The Hoop Scoop – 11/6/2010

Great night in hoops last night! We saw the Bull and Celtics fight it out in a game that went to overtime, while the Grizzlies and Suns need to extra periods to determine a winner. There were three undefeated teams when the night began and there were three when the night ended: the Hornets took out the Heat, Atlanta defeated the Timberwolves and the Lakers held on to beat the Raptors.

Top 5 of the Night

1. Jason Richardson, Phoenix Suns: 38 points – including 18 from downtown, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. Sure it took two overtime periods to reach 38, but he scored five of his points in the final minute that put his team over the top.
2. Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic: 30 points – including 12 of 16 from the charity stripe – not bad for Dwight, 16 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Not too mention that Howard limited Brook Lopez to only 10 points and 5 rebounds.
3. Emeka Okafor, New Orleans Hornets: 26 points – he shot a stellar 12 of 13 from the floor and had some clutch buckets as well., 13 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block.
4. Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers: 30 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. Thanks to Reggie Evans, Pau had no boards in the first half. He must have seen what Reggie did to Chris Kaman.
5. Carmelo Anthony, Denver Nuggets: 30 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Melo shot extremely efficient from the floor, going 14-20. Hopefully he will keep this up once he is in New York.

Fantasy Stud of the Night

He’s back! If you own Chris Paul, chances are you just locked up the assists category after last night. Here is his line from last night:

• 13 points, 19 assists, 5 steals and only 3 turnovers.

Here are two other guys that nearly made the cut, that are due some recognition:

• Roy Hibbert, Indiana Pacers: 14 points, 6 of 7 free throws made, 12 rebounds, 3 offensive rebounds, 4 assists and 6 blocks.
• Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies: 26 points, 7 rebounds, 4 offensive boards, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots.

Roy Hibbert is continuing to make his case for Most Improved Player of the Year, while Marc Gasol is making Lakers fans wish they had kept him in the trade for his brother, Pau, and included Andrew Bynum instead.

Dunk of the Night

Wilson Chandler, of the New York Knicks, gets the nod for tonight for his reverse over defensive juggernaut, Javele McGee of the Wizards. Enjoy!

Deadbeat of the Day

Somebody put out an APB for Andrew Igoudala, because he was definitely mission from last night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Iggy ended up with only 7 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists.

For a guy that averaged 17 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6 assists and nearly 2 steals last season, he has dropped off this season. For a guy that is asking to be traded, he had better step up his game and show opposing GMs that he is worth trading for.

Hilarious Pic of the Day

It’s a known fact that Mark Cuban and Dirk have always been close, but I never knew it was this close…This picture screams, “homo-erotic”!

I wonder if Dirk enjoys reverse cowboy as well?