ROUNDBALL- At least the Rockets won, Lakers lose to Bobcats!

There was only six games lined up last night, so it is kind of hard for me to escape the Kansas loss this morning. I am skipping my morning routine of ESPN shows and whatnot and going straight into movies. Honestly though, I had "that feeling" about the game last night anyway. Sorry.

The brightside is that during the KU loss, the Rockets were busying destroying the Nuggets. Even that was bittersweet, as I lived in Denver for three months in 2006. Most of this win was due in large part to the Rockets bench showing up in a big way to this game. Courtney Lee, Chase Budinger, Jordan Hill, and Aaron Broooks were all helpful in this victory for the Rockets. Lee led all scorers with 22 points, including five threes. Of course, the word is out now that the Rockets were auditioning Lee for the rest of the league in this game. Carmelo Anthony went to the locker room early to "ice his knees." Not sure if THIS had anything to do with it.

The Hawks defeated the Pistons by fifteen last night, despite being down by fifteen themselves in the second quarter. Josh Smith (27/14/3) and Mike Bibby (16/6/7) led the Hawks in this victory. Expect this Pistons team to continue to tumble even further down the standings over the next two months, if that's at all possible. They are lucky that the Cavaliers are as terrible as they are this year. Greg Monroe will be the lone Piston competing during all star weekend, which I guess is better than my Rockets who have no one playing in any of the events this coming weekend. Hopefully, Daryl Morey will be working.

The Lakers didn't exactly take advantage of their matchup with the Bobcats like I thought they would. Nazr Mohammed and Kwame Brown split the paint minutes right down the line, as they each played exactly 24 minutes. No word on who the genius that made that decision was. The moved proved effective, as Andrew Bynum finished with only 9 points and 6 boards. Pau Gasol did have 17 and 10 though. Gerald Wallace led everyone with 20 points and 11 boards. The Lakers are clearly in need of a break, at home no less.

The Spurs were able to rest their starters yet again, as the Nets played some of their worst basketball of the season last night. Their starters shot a combined 15/48 from the floor (31%). Anytime you do that, you are unlikely to defeat the best team in the league. The only positive from this game is that Brook Lopez had 10 rebounds, five coming on the offensive end. He will probably combine for 10 boards over his next five games now. I wish I could drop him in fantasy basketball.

The Blazers easily defeated the Timberwolves last night in front of a capacity crowd at the Target Center. Kevin Love was able to get a double double, mainly because he played 37 minutes. Jonny Flynn, Corey Brewer, and Wes Johnson started for the Wolves and finished a combined 0/11 from the field. I can't remember very many times that has happened, if ever. The trio finished with a total of six turnovers, one steal, and one block. At least the Wolves have Kevin Love and Darko. The Blazers meanwhile continue to win with a very depleted roster. There is still no word on when Marcus Camby or Brandon Roy will return either. On this night, Lamarcus Aldridge continued to do his thing. The Blazers also got big games from Dante Cunningham and Wes Matthews. Matthews led all scorers with 23 points.

The Bucks used a strong second half from Carlos Delfino en route to a 24 point drubbing of the Clippers. Delfino finished with 26 points, thanks mostly to a career high 7 three pointers. I was both happy and surprised to find him on the free agent list in my fantasy league this morning. I didn't need Demar Derozan anyway. Brandon Jennings also had 20 points and John Salmons tied his career high with 12 assists. Unfortunately, Ersan Ilyasova left the game early in the first quarter after being hit in the eye by Blake Griffin. The Bucks are fast becoming the Blazers of the Eastern Conference. Blake Griffin had a typical night for the Clippers, finishing with 19 points, 12 boards, and 6 assists.

After all of the drama in Sacto the last couple days, Demarcus Cousins gets a fine and apoligizes. God bless athletes. Realistically though, Cousins will now be under the microscope in Sacramento every time he breathes. From the Bee article: "I wish to apologize to my teammates, the Kings' organization and Kings fans for my role in an unfortunate altercation between teammates," Cousins said in a statement. "I accept full responsibility for my actions and know that I must keep raising my standard of professionalism to be my best and a great player in the NBA."
I sincerely hope we see Evans get dunked on by Cousins this weekend, although I don't see it happening.