[Izulde]

So yeah, our trade totally rocked the NBA, but that's how I roll. Blockbuster Town, baby!

The other deadline deals:
NONE

Wow. Shocking considering the flurry of trades last year.

Also shocking - Brad Jones was named Rookie of the Month. See, Brad? UNLVers sticking together = good luck charm.

We celebrate the achievement with a 123-85 clobbering of the Kings. John Wall posts my favorite line of the year - 31 points, 11 assists, 0 turnovers and then Eric Bledsoe goes 7 of 7 from 3 point range for 29 points in 23 minutes. Talk about insane in the membrane.

Some of the players got a little too drunk when they went out after the game, so we're groggy the next night, just barely pulling out a 95-92 win over the Timberwolves. Brad Jones is Player of the Game with 16 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals, and Eric Bledsoe scores 16 bench points. I will never, ever trade Bledsoe. He's the one player from the prior regime who wows me as I said before, and I love him and Wall going from Kentucky to ending up playing on the same NBA team together. In fact, I could see a Bledsoe/Wall backcourt going on in a few seasons, which would be totally awesome.

We got upset 105-95 by the Kings, but it was a road game. 13 points, 11 assists the lone highlight, courtesy of John Wall.

Fortunately that's just a blip as we beat Dallas 106-89 in the next contest. Brad Jones just misses the double with 10 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks and Eric Bledsoe is impressive with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals off the bench in winning Player of the Game. Dexter Pittman produces a surprise 10 bench points. The win is our 40th of the season.

Somehow Denver always manages to be at .500 when we play them, and we win this one 128-105 to send them back under. Tiago Splitter has his first big game in a while with 28 points and 3 blocks, while Eric Bledsoe scores 20 bench points, Jose Calderon 15 points and 7 assists as the other major player in the second stringers.

105-101 win over Utah powered by Tiago Splitter's 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks and John Wall's 24 points for a great 1-2 outside-inside punch, exactly the way I envisioned this team after the deadline trade.

The problem with a team as young as ours is that we tend to falter on the road, and so we're knocked off 109-94 by Houston, Eric Bledsoe and Ryan Gomes's paired 11 bench points the only thing to write home about.

It's compounded with a 104-97 road loss to New Orleans the night after, with no performances really worth discussing. Kirk Hinrich and Jose Calderon complain about playing time. I refuse to comment and both get mad at me for not sacking up. O rly? Prepare to get hammered the next time you boys complain, then.

Playing a bad team on your home court always helps smooths things over, as we top Memphis 102-87. John Wall and Tiago Splitter each score 21, Brad Jones bangs his way to 10 points and 16 rebounds, and Jose Calderon makes his case for more PT with 12 points in 11 minutes. Credit Nicolas Batum's job on Danny Granger too, holding the All-NBA chucker to 8 of 24.

I seem to remember the Nets being a team that gives us trouble, and sure enough, we lose 117-114 in Los Angeles. 25 and 24 points from Tiago Splitter and Nicolas Batum and a pair of 13s off the bench from Eric Bledsoe and Louis Amundson don't matter when Amundson's fellow UNLV alum and John Wall both play like shit.

Nicolas Batum is our high scorer with 27 points off the bench (Last game was off the bench too, and I'm getting pretty annoyed with Jeff Van Gundy giving Timofey Mozgov starts there) to lead us to a 108-99 win over Golden State. 20 points from John Wall, 18 points and 12 rebounds from Tiago Splitter.

Milwaukee bashes us 112-76. Let's pretend that game never happened. Fortunately a few days after that, we beat Portland 116-107 on their turf. Nicolas Batum gets his starting job back and has his third straight 20+ game with 21 points. Tiago Splitter gets 19 points and 10 rebounds, John Wall 14 points and 11 assists. Ryan Gomes comes up with 17 bench points.

Tiago Splitter scores 32 points in our 120-99 road smackdown of the Cavaliers. He's abetted by John Wall's 16 points and 12 assists, Eric Bledsoe's 16 bench points, and Timofey Mozgov's 12 points and 8 rebounds, also off the bench.

Our first doubleheader in a long time ends a success, with a 108-87 cutdown of the Knicks in the Big Apple. Props to Tiago Splitter's 22 points, John Wall's 16 points and 10 assists, and Timofey Mozgov's 10 bench points, but what really makes me happy is Eutor Taffarel's 21 points, a career high and his first 20+ point game in the NBA.

We'll lose Tiago Splitter for a week and a half to a toe injury. Better now than in the playoffs. We're guaranteed to have a playoff spot, so I'll just go through the motions. At 34-39, Denver is indeed looking like a fluke champion last year like I thought they were, and may miss the postseason.

107-85 win over Charlotte thanks to all five starters in double-digit scoring, led by My fellow UNLV guy Brad Jones with a beautiful 20 point, 14 rebound, 6 assist, 4 block game, that his career high in scoring. John Wall is the other highlight with 23 points.

Even though we lose 123-115, I'm proud of how we played against Miami without Tiago. 20 points from Timofey Mozgov, 12 points, 11 assists from John Wall, but the best production was the bench - 17, 16, 10 points from Ryan Gomes, Eric Bledsoe, and Dexter Pittman.

Traveling from Miami to Chicago for back to back games is just wrong, so I'm not fussed about the 101-84 loss. 20, 14, 11 points for John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, and Ryan Gomes. I just want the regular season done with.

I do, however, want a 50 win season, so the 105-95 victory versus the Rockets makes me happy to get to Win 49. Brad Jones produces 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks and Eric Bledsoe and Derrick Pittman do work with 11 and 10 bench points.

Annoyance sets in as we lose 115-105 to Phoenix, throwing away Brad Jones's 22 points and 11 rebounds, Tiago Splitter's 14 points and 10 rebounds, John Wall's 13 points and 10 assists, and Ryan Gomes's 14 bench points.

Ugly 90-81 loss to the Lakers. Whatever.

I think the players can sense me about to explode, because we blow out Minnesota 107-72 for that 50th win. Tiago Splitter's back fully in the groove with 28 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Nicolas Batum drops 23 points from the bench, Eric Bledsoe 11. Oh, and Brad Jones doubles for 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

Okay, let's just go through the rest. Oh, by the way, I shred Jose Calderon for slacking and he gets mad about it. Dexter Pittman has been hot, so I give him the love.

@ Utah - 95-103 L
vs Dallas - 117-88 W (Splitter - 23 points, Mozgov - 18 points, 7 rebounds, Gomes - 17 points)

!!!! John Wall gets back spasms in the Dallas game and is out a week and a half. Shit shit shit! Not good for the playoffs.

He insists on playing hurt for some crazy reason, but it's Eutor Taffarel's 21 points, Timofey Mozgov's crazy 7 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 blocks, and Jose Calderon's 11 bench points that give us the 99-93 win over Oklahoma City in the final game of the regular season.

West Playoff Seeding
1. Los Angeles Lakers (61-21)
2. New Orleans Hornets (58-24)
3. San Antonio Spurs (54-28)
4. Portland Trailblazers (46-36)
5. Los Angeles Clippers (52-30) (Home Court Advantage)
6. Dallas Mavericks (47-35)
7. Utah Jazz (45-37)
8. Houston Rockets (44-38)

Kevin Durant's Thunder missed out on the playoffs by losing to us, sitting home with their 43-39 record.

East Playoff Seeding
1. Atlanta Hawks (57-25)
2. Miami Heat (55-27)
3. Boston Celtics (51-31)
4. Milwaukee Bucks (49-33)
5. Orlando Magic (51-31) (Homecourt advantage)
6. Philadelphia 76ers (48-34)
7. Chicago Bulls (44-38)
8. Washington Wizards (42-40)

Wow, no under .500 teams in the East. Huge improvement. Washington made the playoffs thanks to our trade, so it worked out fantastic for both teams for this season at least.

6 days for John Wall to be back to full health. But Portland's missing Greg Oden, who broke his elbow in the Blazers' last game of the regular season. Old Man Oden's injury curse continues.