Yesterday I was trying to come up with something to write about and kept coming up empty. As I drew blank after blank while scouring sports websites, it became clear why I was struggling so much. After an extremely busy time for sports, with college basketball in full swing, an extremely exciting Australian Open and the NFL playoffs, we've lost a lot. There isn't a whole lot going on in the sports world at the moment.
But basketball is still going on. And the past two nights, I've gotten a serious reminder that the NCAA isn't the only league worth watching. Despite evidence that the NBA is as popular as it's ever been, the people around me all seem to be on the opposite side. On Christmas day when I turned the NBA on, my aunt muttered, "Who gives a shit about the NBA?", right before my grandma realized what was on TV and said, "It's not real basketball, I can't watch it. All that matters is the fourth quarter."
And maybe that's true. I'll admit that the NBA features rampant, uncalled travelling violations, terrible shot selection and oftentimes lazy play. The travelling I can't defend; it bothers me too. But as for the others, its understandable. Have you ever actually watched an NBA game? These guys are unbelievable! The NBA's catchphrase for the past couple season has been "Where Amazing Happens", and it couldn't be more true. An NBA game between the Charlotte Bobcats and Memphis Grizzlies (read: two of the lesser teams in the league) contains more incredible feats of athleticism than the NFL displays in a given week. And that is exactly what was on display last night.
For NBATV's Tuesday "FanNight", the Oklahoma City Thunder were visiting the Golden State Warriors. The Thunder have the NBA's best record, while the Warriors are below .500 and struggling on defense, as has been the case for the past couple years. The Warriors' defense did not matter on Tuesday night though. What unfolded was one of the greatest displays of shot-making I've ever seen. Both teams were on fire from the get-go, and no one more so than Golden State's Monta Ellis. Ellis did his best impression of Allen Iverson-in-his-prime last night, going for 48 points while hitting shots of all types from everywhere on the court, and fearlessly going at bigger players in the process. He also became one of my favorite NBA players in the process. Take a look at some of the stat lines that came out of this game:
Monta Ellis: 48 points, 7 rebounds
David Lee: 25 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists
Stephen Curry: 16 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds
Kevin Durant: 33 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists,
Russell Westbrook: 31 points, 7 assists
James Harden: 19 points, 7 assists, 4 steals
Daequan Cook: 17 points, 5-6 3pt fg.
You are not reading those incorrectly. Golden State had one guy with a triple double, one guy just shy of a triple double, and a guy who scored 48 points, but they still lost. This was not a symptom of them playing lazy defense. Everyone was just on fire. Seriously, those stats I listed are unbelievable and they don't come close to doing the game justice. Go watch some highlights right now. This blog post will still be here when you get back.
I just posted the link and couldn't help but watch the highlights again. And I saw the game last night. How can you be a sports fan and not appreciate something like that? How can you not love watching Monta Ellis, who looks like he might have an inch or two and about ten pounds on me, be unstoppable against all those huge dudes employed by Oklahoma City? Get off your high horse, basketball fans. The NBA is awesome.
No comments:
Post a Comment