It was another notch in the win column for the Celtics last night, and one team proves that they're still the toast of the league. Here's today's NBA recap.The Celtics improved to 6-1 after taking down the OKC Thunder, despite Kevin Durant scoring 34 points. Nobody for the Celtics stood out as a major scorer,because the bench combined for 33 of the Celtics' 91 points. Ray Allen had 19 points, leading the Celtics in scoring. This kind of shows the difference in the teams; Durant is almost always going to be the Thunder's leading scorer, and if he has an off night, the team will most certainly lose. However, with the Celtics, if Kevin Garnett has an off night scoring (which he did last night) there are at least 5 other players who can pick up the slack with scoring. The Celtics will not only win games with talent, but they'll win with depth.
Turkish center Semih Erden had a career-high 9 points last night in 13 minutes of play. He also grabbed 4 rebounds. I actually like how he's playing; he seems to get involved off the ball on offense, always goes after rebounds on defense and offense, and he can shoot foul shots with efficiency (5-5 last night.) I'm obviously not saying he's great, but he is a nice addition to an already stellar bench.
Meanwhile, the LA Lakers improved to 7-0 against the Portland Trailblazers, in a game that wasn't close. Pau Gasol put up a triple-double. Is there any doubt that this team is winning the Western Conference this season? They have good chemistry, and are extremely talented. The combo of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol is deadly come playoff time. As of right now, they are the best team in the NBA, and are the #1 favorite to win it all. As good as the Celtics, the Magic, the Heat, the Thunder, and the Mavericks are, I don't know how good they'll be against this dominate Laker team. This hurts their rootforability,though as a Celtics fan, it was low to begin with.
Elsewhere around the league:
-Evan Turner, the 76ers rookie guard, had 14 points and 14 rebounds, a small feat for a guard (he lead his team in boards.) After a good first game, Turner had cooled off considerably. But this performance may be the first of a hot-streak for the #2 overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.
-The Atlanta Hawks received their first loss at the hands of the Phoenix Suns. Joe Johnson and Al Horford combined for 64 of the Hawks' 114 points, but it wasn't enough to stave off the run and gun Suns, lead by Steve Nash and his 19 points and 15 assists. The key to this game? The Hawks had only 7 different scorers while the Suns had 10, all scoring 6 points or more. Again, depth, it's a beautiful thing
-The Detroit Pistons bested the GSW, due to Richard Hamilton and Rodney Stuckey scoring 48 points combined. Kevin Garnett's best friend Charlie Villanueva had 10 rebounds, which was more than David Lee had. And I'm pretty sure Lee is supposed to be an elite rebounder in the NBA, while Villanueva isn't known to be that great on the boards.
- Kevin Love had 16 points and 16 rebounds in 29 minutes, which is surprisingly a lot of minutes for the Timberwolves star. The Wolves lost to the Houston rockets. Luis Scola scored 24 points, and keeps showing that he is a legitimate threat in the post.
MVP of the Night: Paul Gasol (20 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists)
Charlie V is so Overrated
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