After weeks of silence, the 76ers finally revealed that Andrew Bynum got another MRI and will be sidelined until December 10 and will likely take up to 4 weeks to get him into game shape. I’ll bet that he is striving to return for the New Years Day game against the Lakers.
MIL 105 @ PHI 96: The 76ers big men struggled without Bynum with Lavoy Allen disappearing again and Spencer Hawes only shooting 3 for 11 with 5 boards. The 76ers did get Jason Richardson back and he scored 20 and Jrue Holiday continued his great early season form with 25 but this time with 8 TO. Evan Turner returned to being well Evan Turner, and only scored 8.
The Bucks backcourt dominated this contest with Brandon Jennings breaking out of his slump big time with 33 on 12 for 21 FG he also chipped in 4 stl and 2 blk and 8:1 AST/TO for his fantasy owners. Monta Ellis, Mike Dunleavy and Tobias Harris each reached double digits scoring 18, 13 and 10 respectively. Larry Sanders had an off night with ‘only’ 9 rebounds and 1 block but 4 TO hurt and Ersan Ilyasova continued his vanishing act with a measly 2 pts and played just 18 min.
Other November 12 Games
UTA 140 @ TOR 133: What a great game for the NBA fan. This contest was filled with big shots, big fantasy scores and some surprising storylines. Oh and 3 overtimes. Mo Williams played whereas Kyle Lowry didn’t and Jazz fans were thankful as Mo impacted the game throughout. His shooting was a little off except when his team needed him and no one will complain with 14ast-3 3PM-4stl-2blk from their PG. Paul Millsap was lethal as well with 34 on 11 for 16 with 9reb-2stl-2blk. He also hit 3 3PM for 8 on the season (on only 12 attempts) passing last years total and one shy from his career best. Every year he seems to add a new trick to his arsenal. The Jazz are managing their bigs by playing Millsap at the 3 more often. Derrick Favors benefited last night with 45 min and 4 blk.
For the Raptors, DeMar DeRozan played a full 60 minutes scoring a career high 37. As a DeRozan skeptic, I particularly enjoyed the 6 dimes – the second time he eclipsed 5 in a game this year – he did it all of once last year. Jose Calderon filled in admirably for Lowry with 20 pts and 17 ast. Andrea Bargnani returned to missing the mark going 5 for 17 but chipped in 8 reb and 2 blk. Hopefully, the one takeaway for the Raptors was a potential solution at the 3 as Linas Kleiza exploded for 17 in the second quarter. Of course, he only scored 3 and fouled out in the second half.
OKC 94 @ DET 92: The Thunder rallied from more than 10 down in the 4th to win a squeaker. Their 4th win in five nights. Russell Westbrook lead the way with 33pts-10reb-4ast and only 2 TO. Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka also did their things combining for 37pts-16reb-10 blocks. The rest of the OKC lineup struggled though scoring just 22, 8 of which were on Kevin Martin free throws.
For the Pistons, Rodney Stuckey broke out of his slump going 7 for 13 and scoring 19 points with 5 assists. Brandon Knight overmatched defensively also couldn’t keep up with Westbrook at the other end shooting just 2 for 13 for 8 points. Kyle Singler continues to play well off the bench scoring an efficient 9 including 2 for 3 from deep. Andre Drummond only played 13 min but still managed 6reb-2stl-1blk showing off his potential for the second half of the season.
Three overtimes was three overtimes too many to be repelled and repulsed by the atrocious audio stylings of Craig Bolerjack and Matt Harpring. I hate having to watch NBA games with the volume on mute. But I guess those two don’t give a crap how bad they are, just so long as their bosses that pay them to be hollering homer shills are thrilled to death.
Failed to note Nikola Pekovic’s sprained ankle in Minnesota recap. Severity not yet known. Just another injury for the Wolves to overcome.