It’s amazing how much of a difference one season can make. At this time last year, the Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves were the laughingstocks of the Western Conference. Now, the Clippers are contenders and the Timberwolves are fighting for a playoff berth. Coming off their All-Star appearances, Kevin Love and Blake Griffin – the two best power forwards in the game – go head to head for the second time this season as the Timberwolves (17-17) visits the Clippers
Let’s check in on last year’s Finals participants, shall we? There was quite a game in Dallas, where the Mavericks were trying to extend their winning streak and the Clippers were trying to complete a spiffy 5-1 road trip. The night began and ended with Caron Butler. Butler spent last season with the Mavericks. He began as their starting small forward and helped Dallas to a 24-8 start before suffering a torn patellar tendon that cost him the rest of the season.
LeBron James tied a career-high Monday by shooting 76.2 percent (16-21 FG) , matching a similar shooting performance he had against the Hawks last season (16-21 FG, 3/18/11). Even Though James picked on almost everyone defending him, he did the bulk of his work against Carlos Delfino, scoring 15 of his game-high 35 points against him. Caron Butler, in his return to Dallas, scored a season-high 23 points, and just missed hitting the go ahead three with less than 5 seconds
The first reader with the correct answer to last week’s edition of The Bernucca List was Sam Millner, who noted that the seven players had played for both the Lakers and Clippers and were active. Nice job, Sam. When we put together these lists, those sort of qualifiers are kind of important, so you have to include them in your answer. This week’s list is below. I sense it may be too easy. But there is that all-important qualifier. As always, post a
The first correct answer to last week’s edition of The Bernucca List was given by @mikepilz. It was a list of the last 10 different players to lead the NBA in minutes played. This week’s list is below. The degree of difficulty is not all that high — especially compared to Edition VII. If you think you know the answer, send me a Tweet or post it in the comments. Our staff will respond throughout the day. The Bernucca List Matt Barnes Steve Blake Caron Butler Brian
By Chris Bernucca We all remember last year’s free agency extravapalooza – LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh heating up South Beach, Amar’e Stoudemire making the Knicks relevant, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce making career commitments to their teams and Joe Johnson landing the biggest contract of them all. Next year could be a quality sequel, with a star-studded cast that includes Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Ray Allen, Jason Terry, possibly Jameer Nelson and Gerald Wallace, and oldies but goodies Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Steve