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I’ll be recapping the games bullet style tonight.

• At this point, I knew it wasn’t a normal day.
• Boston lost this game because of an overall lack of effort. They turned it over 18 times leading to 25 Net points and committed 29 personal fouls to New Jersey’s 11. I know Paul Pierce didn’t play again, but still, you can’t lose to the Nets no matter what the circumstance is.
• The Nets were led by a trio of 20+ point scorers: Courtney Lee, Devin Harris and Brook Lopez. Lopez dominated the C’s downlow, going for 25 points on nine-of-11 shooting with seven rebounds and two blocks. Harris had 23 and Lee had 21.

• Milwaukee beat the Heat pretty easily when they had Dwyane Wade earlier in the year, so it was no surprise that they beat them even worse without Flash.
• The Bucks are now 6-0 since acquiring John Salmons from the Bucks. If Cleveland doesn’t win the title, this trade could go down as the best of the deadline. He’s exactly the kind of guy the Bucks needed and he has vaulted them into the playoff picture. He had 18 points, five assists and three rebounds and was effective from the field.
• Veteran scorer Jerry Stackhouse looked like his old self in a way, dropping 16 points and four three’s.
• Games like this show why Dwyane Wade should have won the MVP last season. No Heat player had more than 14 points and they are coming off a loss to the Nets.

• Derrick Rose had a great game, scoring 27 points on nine-of-14 shooting and getting to the line 12 times, but the Bulls in the team looked bad. They routinely got out of their sets and forced some bad shots.
• Despite the loss, it’s worth pointing out that Taj Gibson had a great game. His effort never stopped. 14 points on six shots, nine rebounds (five offensive), and three blocks. If you are wandering why Gibson had just nine boards while playing most of the game as the center, that’s because Luo Deng had 18.
• Danny Granger showed up, put 30 points on the board, added eight rebounds and stole four passes. Stat stuffer.

• Zach Randolph had the most dominant game of the season for a post player. Z-Bo had 31 points and 25 rebounds (15 offensive), 12 of which came in the first quarter. Though he did not reach the 112-rebound mark that he was projected to have at one point, no doubt this was a beastly game.
• Forgotten in the brilliance of Randolph is Marc Gasol‘s near triple-double. 25 points, 13 rebounds (seven offensive) and eight assists. I guess its hard to lose a game in which you power forward and center combine for 56 points, 38 rebounds (22 offensive) and eight assists.
• Rudy Gay was also feeling it, scoring 27 points and hitting some big buckets in the fourth quarter.
• Al Harrington had his second straight big time game off the bench. Harrington had 31 points on 11-of-18 shooting with six three’s. Dare I say, Corey Maggette type numbers?

• Nicolas Batum had the game of his career. 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting, five triples, seven rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. What’s not to like about this guy? He hustles, plays great defense, can hit the three, and, apparently, can carry the Blazers offensively at times.
• Al Jefferson had 19 and 11 for Minnesota.

• The first quarter was quite the one-on-one battle. An unexpected battle. Kevin Martin was hot early and so was Deron Williams. Each guy was hitting shot after shot and it ended up setting the pace for the entire game.
• Martin finished with 32 points, his second straight game with more than 30. He shot nine-of-13 from the field, two-of-four from deep, and 12-of-13 from the line. This is what I like to see with him. The Rockets haven’t had a guy to take a jumper on back-to-back possessions and convert since T-Mac, so Martin gives them an offensive option that can hit a jumper from anywhere on the court effectively and can draw a foul with the best of them.
• Williams finished with 35 points on 13-of-17 shooting, which is actually a bit underwhelming considering his 20 point first quarter. His foul trouble prohibited any chance of an 80-point game. Williams also hit all four of his three’s and five of his six free throw attempts. 13 assists and seven rebounds make this a pretty complete game for D-Will.

• Rookie Stephen Curry had a big game, scoring 27 points and adding five rebounds and four assists. D-Leaguer Anthony Tolliver had 14 rebounds and 11 points and keyed the Warriors comeback. This game only deserves one bullet.

The Chase Down Block Chris Berry Interactive Chris Berry Interactive