Welcome back to Bawful After Dark! Okay, so it's not really after dark yet, unless you're reading this in some location across the globe where you're the only person who has ever heard of the NBA. In which case, hi, nice to meet you, tell your friends. But since I doubt that's the case, I should mention the Knicks/Nyets game is kinda early today, so I wanted to get this up before they played. I think you all can live with that. You can still come back and visit tonight during the games and post as much as you want. I personally won't be around, and Chris is currently on a plane to go on vacation, but I'm sure somebody will drop by occasionally to approve comments. And yes, we're back to the old BAD name today since I'm done poking fun at AnacondaHL (sorry buddy, I had to do it).

Jack Sikma (left) and Elston Turner (right) have greatly differing reactions when Rick Adelman (center) wonders "Is Rick Adelman gonna have to choke a bitch?"

Friday night man love

If you wondered how the Celtics lost to the Magic, I'm sure this had something to do with it

Larry Brown threatens to tickle the hell out of his team with The Claw unless they get their act together

(Kinda Sorta) Nationally Televised Games:

Wizards Generals at Spurs - It's on NBA TV. I don't get this channel, despite having Insight Cable's sports package and HD package. What the hell? Then again, Insight also doesn't offer the NHL channel, or the NHL season pass. And it carries Versus, but NOT in high definition. Oh well, I'm not missing much in this game. The Wizards General against the old and creaky and severely injured Spurs? Really? This is your "national" TV broadcast for the day, Commish Stern?

All the other games:

Knicks at Nyets - A 2-7 team on the road against a 0-12 team. This is where basketball goes to die. This makes the Washington at San Antonio game look appealing. And since the Knicks had the smarts to tell Iverson to get lost, I don't even feel all that confident about the Nyets having a shot at their first win today. I do have confidence, however, that we'll have something to say about this game come Monday morning!

76ers at Crabs - Both teams are on the second night of back-to-backs. Both teams had to travel immediately after playing hard-fought games. And King Crab hasn't scored 30 points against this Philadelphia team in seven games. The odds are pretty good that this will be a painful game to watch.

Hawks at Hornets - This is actually a compelling game. Atlanta is on the road in a back-to-back against a fresh Hornets team that won its last game against Phoenix. It's still looking like the Hawks are for real this year, but this game isn't sounding very good for them. The Hornets last loss was against this very Hawks team. Revenge game, anyone?

Bucks at Grizzlies - Did you know the Grizzlies are on a three game winning streak now that they're cured of The Cancer? Did you know that nobody really cares since it's freaking Memphis? Same goes for Milwaukee being 7-3 so far. Who knew? Oh, and this is yet another game where two teams coming off back-to-backs, which usually is not good for anybody, including the fans. Thank God Memphis and Milwaukee don't have many fans to let down.

Kings at Rockets - The Kings are fresh off a two point loss to the Mavs, and the Rockets are fresh off a two point loss to the Hawks. This game will either be really good, or really, really horrendous. There is nothing in-between. Fun fact: the Kings have won four of six since Kevin Martin was injured. I hate to sound like a broken record (especially since that phrase is so dated), but I'm just sayin'...

Bulls at Nuggets - Okay, so I was a little off on my prediction last night on that Nuggets/Clippers game. The Clippers weren't who we thought they were, for at least one night. Show of hands: who honestly expected the Nuggets to get thoroughly handled by the freakin' Clippers? Embarrassing. While the Bulls will be on fresh legs, could we see the Nuggets trying a little extra hard tonight to gain back some respect? And we all remember their last game, when Brad Miller's last-second shot was ruled to be after the last second.

Pistons at Jazz - Detroit has dropped three straight games. Utah's won three of its past four, losing only to Cleveland. The Jazz have won eight straight games against the Pistons. Throw in the fact that they're on the road, and things don't look so hot for Detroit tonight (or at all this year).

Timberwolves at Blazers - Oh my God. The Wolves are just a bawful team. Their only win was their season-opener against the Nyets, and they're now on an 11-game losing streak. Do you really need me to say anything else about this game?

Labels: Bawful After Dark, Brian Scalabrine, God the Nyets suck, man love, NBA TV, Rick Adelman

Kevin Durant: Hey, have we mentioned this kid is long yet? Well, he is. Like, really long. Unfortunately, "impressive length" does not necessarily equate to "good shooting percentage." Or even "mediocre shooting percentage." Or hell, even "bad but improving shooting percentage." Durant had the worst game of his rookie season last night, scoring 10 points (4-13), grabbing a single, lonely rebound, dishing out zero assists, and committing 4 turnovers. Through eight games, he's shooting an Adam Morrison-like 38 percent from the field. That's your 2007-08 Rookie of the Year, folks! Rashard Lewis was obviously inspired by his matchup with the hotshot rookie who replaced him, scoring 22 points on 9-15 shooting -- including 4-8 from downtown -- and almost matching his season high by grabbing 6 rebounds.

Jamaal Tinsley: By the numbers, Tinsley had an above average game -- 14 points (5-12), 4 rebounds, and 8 assists. But late in the second quarter, with the game tied at 38, Tinsley jammed a stick into the hornets nest by committing a hard foul on Paul Pierce. The Truth then dropped 13 points on the Pacers in about three minutes, en route to a 31 point, 11 rebound, 6 assist performance. Needless to say, the Celtics won in another blowout, 101-86.

Doc Rivers: The Celtics average margin of victory this season is 16 points. They've only played in one game that wasn't a blowout. Yet Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen are all playing around 40 minutes a game. What?! The same thing happened in last night's blowout of the Pacers: Pierce played 41, Allen played 40, and Garnett played 39. This is not a good thing for the Celtics, and if it continues, it's going to haunt them in the playoffs. More on this to come.

The Miami Heat: Just when you think they've finally hit rock bottom, the Heat find new and inventive ways to suck. Last night, they got blown out by the Bobcats, 91-76 -- and Miami had to outscore Charlotte 29-20 in the fourth quarter just to get that close. Did these guys really win the 2006 NBA title? There were plenty of culprits: Penny Hardaway scored zero points in 19 minutes of action, Ricky Davis and Jason Williams combined to shoot 5-21, and Smush Parker was just there. Shaq, on the other hand, had one of his best games of the season: 17 points (7-14), 6 rebounds, zero assists. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Edit: How bad have things gotten for the Heat? Pat Riley not only thinks he could do better than most of his players, he's saying it out loud. To the press. "I guarantee you I should suit up," Riley said. "I'd play better than some of them right now. I guarantee it. I swear to God. With an old hip and 62 years old and I can't see, I'll play better than some of my guys tonight. Come on, they were pretty bad."

Rick Adelman: The Houston Rockets suffered a tough 105-99 road loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Yao Ming scored 22 points on 7-12 shooting. Mike James scored 10 points on 4-12 shooting. Yao is shooting 55 percent on the season. James is shooting 34 percent. So why in the name of Lincoln's Wart is Mike James getting as many shots as Yao Ming? Shame on you, Rick Adelman.

Tim Duncan: Earlier this week, I gave a friend what I thought was solid fantasy league advice: Do not trade Tim Duncan for Tracy McGrady. So of course McGrady immediately goes off for 41 points (16-28), 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 turnover, and 2 steals on the same night Duncan was sucking his way to 5 points (2-13), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 turnovers, and 3 blocks. Thanks for making me look like an idiot, Tim. On the bright side, the Spurs blew out the Lakers 107-92 despite Duncan's crappy night, and Kobe was held to 18 points on 9-19 shooting. I might have screwed over a friend, but the Lakers lost and looked bad doing it. So, you know, everything worked out for the best. Random Tony Parker Note: TP had a season-high 9 assists last night. He averaged 5.5 APG last season -- which was "good" for 13th in the league behind Earl Watson -- and he had only five games in which he dished out 10 or more assists. Look, maybe I'm just nitpicking here, because Tony's a two-time All-Star and last season's (gak) Finals MVP, but his mediocre playmaking skills just bug me.

Dallas / Philidelphia: It's games like this that serve as Exhibit A in the case of "The NBA season is too damn long and includes too many meaningless games."

Starbury / Isiah / Knicks: Stephon Marbury bailed on his team right before a big road game against the Suns, supposedly because Isiah Thomas was going to yank him from the starting lineup in favor of second-year gaurd Mardy Collins. Starbury blew up on the team plane and reportedly said, "Isiah has to start me. I've got so much (stuff) on Isiah and he knows it. He thinks he can (get) me. But I'll (get) him first. You have no idea what I know." Thomas of course shed absolutely no light on the subject by saying, "That is an in-house matter and we will continue to keep it in-house. Make no mistake about it - we do want him as a member of this basketball team. He is welcomed back." In the midst of all this dysfunction, the Knicks lost to the Suns 113-102 despite the fact that Steve Nash scored a season-low 5 points on 2-6 shooting. How does Isiah still have a job with the Knicks? No, seriously, how?

Detroit Pistons: Somebody forgot to show the Trailblazers that memo explaining that their season was over before it began because of the Greg Oden injury. Portland's offense took a huge, steaming dump all over Detroit's defense (if you could even call it that): The Blazers shot 55 percent as a team, thanks to scorching performances from LaMarcus Aldridge (9-16), Brandon Roy (9-16), Jarret Jack (7-10), and our boy Joel Przybilla (3-3). Look, kudos to the Blazers. They played great, and I am very excited about this team. But talented, veteran teams like the Pistons should never let an opposing team shoot 55 percent against them. That's the kind of loss of focus that got them booted out of the playoffs the last couple years.

Labels: Detroit Pistons, Isiah Thomas, Jamaal Tinsley, Kevin Durant, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Rick Adelman, Stephon Marbury, Tim Duncan, Worst of the Night