The trade deadline had passed at 3PM EST on Thursday afternoon. Everything seemed settled and players could finally take a deep breath and play basketball again.
Not so fast.
Moments after the official deadline had passed, word arrived out of Denver that they had traded away long-tenured Nene Hilario in a three-team deal, receiving JaVale McGee, Ronny Turiaf and a future second-round pick in the process.
The loss of Nene turned out to be too much for George Karl and the Denver Nuggets to handle on a night they had to play against a team they have traditionally struggled against, the best team in the Western Conference.
From John Rohde of the Oklahoman: “The Thunder needed something to tilt its existence back on the axis that helped make it the best team in the Western Conference. It arrived Thursday night at Denver with the return of guard Thabo Sefolosha to the starting lineup after missing 23 games with a sore right foot. His mere presence gave OKC more of a defensive mindset and also allowed struggling bombardier Daequan Cook to rejoin the second unit. The end result was a convincing 103-90 victory over the Nuggets before a crowd of 18,458 at the Pepsi Center. Not only was it important for the Thunder to win and erase Tuesday’s embarrassingly uncharacteristic loss to the Rockets, it was important for OKC to win in convincing fashion… Beating the Nuggets has become routine for the Thunder, which has beaten Denver nine of the last 11 meetings dating back to last season and including the first round of last year’s playoffs. Also routine is bouncing back and not losing consecutive games. OKC is now 9-1 after a loss this season and 29-7 after a loss the last two seasons.”
After having a historic performance in the previous meeting against Denver back on February 19, things were much calmer this time around. Kevin Durant led all scorers with 24 points, Russell Westbrook added 23 points and James Harden scored 18 points.
Back on the subject of Nene, the team had hoped he would become the cornerstone of the franchise after the departure of star Carmelo Anthony. Needless to say, things didn’t quite pan out as they had hoped.
From Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post: “As the season progressed — the injuries, the inconsistencies — some wondered if Nene should beware the Ides of March… Nene has played his entire career since Maybyner Rodney Hilário was acquired on draft night in 2002. This season, Nene averages 13.4 points per game and 7.4 rebounds, the first of five seasons on a $67 million contract. Nene not only played his whole career in the Mile High City but married a Colorado woman and lives in Denver during the offseason with their baby. Now, he is off to Washington to play for a perennial loser… Nene missed most of camp, so his body was behind schedule heading into the lockout-shortened season. He played in just 28 of the 43 games. Last season, Nene led the league in shooting percentage with 61.5 percent, but this season he’s down to 50.9 percent. If one takes the season he played one game out of the equation, it’s his lowest percentage since 2004-05. He also averages 2.8 turnovers per game, the most in his career. And there had been murmurs in the Pepsi Center about his mental toughness.”
Utah played a much closer contest against the visiting Timberwolves. The story of the game was Paul Millsap as he played hero, scapegoat and back to hero to finish the game off in overtime.
From Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune: “In the book of amazing, almost unexplainable victories in franchise history, the Utah Jazz added a new chapter Thursday night against Minnesota. The author: Paul Millsap. The veteran forward finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high eight steals in Utah’s 111-105 overtime victory, but those numbers don’t begin to tell the story. After the Jazz squandered a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter, they still could have won in regulation. But Millsap missed an uncontested layup at the buzzer, after a perfectly thrown inbounds pass by Jamaal Tinsley… After Millsap’s layup fell off the rim and 18,053 fans gasped in astonishment, he crouched under the basket momentarily before walking slowly to the bench. “My mind just went blank, ” Millsap said… In overtime, Millsap made the biggest plays of a big game between two teams jockeying for position in the Western Conference playoff race. “He showed true, true professionalism and toughness,” coach Tyrone Corbin said. With the score tied, 105-105, Millsap’s steal and assist set up Gordon Hayward’s go-ahead dunk with 56.9 seconds remaining. After another defensive stop, Millsap nailed a 17-foot jumper off a pick-and-roll with Devin Harris to give Utah a 109-105 lead with 19.2 seconds left. Finally, Millsap knocked the ball away from Minnesota’s Kevin Love and Hayward iced the victory with two free throws.”
Gordon Hayward led all scorers off the bench with 26 points but missed a free throw with 10.3 seconds remaining in the game that could have iced the game.
From Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune: “This time, there was no magic left in the night for the Timberwolves. The last time the Wolves and Utah Jazz played, the Wolves danced off the Target Center court after the most improbable of victories. This time, they flailed their arms in exasperation and trudged into a tunnel at Energy Solution Arena after a 111-105 overtime loss in which they lamented both offensive rebounds and opportunity lost from a game they probably again had little business winning… The Jazz won the three-game season series 2-1, a potentially important tiebreaker distinction should the two teams fighting for the West’s eighth playoff spot end the season tied. The Wolves watched a chance to start this seven-game, 13-day road trip with two consecutive victories slip away.”
Kevin Love appeared to badly hurt his left thumb but X-rays were negative and he is probable for the next game. He finished the contest with 25 points and 16 rebounds but shot just 9-of-23 from the field and five-of-10 from the line. Luke Ridnour did his best Ricky Rubio impression with 18 points and 13 assists, while Pekovic abused with 20 points and nine rebounds.
Over in Staples Center, the Clippers blew a huge lead and lost against a Phoenix team playing without Steve Nash and Grant Hill, who had the night off. Nick Young can’t get there soon enough.
From Broderick Turner of Los Angeles Times: The Clippers have been in need of a big shooting guard, of a more consistent scorer in the starting lineup, of something to replace what Chauncey Billups gave them before he went down with a season-ending left Achilles’ tendon injury. The Clippers knew it would be nearly impossible to replace all that Billups brought, but they were at least able to add size and a quality scorer with the acquisition of Washington Wizards guard Nick Young in a three-team trade minutes before Thursday’s trade deadline. Young was flying to Los Angeles while the Clippers were blowing a 17-point lead to the depleted Phoenix Suns, inexplicably losing, 91-87, Thursday night at Staples Center. Blake Griffin had 25 points, but he missed three of four free throws in the fourth quarter, one of them an airball. The Clippers, who had a closed-door meeting after the game, were only five for 12 from the free-throw line overall.
The Clippers have now lost five of their last seven games and are 2 1/2 games behind the Lakers in the Pacific Division.
Elsewhere…
John Wall expressed his anger of losing teammate JaVale McGee by leading the Wizards over the Hornets 99-89. In just their fourth road win of the season, Wall led the charge with 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting and 12 assists while Roger Mason — filling in for the traded Nick Young — scored 19 points including three straight 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach after a spirited comeback by the Hornets. Chris Kaman — who contrary to reason was not traded — had 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Dallas squeaked out a second straight win against another bad Eastern Conference team as they defeated the league-worst Bobcats 101-96. Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points, Jason Terry scored 18 points and Rodrigue Beaubois added 14. Still, the Mavericks have won just four of their last 12 games and are looking at a daunting schedule ahead that could determine their chances of making the playoffs. Eleven of the next 12 opponents are all playoff contenders, and seven of them are in the top four in the standings.
James Park is a regular contributor to Sheridanhoops.com. Follow him on twitter.