NBA Roundhouse: Griffin Soars
By Sarita Kelly
With the NBA All Star game a little over two weeks away, we are getting a good preview of what the dunk-a-thon is going to look like. We can start with the first dunk that came from LeBron James on John Lucas when the Miami Heat played the Chicago Bulls. James went up to catch the alley-oop pass from Dwyane Wade with his right hand in mid-air, then jumped right over Bulls Lucas. Many NBA watchers have said that this was one of the best dunks of his career, and maybe one of the best period.
But before James could get comfortable with being crowned King James of Dunk, along came Blake Griffin from the Los Angeles Clippers. Chris Paul passed to Griffin for the one handed powerhouse dunk that helped the Clippers win 112-100. Fans and insiders have
since crowned Griffin King of Dunks. James himself commented on Griffin’s dunk via twitter,
"“Dunk of the Year!! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!! Wow!! I guess I’m #2 now. Move over #6.”– @KingJames, LeBron James on Twitter"
Rockets’ Lee Involved in Car Crash
Houston Rockets Courtney Lee said he was uninjured after his car was struck by another vehicle after their game against the New York Knicks. The two car accident was a result of the other car speeding, Lee says that he believes the car was going at least 80 mph. Spokesman Nelson Luis said that Lee contacted a security guard to say that he was okay.
Celtics Allen Returns
Boston Celtics Ray Allen is now back to the starting lineup this week after missing three games with an ankle injury when they played the Washington Wizards. He tweaked his left ankle but is now in comfortable where is at with the injury and playing.
Big Trouble for Big Howard
Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic’s future is unclear after their blowout loss to the New Orleans Hornets. What is for sure
though is that he unhappy with his teammates. The Hornets beat the Magic 93-67. Howard had 28 points and 16 rebounds.
“I look at the guys and they don’t want to play.” Howard told his team at halftime, “If you don’t want to play, just
stay in the locker room, because it don’t make no sense for a team who we should beat to just demolish us.” Howard says he is now interested in playing for the Chicago Bulls, but is also looking at other teams as a possibility.
Wolves Restoring the Roar, Rookies Doing Their Part
This is a better looking year already for the Minnesota Timberwolves. With their 100-91 win over the Houston Rockets the wolves are now at .500 for the first time this season. They have not been at .500 since record since the 2004-05 season.
The Cleveland Cavaliers Kyrie Irving and Minnesota Timberwolves Ricky Rubio were named the Eastern and Western conference Rookies of the Month, for games played from December 25th through January. Irving leads all rookies with 18.1 points per game and ranks second in assists with 4.9. While Rubio is 5th in scoring with 11.4 points per game and first in assist with 8.9 and steals with 2.24.
Clippers Sign Martin
The Los Angeles Clippers have landed Kenyon Martin, a former Denver nugget. The returning veteran has agreed to a one year deal. He is
back after a brief stint in China. Martin’s agent Andy Miller said that both sides reached a $2.5 million deal, and it is expected to be finalized once Martin passes the physical. Martin spent part of the season playing for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers and had to wait till their season was over to start making a deal with the NBA.
Fines for Mav’s Cuban, Thunder’s Carlisle
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been fined $75,000 for his criticism of the NBA referrers. Cuban had said “These were officials that have been part of the league for years, and it was just off-the-charts bad.” Cuban was upset after the 95-86 loss to
the Oklahoma City Thunder. Not only was Cuban fined, but head coach Rick Carlisle was fined $35,000 for kicking a ball into the stands in the 4th quarter with 9:34 remaining. The ball hit a young boy in the stands, and Carlisle apologized publicly after the game saying, “I think it’s fair. If you’re responsible for a ball going into the stands, you’re subject to a fine.” He also said, “I accept it and regret that situation happening, even though it was accidental, and have got to move forward.”