NBA Today – Sunday April 15th, 2012

April 15, 2012 - CoreySA - No Comments

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 14: Kevin Durant #35 of the Oklahoma City shoots a layup against the Minnesota Timberwolves on April 14, 2012 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)

GAME OF THE NIGHT - 

Oklahoma City (115) v. Minnasota (110) — This was a closely contested match-up that none of us could of expected, especially with Kevin Love out of action. The Wolves gave the Thunder all they could handle in their first two meetings, losing 104-100 in the season opener and 149-140 in an epic double overtime game in Oklahoma City on March 23. But they had Love in both of those games and weren’t expected to give the mighty Thunder much trouble on Saturday night playing without Love, Rubio and Ridnour.

PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT - 

I’m going to give this night a tie for the first time in MyNBALivePad’s history. Kevin Durant saw double team’s all night, and at one point had a 6-11 power forward guarding him. Nothing stopped him.

On the other hand Chris Paul put on a dominate performance against the Warriors, and led his Clippers to not only a victory, but helped them keep pace with the Lakers as well.

DURANT’S STAT SHEET —                        MINS            FG%           3PT          FT        OFRB  DFRB  RBT     AST    STL     BLK   TO       PF         +/-          PTS

Kevin Durant, SF 35 15-23 4-6 9-12  1  6  7  1 0 1 4 5 +14 43


PAUL’S STAT SHEET –

Chris Paul, PG 36 12-17 3-3 1-1 1 3 4 13 3 0 3 5 +11 28

COREY’S CORNER (DAILY THOUGHTS) -

  • I don’t think there is another team playing as well as the Boston Celtics are right now. Let’s face it, if you’re a team in the East – you don’t want to face these guys.
  • I can’t think of anything funny or witty to say today, so I think I’ll just hit you up with the updated standings as of today.
  • Eastern Conference
    EASTERN W L PCT GB HOME ROAD DIV CONF PF PA DIFF STRK L10
    1 y - Chicago 45 14 .763 - 24-6 21-8 10-1 34-8 96.8 88.8 +7.9 Won 2 6-4
    2 x - Miami 41 17 .707 3 ½ 25-4 16-13 9-3 31-10 100.2 93.5 +6.7 Won 1 6-4
    3 x - Indiana 38 22 .633 7 ½ 20-8 18-14 7-3 26-17 97.0 94.0 +3.1 Won 4 8-2
    4 x - Boston 35 25 .583 10 ½ 21-9 14-16 8-5 28-14 91.7 89.4 +2.3 Won 1 7-3
    5 Atlanta 35 24 .593 10 19-8 16-16 11-3 28-15 95.6 92.9 +2.7 Won 1 6-4
    6 Orlando 34 25 .576 11 19-12 15-13 7-7 27-17 94.0 92.8 +1.2 Lost 2 3-7
    7 New York 31 28 .525 14 20-10 11-18 6-6 24-18 97.4 94.3 +3.1 Won 2 7-3
    8 Philadelphia 31 28 .525 14 19-13 12-15 6-6 24-17 93.1 88.3 +4.7 Lost 1 4-6
    Milwaukee 29 31 .483 16 ½ 15-15 14-16 7-7 22-20 99.3 98.7 +0.6 Lost 1 6-4
    Detroit 22 37 .373 23 15-13 7-24 3-9 17-25 90.5 96.1 -5.5 Lost 1 5-5
    New Jersey 22 39 .361 24 9-21 13-18 5-6 16-27 93.5 98.8 -5.3 Lost 1 6-4
    Toronto 21 39 .350 24 ½ 12-19 9-20 6-8 13-29 91.1 94.6 -3.5 Won 1 5-5
    Cleveland 20 38 .345 24 ½ 10-19 10-19 3-10 12-30 93.7 99.7 -5.9 Won 1 3-7
    Washington 14 46 .233 31 ½ 8-22 6-24 4-7 10-32 93.1 99.8 -6.7 Lost 2 3-7
    Charlotte 7 51 .121 37 ½ 4-23 3-28 1-12 5-38 88.0 101.4 -13.4 Lost 15 0-10
    Western Conference
    WESTERN W L PCT GB HOME ROAD DIV CONF PF PA DIFF STRK L10
    1 y - Oklahoma City 44 16 .733 - 25-6 19-10 10-2 31-11 103.1 96.5 +6.7 Won 2 6-4
    2 y - San Antonio 42 16 .724 1 25-5 17-11 12-4 28-13 101.8 96.3 +5.5 Won 2 8-2
    3 x - LA Lakers 38 22 .633 6 24-6 14-16 8-4 29-13 96.9 94.7 +2.2 Won 3 7-3
    4 LA Clippers 37 23 .617 7 22-9 15-14 7-6 26-18 97.5 94.9 +2.6 Won 3 8-2
    5 Memphis 35 24 .593 8 ½ 22-7 13-17 6-7 23-21 95.3 93.7 +1.7 Won 1 8-2
    6 Dallas 34 26 .567 10 21-10 13-16 7-5 24-20 95.0 93.7 +1.3 Won 3 6-4
    7 Houston 32 27 .542 11 ½ 20-10 12-17 5-6 21-21 98.4 97.6 +0.8 Lost 2 6-4
    8 Denver 32 27 .542 11 ½ 18-12 14-15 4-7 17-25 103.6 101.8 +1.8 Lost 1 6-4
    Phoenix 31 29 .517 13 17-11 14-18 8-5 21-21 97.9 97.9 +0.0 Lost 1 6-4
    Utah 31 30 .508 13 ½ 21-8 10-22 7-4 21-23 98.8 98.9 -0.1 Lost 2 4-6
    Portland 28 32 .467 16 20-12 8-20 4-8 20-22 97.4 96.7 +0.7 Lost 1 5-5
    Minnesota 25 36 .410 19 ½ 13-17 12-19 4-8 19-26 98.5 100.0 -1.5 Lost 9 1-9
    Golden State 22 37 .373 21 ½ 12-17 10-20 7-7 15-26 98.3 101.3 -3.0 Lost 4 2-8
    Sacramento 19 41 .317 25 14-15 5-26 2-10 14-29 98.1 104.3 -6.3 Lost 7 2-8
    New Orleans 17 42 .288 26 ½ 9-22 8-20 1-9 11-31 89.8 94.0 -4.2 Won 2 5-5

WHAT’S ON TONIGHT -

My predictions have been spot on as of late, so let’s see if I can pick you the top 2 winners again today.

MAVS @ LAKERS — Kobe is likely to miss today’s game between the top western contenders, but don’t expect the Lakers to roll over – especially at home. Andrew Bynum has been playing in beast mode as of late and I don’t expect that to change today. The Lakers will sweep the season series with the Mavs if they win today, returning the favor from last year’s playoffs. PICK: LAKERS

GAME OF THE NIGHT – HEAT @ KNICKS — The Knicks have been playing spirited ball as of late, especially at home. That won’t be enough today. Look for the Heat to dominate a potential first round match up today at MSG. PICK: HEAT

PREVIOUS – (3-0) OVERALL – (8-2)

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–CoreySA