Oh, the other guy who was out because of injury tonight? Chase Budinger, who needs to have surgery on his torn meniscus.

Rick Adelman is a top 5 coach in this league.

Adelman is Marty Schottneheimer of the NBA. Hell of a coach but one that won't win the big one.

Also the T-Wolves going the Russian/Serbia type players is actually a smart move. They can feel right at home during the winters in Minnesota.

You guys need to stay healthy. JFC.

Yeah. Barea's understandable because he's always injured. I'm not holding my breath for Brandon Roy at all. He'll likely need to take extended periods off during this season to rest.

So there's two perpetually injured guards in our lineup. Thankfully Rubio is a generally reliable player health-wise. That torn ACL is a freak injury that could happen to anyone (see Jamaal Charles/Adrian Peterson). And Kevin Love... don't know what to say there. Lol. Broken hand in preseason. **** me.

Rubio and Love are normally guys who are healthy. Pekovic has these kind of dingers all the time. And Budinger I know nothing about.

Basically, the Wolves better hope Malcom Lee is ready to step up his game this year. He had a pretty good game tonight, so we'll see.

You live in the area? I'd love to catch a game.

Used to live in Minneapolis. Have lived in the upper midwest for years. Currently live in Madison, WI. If I get a chance to get Wolves tickets, I'll probably post about it here. Last time I was at a Wolves game at the Target Center was the game Kevin Love with 30 for 30 :)

Pekovic may be white, but he swings a chocolate penis.

http://deadspin.com/5960249/nikola-p...utches-or-pain

Nikola Pekovic Doesn’t Give A Shit About Crutches Or Pain

Minnesota Timberwolves center/human shark Nikola Pekovic sprained his left ankle in last night's game against the Mavericks, ending his night early and putting another hole in a roster that is already missing Ricky Rubio, Kevin Love, Chase Budinger and Brandon Roy. But Nikola Pekovic is no ordinary man who can be hindered by a mere ankle sprain. He is not a child who needs assistance.

Jerry Zgoda @JerryZgoda
Trainer Gregg Farnam carried crutches out of training room while Pek limped toward bus. "I don't use crutches," big Pek said.

Get those weak-ass helpsticks out of Pekovic's face. He'll walk through it. Unless Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love are taking a cart. Although he's impervious to pain, Pekovic is capable of feeling left out.

Jerry Zgoda @JerryZgoda
Funny scene tonite: Pek limping out of arena on sprained ankle looks back & sees Love/Rubio getting ride on cart. "Hey guys, what about me?"

Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune got a great quote from Pekovic after the game about his injury:

"I know," Pekovic said of the fright he put into his teammates and fans watching back home when he went down in a painful heap. "I'm just glad it's not bad. I didn't hurt nothing, just a lot of pain. I'll see how I feel tomorrow."

So Pekovic didn't hurt anything, but he's in pain. Something might have been lost in translation to the Montenegrin Pekovic, or maybe his pain scale is much different than a normal human's.

Royce White is melting down on Twitter right now. I was just reading an article about how he apparently was sent to the D-League by the Rockets... but has disappeared and not been showing up for practice.

Well in the last half hour he's re-appeared on Twitter and letting it fly. Basically saying the Rockets aren't working to support his anxiety disorder.

Just checked his twitter. Can't really argue with what he's saying.

He may be, I honestly don't know enough about what's going on here. I know about his anxiety problems and fear of flying but he's saying that's not the problem. He's getting killed on the Rockets forum though.

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread...31#post7337231

He's getting killed on twitter too. Manly by the "You make a lot of money so you should ignore your health" idiots.

Lakers started off slow but looking good now

I think he's handling himself pretty well.

Lakers bench is ass..Jordan Hill misses a gimmee layup

Old Snake is still really ****ing good

It's like we went from watching a high school team to an NBA team. It's crazy how much the princeton offense hindered the Lakers O.

What the **** Pau?

Yeah, Kobe didn't look too pleased lol.

The verdict is out on the Lakers until Nash and D'Antoni have time to settle. It's probably going to be mid-year before you can get a good read. They are definitely better since dumping Brown though.

I only watched the last 8 minutes, but it was pretty good.

Magic Johnson said James Harden was OKC's best defender. One of the dumbest things I've ever heard an analyst say. His defense is his only weakness. Love Magic, great player, but he's a terrible analyst. Watch the games or turn off your mic.

Pretty funny, so many former players just don't pay enough attention to today's game to really analyze it. They just lazily say things off the cuff because everyone around them will nod their head in agreement because of their status.

Good first half for the Griz. They have a lot of pieces with ZBo back healthy and the improved bench.

Westbrook and Durant still playing out of control this year. Maybe trying to do too much to fill the Hsrden void.

Memphis looks improved and ready to play with anyone.

Grizz up by 11 at half.

Again, he's on the defense. We have been lit up by every 3 point shooter in the the league over the last 3 years. This is nothing new. James Harden is a great player, but he has NEVER been a good defender.

Once Westbrook and Durant start playing better OKC will be fine. I think they are both trying to expand their games now for a later payoff.

Kevin Martin is plus 15 without Durant and Westbrook on the floor this year. He's averaging 16 points on 9 shots which hasn't happened since Artis Gilmore in 1981. To say OKC isn't as playing as well yet because of the trade is just lazy journalism.

They have played sloppy this year, and part of that is the adjustment I'm sure. It's just irritating that they aren't paying more attention to what they are paid to analyze.

Also, Memphis is pretty ****ing good.

The sky is falling.....

Another great win for Memphis.

OKC still finding their way.

OKC probably should have kept Harden and traded Westbrook.

WOW..Bledsoe stoned Wade on that dunk. Someone will have to post that once it comes online. That was badass..

Pretty excited for the Griz. That's as complete a team as there is right now. Ellington, Pondexter and Bayless are providing some perimeter shooting that was sorely missing last season. Pretty good rivalry building between these two teams. Rudy Gay did a fair impression of Durant during the 4th qtr.

You guys are solid. Lets hope you stay healthy this year. I'm hoping we'll be a better team at the end, but on the bright side we are 6-3 and haven't played close to a complete basketball game yet.

Rudy was ice tonight.

As far as the Harden/Westbrook debate you could definitely argue that. Westbrook has a lot more talent , but a lower basketball IQ. Harden and Collison were the smartest basketball players on the team by far. The Thunder because of their coaching would benefit from the smarter player on the floor. Getting another scorer and a true PG for Westbrook may have been the better option. However, Russ' jumper just isn't falling right now. He started out the same way last year and turned it around big time. You live and die by the sword with him. He has become a much better passer, and I've been happy with his assist totals, but he's taking too many bad shots.

There will have to be some adjustments to the lineup to win a title, and I felt that way with Harden too. You can say you were right there, but they were also fortunate to be there. The West was already tough, and even more so this year. Early on the Clips and the Grizz look like the most solid teams, but you don't win in November.

Thunder need to find a way to get K-Mart more shots. He got 4 shots tonight. When he's shooting over 50% from 3 that can't happen. When KD and Riss are driving they don't even look for him out there. Maynor not playing as many minutes tonight hurt in that respect. I do like that Brooks is starting to go with Collison and Ibaka together instead of Perk. It's going to take awhile for them to all adjust and figure it out, but there is too much talent there to not be a factor in the end. I also feel like there could be another move this season if something fits.

I do miss Harden. It still feels weird. Bottom line is we won't know the verdict for a few years.

Still not missing his D though :)

JFC Magic

okay twolves fans come get your ball busting for losing to a steamy turd of a team like the shitty bobcats

I love Magic my 2nd favorite player behind Kobe, but as an analyst he's ****ing terrible. He's only on there, cause he's Magic. lol

Lakers looked good Kobe had to play point most of the game, different then in past years, was kinda weird. Lakers will be ok, they had no point guard and back up. Darrius Morris is freaking terrible. They will be ok once they get a coach and their PG's back.

Anyways, Them clippers looked pretty damned good. They are deep. They are kicking ass.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EaZiP_ksiIc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Headed to Memphis next week, just got 2 second row floor seats to Grizzlies vs Lakers. I couldn't be more excited. I'm taking my son, who's developing into an NBA fan like his dad.

Enjoy it, I had second row seats for the Heat/Thunder preseason game just pure awesome.

That's awesome! Have fun!

We lost by two points using THIS as a starting lineup:

PF: Derrick Williams
SF: Andrei Kirilenko
C: Greg Stiemsma
G: Malcolm Lee
G: Luke Ridnour

And our bench, which makes a grand total of only NINE guys who were able to suit up this game:

Dante Cunningham
Alexey Shved
Lou Amundson
Will Conroy

That's because we were missing the three best players on the team (Love, Rubio, Pekovic), some significant help off the bench (JJ Barea, Chase Budinger). Oh, and we didn't have Brandon Roy that game, but that's going to be a common theme this year and something we shouldn't depend on at all.

So let's see the Bobcats go through that and see if they can get a win even against the league's worst team last year.

Is there a team in the NBA deep enough that could beat the Bobcats consistently if you remove their three starters and their three best scorers off the bench for one game?

Whatever. Pekovic is back and we signed some bench help in Josh Howard. At least we have some ****ing bodies to rotate now.

Had the same seats a couple of years ago to see Grizz/Warriors, and it was great. But to see this Laker team with Kobe, Dwight, Pau and company will be special. We'll have access to the tunnel where the players come in and out; there's a food/drink buffet back there under the stands that we can go to anytime. I'm really hoping Nash is back, but that's probably 50/50 at this point.

Yes, every team except the Wolves. :evil:

Shut up. :#

Man, pick any ONE of those injured players except maybe Brandon Roy. If we had Pekovic, we would have won by at least 10. With Barea we at least would have had a real ballhandler who could soften the boards. Wolves win that game too. Budinger would have been a nice shooter who could have given Kirilenko a ****ing break. I'll bet just that one extra guy we could turn to off the bench would have made the difference and pushed us over the edge. If we had signed Josh Howard earlier, I'll bet we beat the Bobcats.

That Pekovic injury was just one ****ing guy too many for this team to handle. Thankfully he's back now.

The AK47 pickup has been HUGE for the Wolves though. Get everyone back healthy with AK doing all the little things and this team is very dangerous, assuming they can weather the storm and make the playoffs.

Love will be back in a couple weeks. Same with Rubio, although I have no idea how his recovery from ACL surgery has gone. Might be awhile before he's 100%.

At this point we just need healthy players. Last night we were scraping the bottom of the barrel for guys to put in minutes. If ANYBODY had gotten into foul trouble, we would have been ultra screwed. Like, "We forfeit this game. Just let us collect our wounded, please."

Lucky bastard. I have been trying to see if I can catch the Celtics somewhere in the area but I will probably have to wait until spring time. Thinking the best bet would be against those loser Timberwolves. :)

Speaking of loser Timberwolves, how's KG doing? :D

Still looking pretty good in his old age a-hole :p

The Thunders starting 5 are -7 in 149 minutes this year. As I have been saying the slow start has as much to do with that as the Harden adjustment. +15 with Martin the the floor.

I believe after the last few playoff runs and Olympics Russ and KD are having problems getting their intensity up for the regular season. That and Perkins has been a steaming pile of shit on both sides.

Not that this had much to do with Wednesday. The Grizzlies just played ****ing great.

NO YOU'RE NOT, DUMBASS. YOU'RE NOT EVEN CLOSE

Minnesota's injury situation is beyond anyone else by a mile.

It's not like GSW didn't know what they were getting into with Bogut. And if Rush is one of your top five players, you've already got a problem. Solid bench guy, but not a top 5 guy on a playoff team.

Potential NBA Finals preview going on right now on ESPN

Grizzlies looking good again

Heat/Lakers aren't on tonight. :)

These 2 teams already beat the Heat :p

I wouldn't go that far... he would be the 5th best player on most playoff teams.

Maybe 8th seeds

Good road win. I really can't wait to see a full strength game between these 2 games.

Nah, he's a 6th or 7th guy, and a good one. I suppose on the right team he could sneak into top 5.

No rumors at all, but I'd love to see Royce traded to Cleveland if they can't work something out. They just have an abundance of forwards, and he could see the court in Cleveland... and be a real nice asset.

Assuming they would trade him cheap due to all this.

How do you get him to the games if he can't or refuses to fly? The NBA schedule is set in a way that it would be hard to try to drive to every road game

I think the Grizzlies are going to get in a lot of fights this season..lol

He will fly if he absolutely has to. Pretty sure he flew at least twice his year at ISU(I might be wrong, but I know he has). That's not the problem with the Rockets right now anyways though.

bad call that was no flagrant foul

OKC played their most complete game tonight. Really moved the ball around well, and played aggressive defense. Russ stopped shooting when his jumper was off, and did a great job of getting his teammates involved.

Memphis is looking scary good again. They are a fabulous team when healthy

Officiating in this 3rd quarter has been awful.

OKC - Clippers damn good game.

holy shit what a sequence...

DURANTALA!

OT. OKC had this game and gave up the 6 pt lead in the final minutes

Great regular season game that had a playoff feel to it and a good win for OKC in OT

Really happy with the way the Thunder have played the last 3 games. Great ball movement, and Westbrook has really been looking to pass first. K-Mart is definitely fitting in well.

Perkins has been pretty awful all year. He's not rebound or doing a good job against the other bigs defensively. Sadly, Hasheem ****ing Thabeet has even looked better. I think there could be a move made there if he doesn't step up.

Good win against a quality team tonight though.

Good to see Kevin Love back.

The Lakers don't respond well to the back to back. They still look a lot better overall, and I'm sure we'll be right in there when Nash comes back.

The West is going to be VERY difficult to win this year.

The JET with a big 3 to end the half Celtics up 3 on OKC

Another good NBA day. Wednesday's games were fun and exciting as hell. Today looks to be the same.

Boston schizophrenics.

Good win for the Celts.

Well, that was amazing. 2nd row floor seats at the Grizz, directly across from the Lakers bench. My son got five from Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol and Darrell Arthur. Right on top of the action, watching the Grizz play like the best team in the league. To top it off, Penny Hardaway sat next to me....only my favorite player of all time.

Attached a pic of my son from our seats, with Dwight and Kobe warming up in the background.

Nice seats man. Glad you guys had a good time and got to see your Grizz win. They are definitely playing like the best team in the league at the moment.

Thunder up 76-25 lol

Please tell me how the Bobcats are 7-5?

Oh my God.


How does that even happen? I am in disbelief right now. I have to see the game highlights and some explanation for that. How is a professional team losing that bad? That makes Chiefs losses look like down to the wire games.

holy shit..now 82-29

Bobcats are shooting 17% lol

anyway good game on TNT, battle of the NY teams

and I have to say Melo is in the early lead for MVP. Guy is playing out of his mind

nice flop Chandler

Yeah, it's Melo and it's not even close so far. He's been by far the best player in the league this year. And he is really surprising me on the defensive end.


Can't wait to see how they do when Amare comes back. There's a chance he could **** everything up.