24 HOURS ON HARDWOOD: 2.7.08

by HP, Hardwood Paroxysm

You Don't Mean Duhon, Do You Hon?: What in the holy hell got into Chris Duhon? With Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Kirk Hinrich all out with injuries, apparently Duhon thought tonight was an okay night to jack it. And jack it he did. All over the Golden State crappy defense. Duhon hit 11 of 16 for 69%, with a career-high 34 points to go with 9 assists and 3 steals. Then Tyrus Thomas got the message in the second half, and he exploded for 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks to help Duhon lead the Bulls to a 114-108 win over the Dubs at the Oracle. Later, Baron Davis was quoted as saying "Who in the holy hell was that?" By the way, Webber had 4 points in 12 minutes for the Dubs, so he's clearly ready to light it up.

Cleveland Discovers Chinese Word For "Pwnage": Guess what, LeBron? 32 points and 7 rebounds? NOT. GOOD. ENOUGH. What you really need is to be 7 feet tall. The One-Man Dynasty had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Rockets to a 92-77 win over the Gooden-less LeBronites. Rafer Alston, in a continuing theme of weak point guards having superhuman nights, had 17 points and nine assists in the win. The Cavs grabbed seven offensive rebounds, and when you miss as many shots as the Cavs do, that's not so good.

That Deep Rut? It's Called Failure: Pat Riley commented after last night's 101-84 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers that the Heat are in "a deep emotional rut." Yeah, losing 21 of your last 22 will definitely put a bit of a damper on things. Much in the same way getting hit by a dump truck, finding out you have herpes, or discovering your partner is the opposite sex will put you in a similar rut. Wade had 19, 5 below his average, on 5 of 17 shooting. Shawn Marion did not suit up for the Heat as he was on the injured list with "vomiting from the nose, mouth, and eyes after watching this team in shootaround." Meanwhile, Philadelphia is a half game back of New Jersey for the 8th seed in the west, proving the theory that a truckload of paraplegic clowns, loaded on heroin and pumping Cannibal Corpse albums directly into their ears could win the 8th seed in the East with a little effort.