Five Notes
Samuel Dalembert: Left Something Sprain. Sam Amick of AOL says that Dalembert will miss fout-to-six weeks with a "left abductor sprain." Only one problem: the abductor's not a real part of the human body. Try again, Amick! (Note: Jason Thompson and DeMarcus Cousins will benefit from this.)
Spencer Hawes: Got Back (Problems). Hawes, who's missed some games with a lower back strain, missed tonight's (Tuesday's), as well. Word is that the injury's not super-super bad, but back problems can be tricky.
Tracy McGrady: Officially Old. McGrady sat out Monday's preseason win over the Hawks -- and will miss Wednesday's game, too -- with what he and/or the Detroit Free Press are calling "tired legs." Which, that's funny, because that's exactly the same thing that my 85-year-old grandmother complains about all the time.
Timofey Mozgov: Name of a Real Basketball Player. I'm only like 25|PERCENT| embarrassed to admit in these pages that I've just now, this second, learned that Timogey Mozgov is a basketball player for the New York Knicks. And not only that, but apparently he'll be starting tomorrow (Wednesday) night's game versus Boston. Towards the end of September, coach Mike D'Antoni said of the giant Russian: "[A]t 7-1, 270 pounds, he's maybe our most athletic guy." Wow.
Shaquille O'Neal: Hips Actually Sorta Lie. When asked what would be keeping O'Neal from the Celtics' preseason game against Philadelphia on Tuesday, coach Doc Rivers replied, "a hip or something."
Five Performances
Michael Beasley, Minnesota: 25:28 min, 21 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk. The 6-for-17 from the floor isn't so got, but the rest of the line (inclusing two three-pointers) is pretty awesome.
Jordan Crawford, Atlanta: 47:04 min, 30 pts (13-20 FG, 3-4 3Pt, 1-3 FT), 5 reb, 5 ast. Note: this is NOT Jamal Crawford. Yes, really. Different person.
Greg Forbes, Denver: 20:01 min, 15 pts (5-9 0-2 5-7), 7 reb. UMass represent!
Joakim Noah, Chicago: 39:58 16 pts (6-13 FG, 4-6 FT), 14 reb, 8 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk. Sacre bleu, amirite?
Nate Robinson, Boston: 36:06 min, 26 pts (6-13 FG, 3-7 3Pt, 11-12 FT), 5 reb, 8 ast. Of course, this is withouth Ray Allen or Paul Pierce or Rajon Rondo or Kevin Garnett or Shaquille O'Neal.