Hardwood Recap "Don't Call it a Comeback"

Even with only two games on tap for last night, the NBA did not let us down.

Heat vs Pistons
Dwayne Wade had a chance to be the hero with a last second shot with the Heat down 85-86 but fell short in an exciting game against the Pistons which could have been a preview of the Eastern Conference Finals. Wade had a poor shooting night(5-23) but did chip in with 5 boards and 8 assists. Udonis Haslem's numbers have been steadily increasing. He is averaging about 18 and 10 on 65% shooting in his last 4 games and with Shaq out for a while, Haslem will continue to have solid fantasy value.

Lakers vs Jazz
In the second game of the night, the Lakers crushed the #1 team in the league 132-102. Okur had is second consecutive stinker putting up just 11 points and 3 rebounds. This was mostly due to foul trouble as Okur was limited to just 23 minutes, so owners of the big man with 3 point range should not be discouraged. Rookie Ronnie Brewer continues to start for the Jazz but I don't see him as having any fantasy value right now as he is averaging under 20 minutes in his 10 starts. Boozer continued his dominance on the inside and showed some versatility with 5 assists to go along with his 26 points and 7 boards. With Kwame Brown now starting for the Lakers, Bynum's value has dropped considerably. If there's someone you want on your waiver wire, Bynum can be dropped for them. Lamar Odom showcases his tripple double talent, filling up the stat sheet with 14 points, 11 boards, and 8 assists. The Utah Jazz looked out of sync all night. Maybe they were disoriented by the bright lights of LA, or maybe they were disoriented by Kobe Bryant who drained shot after shot right over one of the best defenders in the league in Kirilenko. Kobe was just unconscious finishing with 52 points on 19-26 shooting, two 3's, 12-15 from the line, 3 assists, 4 rebounds, a block, and only one turnover. If you were planning on buying low on Kobe after his scoring average dropped 10 points from last season, that window of opportunity has passed. Kobe has regained his rhythm and is poised to dominate the league again for the rest of the season.





~Brian Melnick aka Big Mel email bigmel2k5@yahoo.com