Alex Gallard / AP Photo

Some week to inexcusably slack on my daily blog, right? Holy crap.

You’ve no doubt watched/read about all of this already by now, but let’s have a quick look at what happened over the past week:

The Jazz came back from double-digit deficits in four straight road games, after coming back to beat the Clippers in double-OT at home. Two of those wins were against the Heat and Magic on a back-to-back. Against Miami, Paul Millsap went Reggie Miller at the end of the fourth and ended up with 46 points. I’m still not sure that all of this really occurred. I’ve no idea how good Utah actually is. And I don’t think we’ll learn much from tonight’s game against the tired Thunder… but I do know they’ve been successful against teams with singular names recently.

The Pacers scored 54 freaking points in a quarter. They made twenty straight shots, before Josh McRoberts missed a three-pointer on their last possession. Mike Dunleavy scored 24 points in that quarter.

Yes, I realize that I linked back to a post on this site. I’m allowed; I didn’t write it. I couldn’t have written it.

Michael Beasley hit a ton of J’s against the Kings. He hit J after J after smooth J and ended up with 42 points. Two days later, against the Knicks, he did the same thing without getting to the line as often. He ended up with 35 points. Nick Flynt had to apologize to him.

In that Knicks/Wolves game, Kevin Love had a double-Reggie. He scored 31 points and grabbed 31 rebounds. As I’m sure you’re aware, the last person to reach 30/30 was Moses Malone 28 years ago. That same night, the entire Wizards team only grabbed 30 rebounds against the Bobcats. Love didn’t grab a single rebound in the first seven minutes of play. He outrebounded the Knicks 22-17 by himself in the 2nd half, 15 of those coming in the third quarter. He raised his rebounding average from 12.8 to 14.6 per game. Press row was counting each rebound out loud after #25. None of these sentences look like they can possibly be accurate.

Lost in Beasley’s and Love’s numbers is the fact that the Wolves’ comeback was crazy in its own right. They were down by 21 with nine minutes left in the third. In the last 21 minutes, they outscored New York 55-25. And the game wasn’t even on local TV in Minneapolis.

From a New York perspective, this game was not fun. Take a look at this recap on Bandwagon Knick.

And of course, the week had to end with something absolutely ridiculous. Last night, the Suns hit twenty-two threes against the Lakers. That’s their franchise record, that’s the most the Lakers have ever given up, and that’s one short of the NBA record for threes in a game. Jason Richardson shot 7-10 from deep and is now 31-61 on the season. Obviously, an absurd 30-footer from Hedo Turkoglu was the dagger. Makes perfect sense, this week.

Fun with stats

Joakim Noah is hitting 56% of his ugly jump shots from 16-23 feet.

Josh Smith has 1102 career blocks. He moved past Dikembe Mutombo (1,094) on the Hawks’ all-time blocks list a bit over a week ago. Tree Rollins is #1, with 2,283. Smith led the league in blocks per game before recording only 1 last night. Now, Roy Hibbert (3.0, #TeamHibs) leads the league. And JaVale McGee leads the league in block percentage – he’s blocked an INSANE 10% of his opponents’ 2-point field goal attempts.

Brook Lopez is averaging 5.9 rebounds per game. Chris Bosh is averaging 6.0 rebounds per game. Russell Westbrook is averaging 6.0 rebounds per game.

When the Warriors beat Utah 85-78 on Nov. 5, Utah’s 78 were the fewest GS had given up since beating the Clippers 109-77 in November of 2006. Eight days later, the Warriors lost in Milwaukee 79-72.

When the Wolves beat Sacramento on Wednesday, it was their first road victory since a February win against a Heat team that started Carlos Arroyo, Daequan Cook, Quentin Richardson, Michael Beasley, and Jermaine O’Neal.

The Heat are awesome in the third quarter. They average 27.3 points in the third and give up only 19.6.

As you know, the Jazz have won five straight. The last time Al Jefferson won five straight was in December 2006. That Celtics group lost 18 straight later that season.

Rashard Lewis played 25:40 against the Raptors on Saturday and, for the first time in his Magic career, did not attempt a three-pointer. Mickael Pietrus, however, attempted 11 three pointers and made 8 of them. Pietrus didn’t take any two-pointers or free throws. Also, Lewis has been in a MAJOR shooting slump – he’s only shooting 27% from 16-23 feet and 32% from three.

Also shooting poorly – Brandon Roy. His problem is different than Lewis, though. His shooting from distance has actually improved, but at the rim Roy is shooting 52% (down from 63.6% last year), within 10 feet he’s shooting 43% (down from 46% last year), and from 10-15 he’s shooting 33% (down from 47% last year). It’s safe to assume this is because of his stupid freaking knees that I’m not ready to talk about yet.

The 8-0 Hornets have yet to trail by double figures in a game.

Rajon Rondo has had 15+ assists SEVEN TIMES this season. All other NBA players have combined to do it five times.

I don’t want to put any of Darko’s terrible stats here so just click this link.

Shannon Brown is shooting 47% on threes this season, after shooting 33% last season. He’s averaging 3.4 attempts from downtown this season, up from 2.3 last season. Shot looks way, way better, as well.

Matt Bonner shot 7-7 on threes last night. Those seven were a career high and none of them touched the rim. On two point attempts, he was 0-3. You should read this post about it.

The Spurs are 8-1. That’s their best start in franchise history. THEY WILL NOT DIE.

Quoted

“This would have been a tough one if we would have lost it. I might have cried. I’m glad we won… seriously.” – Deron Williams, after playing 54 minutes in Utah’s double-OT win over the Clips back on Nov. 6. I know this quote is old, but it’s good.

“I’m a Monster and everyday is Halloween.” – Michael Beasley, after scoring 35 against the Knicks.

“Coach Sloan motivates us. He makes you want to run through a brick wall for him.” – Al Jefferson, after the Jazz came back to beat Atlanta.

“Even when we had a little trouble to start the season, at least they stayed together and worked themselves out of it. That’s the only way you have a chance. If you get [in] an ice pick fight out in the parking lot, then you have to try to solve that problem.” – Master motivator Jerry Sloan, also after the Jazz came back to beat Atlanta.

“We’re asking him to play a position he’s never played and do things he’s never had to do. He’s never had to guard Zach Randolph, have to guard Pau Gasol… I think we have to give him a little bit of a break, it’s a huge transition for him. He’s doing everything we’ve asked him to do.” – Alvin Gentry, on Hedo Turkoglu. What I wonder is WHY you’re asking him to do things he’s never had to do. He’s not capable of doing them.

“Losing four in a row isn’t fun.” – Jamal Crawford, on snapping a 4-game losing streak.

“I think [the Pistons] are a playoff team in the East. I don’t think there is much doubt about it.” – Paul Westphal, after the Kings lost to Detroit. They could be a playoff team, but I think there’s some doubt about it.