What a horrible week for the Utah Jazz. They lost their first three road games by a total of five points before throwing in the towel last night and the Lakers have caught them for the final playoff spot. Paul Millsap (knee) didn’t play and no starter scored more than seven points. The Knicks were already missing Carmelo Anthony (knee) when they lost Amare Stoudemire for the next six weeks with a knee injury. After missing the first two months, it was a nice 29-game run for STAT, but his fantasy owners must move on. J.R. Smith (24 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST) hit four 3-pointers and Steve Novak (20 PTS, 2 AST, 1 STL) went 5-of-10 from deep in the easy win; Kenyon Martin (10 PTS, 6 REB, 2 STL) also gains in value.
Other Saturday Results
NOH @ MEM: The Grizzlies played seven men for at least 24 minutes and all scored in double figures. Mike Conley (22 PTS, 8 AST, 4 REB, 3 STL) led the way, Marc Gasol (10 PTS, 7 REB, 6 AST, 4 BLK) was solid and Ed Davis (12 PTS, 9 REB, 5 BLK) did another nice job filling in for Zach Randolph (ankle) who has now missed four games. One bright spot in the loss for New Orleans was Anthony Davis (20 PTS, 18 REB, 2 AST) but they never seriously threatened.
BRK @ ATL: It was clear that an overtime road loss on Friday left the Hawks exhausted. Al Horford (15 PTS, 12 REB) was respectable but nobody had a particularly good night and Jeff Teague (7 PTS, 3 REB in 22:41) never got in gear. One night after hitting 11 3-pointers, Deron Williams (17 PTS, 6 AST, 3 REB) added two more, while Brook Lopez (18 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST, 2 BLK) and Andray Blatche (18 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 4 STL) took advantage of Atlanta’s frontcourt injuries.
CHA @ WAS: If you own Kemba Walker (29 PTS, 6 AST, 3 REB, 4 STL) that was fin. The Bobcats’ tenth straight loss wasn’t his fault; his teammates combined for just 58 points. The Wizards shot 50%, Trevor Ariza (26 PTS, 10 REB, 5 3PTM) was great off the bench and Nene (19 PTS, 8 REB, 4 AST, 2 BLK) was +26 in the back-to-back. Martell Webster (20 PTS, 4 REB, 2 STL) hit four 3-pointers and Bradley Beal (ankle) wasn’t even missed.
MIN @ DEN: It was a one-point game at halftime but the Nuggets went on a 19-4 run early in the third and never looked back. Ty Lawson scored 23 of his 32 points in the second half, Andre Iguodala (11 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST, 4 STL, 3 BLK) did a bit of everything and Corey Brewer (15) was the hot hand off the bench. For the injury-ravaged Timberwolves, Mickael Gelabale (19 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST) was a pleasant surprise and owners of J.J. Barea (15 PTS, 4 AST, 2 REB, 3 STL) can’t complain.
You don’t really believe Amare would only be out for 6 weeks? He had the same debridement before, and he was out for 8 weeks and slow to get PT.
However, the 8 weeks clock doesn’t start until after the surgery, which we don’t know when that will be.
May 15, is more like the earliest Amare will see game time play. Will the Knicks be sent Fishing by then? Knicks fans are known to be overly optimistic.