Who was that masked man?
Did you mean the one in San Antonio, or the one in Los Angeles?
Original masked man (aside from the “real” original, the Lone Ranger) Richard Hamilton made his long-awaited return to the starting lineup for the Chicago Bulls as they pulled off one of their most impressive road wins of the season, defeating the Spurs 96-89 in San Antonio.
And Kobe Bryant slipped on a mask over his broken nose in Los Angeles and dropped 31 points on the Timberwolves, who were without Kevin Love (flu) in a 104-85 loss to the Lakers.
It was a busy night in The Association, with 24 of the 30 NBA teams in action on the first day of March — which this year includes the pushed-back trading deadline of March 15. Teams still have two weeks to change their rosters for the sprint to the finish line, and ESPN reported there are three deals being contemplated — Pau Gasol to the Bulls, Dwight Howard to the Clippers and Kirk Hinrich to the Lakers — that have already been reported here on SheridanHoops.com.
Not that we’re going to lose any sleep waiting for the WWL to give credit.
As usual, most of the trade talk centers around the Lakers, who have been shoppin Gasol all season and who also have an $8.9 million trade exception from the Lamar Odom deal that they can use to acquire a player (making up to $8.9 million) without surrendering a player in return.
Bryant, who played Wednesday night after Dwyane Wade broke his nose with a smack to the face in Sunday’s All-Star game, is going to need some help to get his team back into the upper echelon in the West. His Lakers caught a break as Minnesota’s best player sat out on the second night of a back-to-back-to-back set.
Bryant had 31 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in the Lakers’ 17th consecutive win over the Wolves, Gasol scored 15 points and Andrew Bynum had 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Lakers, who improved to 15-2 at home – tied with Miami for the league’s second-best behind Oklahoma City’s 15-1 record.
From Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: ” There’s no need to send the item to the Hall of Fame. Mask Mania certainly isn’t Linsanity. In fact, Bryant fiddled with it often in his first game since sustaining a broken nose, concussion and soft-tissue damage in his neck after taking a hard foul from Miami guard Dwyane Wade on Sunday in the All-Star game. He took shots without the mask at halftime, but it stuck around, unlike the Timberwolves. “It just felt like it started sweating immediately inside,” said Bryant, who made 11 of 23 shots and had seven rebounds. “It felt like I had a sauna on my face. … I was drinking my own sweat.” Bryant had no harsh words for Wade, who apologized via phone message a day after fouling Bryant. The Lakers play host to Miami on Sunday. “He didn’t mean to do it,” Bryant said. “It’s something that happens. He’s not that type of person. Bryant added later: “He’s a nicer guy than I am, to be honest with you.” Bryant said he kept playing in the All-Star game despite feeling “weird” because he was “just curious.” He passed a battery of neurological and physical tests Wednesday and received clearance to play from a neurologist. “I’m fine. I have no headaches,” he said Wednesday. “Everything’s just kind of in the neck.”
Hamilton was back in the starting lineup for Chicago after returning the previous night against New Orleans. Again bothered by a sore thigh, he played just 15 minutes, scoring two points on 1-of-8 shooting.
For a moment, it appeared as though the Bulls would be without an even more valuable player, Derrick Rose, after he writhed on the floor for several minutes after banging knees with Tony Parker, who stood unfazed after the impact. Bulls trainers rushed to his side, but Rose got up slowly, walked back to the bench and never left the game.
From K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: “Rose delivered time and time again down the stretch to cap his 29-point performance on a night when two starters struggled. Throw in a strong effort from “The Bench Mob” and two huge fourth-quarter 3-pointers from Luol Deng, who shook off a 1-for-6 start, and another team effort prevailed. “I’m telling you: Sometimes our bench wins games for us,” Rose said. “This was an example of that.” Well, that and Rose, who spectacularly snapped a 75-75 tie with a spinning, lefty layup that somehow eluded Tim Duncan and banked in with 6 minutes, 25 seconds remaining. He calmly banked a righty floater off the glass with 1:46 left and swished a 20-foot jumper over two defenders with 70 seconds to go. By the time Deng’s second 3-pointer fell through with 39.6 seconds left, prompting Deng to raise his arms to the sky, the Bulls led 92-86.”
Elsewhere around the NBA:
- All-Star Game MVP Kevin Durant scored eight of his 23 points down the stretch, and Russsell Westbrook had 22 points and 13 rebounds (seven on the offensive end) to lead Oklahoma City to a 92-88 road victory over Philadelphia. The Thunder overcame a seven-point deficit in the final 5:31 and won their sixth straight game.
- Dirk Nowitzki left in the second quarter with a sore back, and Marc Gasol’s 22 points and 11 rebounds and Mike Conley’s 20 points and 10 assists led the Grizzlies past Dallas 96-85. Memphis win its fifth straight home game its eighth in 10 overall.
- The New York Knicks scored 71 second-half points to overcome as early 17-point deficit as they defeated Cleveland 120-103 behind 19 points and 13 assists (and just one turnover) from Jeremy Lin, 22 points from Carmelo Anthony and 50 points from their reserves.
- Ryan Anderson grabbed a season-high 10 defensive rebounds as part of his 23-point, 15-rebound output in Orlando’s 102-95 win over Washington. Wizards coach Randy Wittman shuffled his lineup, starting Kevin Seraphin over JaVale McGee at center and Jordan Crawford over Nick Young at shooting guard.
- Rajon Rondo had 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to record his third triple-double of the season and Kevin Garnett had 25 points and 10 rebounds in a 102-96 victory at Milwaukee that got the Celtics (17-17) back to .500. Rondo has 16 career triple-doubles.
- Ty Lawson returned from a sprained ankle and scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, including a key 3-pointer late to hold off a surge by Portland in a 104-95 victory. Danilo Gallinari, who has missed a month with a severely sprained left ankle, and Nene, who has missed 13 games with a heel injury and a left calf strain, are due back next week. Rudy Fernandez could return from a strained lower back as early as Friday. “We’re still hanging in with teams like Oklahoma City, the Clippers, all the top teams and we have three starters hurt,” Lawson said. “Once we get them back, we’re going to be a team everybody’s scared of.”
- C.J. Miles scored a season-high 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including three 3-pointers as Utah ended its four-game losing streak and the Rockets’ four-game winning streak with a 104-83 victory.
- Dominic McGuire started in place of Stephen Curry (ankle) and went scoreless but grabbed 15 rebounds in Golden State’s 85-82 victory over Atlanta. David Lee scored 22 points, including the go-ahead basket with 30 seconds remaining.
- Greg Monroe had 19 points and a career-best 20 rebounds, while Rodney Stuckey (29) and Brandon Knight (20) helped Detroit’s starting backcourt outscored Charlotte’s 49-21 in a 109-94 victory.
- Linas Kleiza and Leandro Barbosa combined for 36 bench points and Toronto outscored New Orleans 33-15 in the fourth quarter of a 95-84 victory at New Orleans.