Basketball Daily

The Charlotte Bobcats came up just a little shy this year, but did better than was expected of them.  They had a long shot on making the Playoffs but lost to a poor Oklahoma City team and then to the Chicago Bulls.  In the game with the Bulls, it was a fight to the end, with runs going back and forth, but in the end it was Chicago who came away with a victory with the final score ending at 113-106.

The leading scorers for Chicago were Ben Gordon with 39 points, Derrick Rose with 22 points and John Salmons with 19 points.  The high man off the bench was Kirk Hinrich with 10 points on 4 for 5 field goal shooting.  The Bulls finally got up to 500% on the year.  The additions of Brad Miller and John Salmons really pumped up the team, and they managed to play some good ball down the stretch of the end of the season.

The New York Knicks having nothing to lose faced off against the Orlando Magic and wiped off the laughter and smiles at the beginning of the game by the Magic ballclub.  NY came out fighting and took it to the number three seed by playing great defense and stopping the onslaught of 3’s Orlando usually makes.  The final score was 105-95.  Although nothing huge was expected out of the Knicks this year, they are starting to gel, but they need a few more pieces next year to improve.

The leading scorers for the Knicks were Al Harrington with 27 points, Wilson Chandler with 22 points and David Lee with 20 points.  The Slam Dunk Champion, Nate Robinson was the high man off the bench with 10 points on 4 for 6 field goal shooting.  The team as a whole shot 44% and only committed 9 turnovers on the night.  New York’s season long record now improves to 31 wins and 49 losses.

The number two seeded Denver Nuggets faced off against the Los Angeles Lakers in a game where Andrew Bynum returned from his knee injury.  Bynum started off slow and gradual, but in the second half, he came out firing on all cylinders with points and rebounds.  The Lakers ended up winning in an easy fashion with the final score being 116-102.

The leading scorers for L.A. were Kobe Bryant with 33 points, Pau Gasol with 27 points and Andrew Bynum with 16 points.  They were the only three players in double figures on the night.  With this victory, the Lakers are now only a half of a game behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for the best record in the NBA.  The remaining few games will determine who comes out on top this year.