Johnson ended the half with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it And the Nets pulled further away in the third quarter, with Johnson again finishing it off with a buzzer-beating 3 to make it Although his scoring numbers dropped in the second half, Johnson has now scored 20 or more points in four straight games.
Korver was off-target in the first three quarters and finally sank his eighth attempt from beyond the arc with just over eight minutes to go, making it That was his only basket of the night.
Besides the game, the fans oftentimes cheered wildly for the entertainment between quarters and timeouts, and for one famous guest. During a break in the third quarter, the face of Beatles great Paul McCartney flashed up on the big screen. As the crowd roared, several kids nearby jumped into the frame to make themselves seen. Even without Horford, the Atlanta Hawks have a decent claim of being the third best team in the East, especially since the Chicago Bulls have basically punted on the season.
Atlanta's record may not seem impressive, they're currently in a "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king" situation, where mediocrity puts them head and shoulders above the competition. Since most of those in attendance most likely won't have much of a rooting interest, look for the Hawks to have an edge in this contest, as Atlanta-based teams are quite used to playing for unenthusiastic crowds. Hopefully, Thursday's game will be a tad more memorable than last year's, where the New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons The better the game, the more interest it will draw, and more interest would mean more opportunities to stage NBA games, regular season or exhibition, elsewhere around the world.
While the idea that's floated out around this time every year about a UK-based NBA team will almost certainly remain a daydream , the relative success of these London-staged games could go a long way in convincing the NBA to expand its presence outside of North America.
It's been a disastrously successful start for the Boston Celtics , but it looks like the team has finally turned the corner. Thanks to the weakness of the Atlantic Division, a better than expected start from players like Jordan Crawford and an impressive job from rookie head coach Brad Stevens, Boston accidentally established itself as a playoff contender during the first two months of the season. For a while, fans hoping their team would be among the league's bottom-feeders had to be seriously worried that this team would accidentally make the playoffs and be outside the best of the NBA Draft Lottery.
Thankfully, the Celtics have come back down to Earth. They are in the midst of a six game losing streak, shockingly it turns out Jordan Crawford couldn't keep up as a NBA Player of the Week candidate for the entire season mainly because he's, well, Jordan Crawford. The losing streak has come at the perfect time, right when the Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets and yes even the New York Knicks have gone on hot streaks that are pushing Boston further down the Atlantic Division standings.
However, there's a looming threat to the team's hopes of having a shot at drafting a hot-shot college phenom like Andrew Wiggins or Jabrai Parker: the return of point guard Rajon Rondo. For the last two weeks there have been murmurings that Rondo would be ready to return from the ACL tear he suffered last season "sooner rather than later".
On Monday, that murmuring was upgraded to chatter after Rondo posted a cryptic tweet that just said "29,, secs" which suggested two things: 1. Of course, if the Celtics seem intent on rebuilding, and that always has seemed the case this season despite their early success, Rondo returning and leading the Celtics to the postseason to be the Washington Generals to the Miami Heat or the Indiana Pacers' Harlem Globetrotters would be counterproductive.
If Rondo does return, and looks healthy and is productive, look for general manager Danny Ainge to start to explore trade offers for the mercurial All-Star. While the apparently forthcoming return of their best player might be putting the Celtics in a tough spot, the Memphis Grizzlies, who are very much hoping for another extended postseason run, were a lot less torn about the return of center Marc Gasol.
Gasol made a surprise return to the lineup on Tuesday night after missing 23 straight games with a MCL strain. It was great news for the Grizzlies, who desperately need him in the lineup to be a real threat.
They've kept afloat in his absence, but it will be interesting to see how Gasol responds to the pressure of being appointed a season-savior. Just because Rajon Rondo and Marc Gasol are apparently ready to return doesn't mean that this week's injury news has been any better than any of the previous weeks. Just when the Phoenix Suns had proven themselves worthy of an "are they for real? However, the team that suffered the most over the past week has been the New Orleans Pelicans , who had hoped to contend in the Western Conference at the start of the season.
For a more in-depth look at their problems, here's a sneak peak at Ken Burns' still-in-production documentary "The NBA Season":. Sadsack violin music plays over black and white stills featuring various New Orleans Pelicans players.
But aside from this, the game followed exactly the same format as any other NBA game would, with the points scored counting towards the Nets and the Raptors standings in the league this season.
There was also the same high energy half-time and time-out entertainment taking place on the court, with the two teams' mascots present to entertain the crowds. And just like any big sporting event held in the United States, the event was attended by a host of celebrities. Part of the reason for the games being played in London was to promote basketball in Britain ahead of the Olympics -- to ensure the sport attracts the same large crowds as it did at the previous Games in Beijing.
However, as part of the NBA's aim to expand across the globe, this might not be the last time we see games in the lucrative franchise decided on foreign soil. NBA commissioner David Stern has hinted that more games could be held in London and elsewhere in Europe and Asia -- where demonstrations have also been held previously. He even said that there could be European based teams playing in the NBA in the future.
It certainly does not seem like the players would mind traveling to London again.
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