Carmelo Anthony with 2 of many. Make that many many.

Denver 168 Seattle 116

Yeah, that was the score with no overtimes.

Denver, a pretty much all offensive team anyway, put on a show against Seattle, a pretty much non-defensive team anyway.

The Nuggets had eight players score in double figures, led by Carmelo Anthony’s 26 and Allen Iverson’s 24. Martin had 23 points and Marcus Camby had a triple-double with 13 points, 15 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists.
source

Denver had a 48 point first quarter.

They won the game by 52 points.

The Nuggets had 44 assists.

Get this, Halftime Score 84 to 58.

What an unreal game.

Now back to reality. Denver has to play Detroit. There will be no 168 points scored in that game.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Do you like the new all scoring NBA?

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Can Kobe Bryant keep on smiling?

No Bynum, no problem.

Just let Kobe take over and take over he did.

Kobe put up 48 on the Seattle Supersonics and pulled the game out in OT.

Kevin Durant shot a horrible 6 for 26 for Seattle.

Final Score – Lakers 123 – Sonics 121

The Lakers were recently dealt a severe blow when young center Andrew Bynum, the player not named later in the Kobe to the Bulls non-trade, injured his knee.

The Lakers had to come right back and play on the road again the night after the injury.

And if there is any doubt about whether Kobe Bryant is one of the best players in the league, if not the best, then look no further than this game.

“This is a tough one,” a tired looking Bryant said. “Tonight was one of those nights where I kind of had to read the mood of the team. Us kind of being a little deflated with (Bynum) going down, being a back-to-back, coming in on the road, it was one of those things where I just kind of wanted to be a lot more assertive.”

How assertive? Bryant scored the final six points of overtime. He took 44 shots, just three off his career high of 47. source

The Lakers had learned before the game that Bynum’s injury was much worse than thought.

They learned center Andrew Bynum could be sidelined for more than eight weeks because he suffered a subluxation of the patella and a bone bruise of his left knee in Sunday night’s victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Bynum was injured when he landed on teammate Lamar Odom’s left foot in the opening minutes of the third quarter. He left Staples Center wearing a soft knee brace and said he didn’t believe the injury was that serious. source

No one is expecting Kobe to put up 48 per night to keep the Lakers rolling, but it will be a test for the whole team to keep going until Andrew Bynum can return.

NBA Basketball Kobe Bryant factoid - It was Bryant’s 87th career 40-point game, one behind Elgin Baylor for third all-time in league history.

Those that know Kobe, know he is ready for the challenge. The real problem may be that his teammates are not.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will Kobe tolerate his teammates if they begin to lose?

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Brandon Roy and Kevin Durant

Conventional wisdom, be as it may, does not always ring true.

Greg Oden is out with micro fracture surgery. Portland being a very young team and minus its big 7 footer should not be enjoying any success.

No, Portland should be looking forward to another high draft pick to complement Brandon Roy and Greg Oden. Maybe even a top 5 pick that would cement Portland as the team of the future.

Well, funny thing, no Greg Oden, no high draft pick and still Portland is winning. The future is unfolding right now.

Portland just won their 11th game in a row. Just where is this headed?

The latest win came Tuesday night when Brandon Roy and Jarrett Jack each scored 17 points and Portland beat the Seattle SuperSonics 89-79.

The Blazers own the longest current winning streak in the NBA, and it’s their best run since they won 12 in a row during the 2001-02 season. source

Portland is now trying to steal the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association. Hey, they might win the division!

It is a close race right now with Denver and Utah.

Oddly, Seattle with Kevin Durant playing, and playing well enough to probably win Rookie of the Year is headed towards the high draft pick.

The NBA set up this game to showcase Kevin Durant vs. Greg Oden on Christmas day.

The Blazers all acknowledged this game was big. Not only was the streak on the line, but it was a nationally televised game on a holiday that has traditionally showcased stars such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

“I remember as a kid watching Michael Jordan play on Christmas,” Przybilla said. “This is really a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I don’t know that I’ll ever get that chance again in my career.”

Portland is now thinking playoffs and what a surprise that is to everyone.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will Portland be able to keep it up?

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As usual, Stern rules the NBA!

How is this possible?

David Stern admits half the referees in the NBA violated the league gambling policy and he is letting them off.

At first this made no sense at all, but then putting myself in Stern’s shoes and they were really tight fitting and short, it was easy to see that there was no way he could suspend half the referees right before the season.

So, David Stern did the next best thing. He demoted Stu Jackson and Ronnie Nunn.

Stern also said Stu Jackson and Ronnie Nunn, in charge of monitoring officiating, will both have their roles altered. But he stressed they were being “expanded” rather than demotions — even though Jackson’s job now will be divided between two people and the league will be “cutting down on some of (Nunn’s) other responsibilities.” source

Oh, excuse me; their roles will be expanded to have less to do with the officials, if that makes any sense.

You must keep in mind that Stern is the master and has successfully guided the NBA for years. How a short guy got that job is anyone’s guess.

NBA Basketball David Stern factoid Stern attended Teaneck High School in New Jersey, then went to Rutgers, and Columbia Law School. source

In other Stern news, he is letting Jim Dolan and Isiah Thomas off the hook too.

Stern also reiterated that he is not currently considering any action toward Knicks coach Isiah Thomas or Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan in the aftermath of the ruling against them in a sexual harassment suit brought by former team executive Anucha Browne Sanders.

The trial did bring another change, however. All team personnel now will be required to set and meet minimum standards regarding sensitivity training and respect in the workplace.

Stern also brought up the fact that Seattle may lose their franchise to another city.

The board heard what “wasn’t a very uplifting report” about the situation in Seattle, where there has been no progress on funding for a new arena that would keep the Supersonics in the city. Stern called himself an optimist but said his “optimism is waning” when it comes to the team’s future there.

Ok, refs gambling, owners and GMs harassing, Seattle moving and that was all before David Stern had lunch.

David Stern had the good fortune to enter the league as commissioner at the same time as Michael Jordon entered the league, but it was more than the appeal of Jordan that helped expand the NBA.

Stern has orchestrated the NBA to expand throughout the world and also oversees the WNBA.

In spite of criticisms, the NBA would definitely miss David Stern and his guidance.

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And he shall come from the East and lead them…

Denver is all set up to win the Northwest.

Think about this division. Greg Oden is out for the season at Portland and they let their other big man, Zach Randolph, go to the Knicks.

Seattle is playing for the future with young Rookie of the Year front runner Kevin Durant. They are young and inexperienced.

The Timberwolves are starting the Al Jefferson show and have yet to move up town with their supporting cast of castaways.

This leaves only Utah. Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, Mehmet Okur present a solid core, but an unhappy Kirilenko really hurts them.

Carmelo is set to lead the Nuggets out of the Northwest.

He’s not the all-around threat James is, but he does exude greatness, able to put the ball in the basket as well as anyone in the game. All that has been missing are key ingredients like maturity and help. He feels he has both now. Excuses are out the window.

CBSSports.com believes in Anthony and the Nuggets, predicting they’ll overcome Utah in the Northwest Division. If they fail, it had better be a result of the scenario Karl believes possible, where Utah simply outperforms them and wins more than 60 games. That’s unlikely, but if it happens, Denver has every right to shake off the disappointment and feel good about its season. source

Introducing the Champions of the Northwest to be, the Denver Nuggets with an aging but still hungry Allen Iverson, a shoot happy Carmelo, a block happy Camby, and perhaps the key in Kenyon Martin.

Kenyon is coming off microfracture surgery and a lot depends on his recovery. Without Kenyon Martin they are not a very tough team on the offensive blocks.

Camby is counted on more for defense. Did you know he was the defensive player of the year? Came as a shock to me.

It appears any kind of chemistry on offense between The Truth and Melo should produce close to 50 victories and be good enough to win the division.

Hard to believe they have the horses to march through the playoffs, but we believed that about Cleveland and LeBron last year.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Who do you pick in the Northwest Division?

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The future for Kevin Durant

Kevin realized a dream in the Seattle home opener as Tracy McGrady and the Houston Rockets came to town. The dream was to play against one of his idols, Tracy McGrady. Unfortunately, the Houston team is much more experienced and much more developed in almost all areas of the game.

Let’s face it, most of the Supersonics are NBA babies.

P.J. Carlisemo, the Seattle coach admitted as much.

“We’re not ready to play a team this good right now. They’re very, very difficult for us to play,” said Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo.

Carlesimo rested forward Chris Wilcox and guard Earl Watson and tried to limit the minutes for the team’s other notable rookie, forward Jeff Green, this year’s fifth pick out of Georgetown. But Green, who has a sore knee, entered three minutes into the game and played 22 minutes. He scored five points. source

Houston won the game 117 – 94.

The game was still special to Kevin Durant as he got to play against and sometimes even guard Tracy McGrady. Tracy had this to say…

“He’s got a lot of talent,” said McGrady, who was 10-of-20 from the floor and made all nine free throws before sitting out the final 17 minutes. “I think right now it’s such a huge burden on his shoulders because they’re such a young team. He has to be a scorer. All eyes are on him. He’s one of the top picks in the draft this year. There’s so much hype.

“He just needs to continue to learn the NBA game. He was kind of forcing some shots tonight but that just comes from being young.”

Durant still ended up with 25 points and even got to go inside on Yao Ming.

All in all it was a fun night for Kevin, except for the losing, but he knows there are plenty of lessons to learn and tonight was just a primer for what is to come.

“When (Durant) learns the game, knowing where to get easy shots from, knowing how to read defenses and becomes a lot stronger, he’s going to be pretty good,” McGrady added. “(But) when I see those young guys like that, I really like to go right at them, see what they’ve got. I wish him well.”

No, it won’t be a great year for Seattle.

And No, this won’t be the end of Durant’s NBA lessons on the court.

But Yes, Kevin played against Tracy and he not only survived, he thrived.

Here is my early vote for Kevin Durant as Rookie of the Year.

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