Tyson Chandler- New York A fabulous 10-11 from the field for a 90.9 FG%. Added in a free throw for 21 points as well as getting 7 boards.
4. Forward- Lebron James- Miami Went 3-4 from downtown but a lackluster 1-4 from the freethrow line. Scored 24 points in the win along with 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Committed a costly 4 turnovers.
5. Center- Emeka Okafor- Washington Had more rebounds (17) than points (15), but that is good enough to be on the list. Shot a lackluster 46.7% from the field.

NHL Recap
Only 4 games last night but let's get to it.
The Senators defeated the Canadiens 5-1 with 12 different players recording a point.
In Minnesota, the Blackhawks were able to grab a point as they lost their first game of the season 3-2. The Wild won the shootout 2-1 thanks to a goal by Matt Cullen.
The Oilers defeated the Coyotes 2-1 in overtime thanks to a goal by Nail Yakupov.
The Canucks defeated the Avalanche handily with a 3-0 win. Roberto Luongo was in net for Vancouver.
Vancouver Goalie Tracker

Cory Schneider

Roberto Luongo

4GP, 4GS, 3.13 GAA .897 SV%








4GP, 3GS, 1.61 GAA, .938 SV%






Advantage: Roberto Luongo

All NHL

Forward- Antoine Vermette- Phoenix Didn't do much outside of the faceoff circle as he only had one shot and didn't score or get an assist. He did win 15 of his 19 faceoffs and laid 4 Oilers on their back in the 2-1 overtime loss. It was kind of a slow night with only 4 games.

Forward- Zack Smith- Ottawa Played well on offense and defense picking up 2 assists while blocking 2 shots, getting a takeaway, and getting a hit in. Finished with a +2 rating and also dropped the gloves with Ryan White. Unfortunately White won the fight.
Forward- Maxim Lapierre- Vancouver Scored a goal in the Cancuks' 3-0 win but played even better on the defensive end. Had three takeaways and two hits as he finished the game with a +1 rating.
Forward- Matt Cullen- Minnesota Scored one goal in regulation in addition to his game winning goal in the shootout. Was a perfect 4-0 at the circle and he also blocked a shot.
Defense- Andre Benoit- Ottawa Usually one one of the last guys on the Senators D Depth Chart. Benoit took advantage of playing time passing for 2 assists in addition to his excellent defensive game. He blocked 5 shots, stole a puck, and knocked a Hab to the ground. Finished with a +1 in less than 20 minutes on the ice.
Defense- Chris Phillips- Ottawa Scored a goal on his only shot, blocked 5 shots, and had two hits. His time on the ice was well spent given his +2 rating.
Defense- Jeff Petry- Edmonton Was not very offensive only ripping one shot on net but played a solid defensive game. His 4 hits, 2 blocks, and one takeaway contributed to his  +1 rating.

Goalie-  Niklas Backstrom- Minnesota Picked up his 3rd win of the year blocking 28 out of 28 shots. He came in for relief of Josh Harding who let in 2 goals in only 4 attempts during the first 6 minutes and 45 seconds.
Goalie- Devan Dubnyk- Edmonton His second time on the list this week. Had a .964 SV% on 28 shots in the Oiler's 2-1 shootout win.