DeAndre Jordan With a Career Night to Push the Clippers to Victory

DeAndre Jordan was a beast last night.  During the Clippers routing of the Dallas Mavericks, Jordan racked up 22 points and 27 rebounds.  Yup, twenty-seven rebounds... With Blake Griffin out to injury, DeAndre felt it was his job to collect rebounds for him and the injured Blake I guess.  The Clippers went on to beat the Mavericks 115-98.  Watch highlights from his career night below:

K.J. McDaniels With Another Crazy Athletic Dunk

Last night, the Philadelphia 76ers actually played a good game.  Although they lost, they still challenged the best of the west in a 89-84 loss to the Golden State Warriors.  The best play of the game was when McDaniels threw himself an alley-oop off of the glass then finished with a nice slam.  He ended the night with 5 points, but this dunk was enough to get him in the news.

Damian Lillard to Replace Blake Griffin in the All-Star Game

The Newest Western-Conference All-Star

Damian Lillard is set to play in the all-star game.  He did not get on the team the way he wanted to, he got on because he will be replacing the hurt Blake Griffin.

Griffin is undergoing surgery on his right elbow to get rid of a staph infection.  The Griffinless Clippers lost their first game without him in the lineup yesterday.  They fell 131-108 to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Griffin has averaged 22.5 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 5.1 APG so far this season.  Without him, the Clippers miss an all around force.  In about a week, his injury will be reevaluated and a time table for return will be set.  Hopefully Blake will return in a couple weeks.

For Lillard, he doesn't have much to say about his late selection.  He feels he should have made the team as a reserve in the first place.  When asked how he felt about replacing Blake, all he said was, "I'm thankful, that's it."

Damian Lillard has sure played up to an all-star level so far this season and is averaging 21.6 PPG, 6.3 PPG, and 4.7 RPG.

Watch out for the new all-star next weekend in New York.  The festivities begin on Friday and run through next Sunday February 15.

Turmoil Brewing in Cleveland: Part # We Lost Count

The other night, LeBron James took to Twitter to express his feelings.  While this may not seem like news, it is.  James decided to tweet out this:

After the media jumped all over the tweet, James admitted who it was aimed towards: teammate Kevin Love.  All season Love has been scrutinized of not playing up to the level of expectation and he has not been trying to make it work with Cleveland.  It has even started to frustrate LeBron.

So how did Love respond to the tweet?  He went out and scored a season high 32 points and 10 rebounds in the Cavs 120-105 win over the Lakers.

Hopefully this may mean that LeBron and Love ended up talking out the problem out and Love is ready to produce.  One thing is for sure; Cleveland wants to feel some Love in the air.  There is no better way for that to happen than Kevin Love starting to fit in and putting up numbers.

DeMarcus Cousins Sinks a Game Winning Buzzer Beater

Last night, DeMarcus Cousins and the Sacramento Kings were tied with the Suns 83-83 with 2.5 seconds left.  That is when the Kings drew up a play designed for DeMarcus Cousins to take the game winning shot.  After rolling over a series of screens, Cousins threw a solid pump fake then tossed his try into the air.  After a lucky bounce or what some may call shooter's touch, the shot fell and the Kings won 85-83 over the Phoenix Suns.

DeMarcus Cousins finished the game with 28 points and 12 rebounds.  He has been producing strong statlines like this all season, yet was still snubbed as an all-star.  But, he did make the team after injuries replaced some players.

After the game, Cousins also went on a mini-rant.  He kept asking, "How are you going to stop God's plan?"

This actually might explain how Cousins hit a jumpshot to win last night's game.  Maybe it was just "God's plan."

Saturday February 7th College Basketball Review

Yesterday's slate of college basketball games was filled with promise.  There was potential upsets, upsets, and surprising finishes to games.  To review the craziness we present Buzzer Beater Basketball's review of all of yesterday's games.

#6 Arizona Loses at Arizona State:
Fans in Arizona were rushing the court after Arizona State's 81-78 upset over #6 Arizona.  Arizona St. jumped out early and kept up with the Wildcats.  From the start of the game you could tell it was going to be a tough one for the #6 team in the country.   Although they received 25 points from T.J. McConnell and 16 points from Stanley Johnson, they still didn't have enough in the high scoring affair last night.  On the other hand, Bo Barnes led Arizona State with 18 points and hit a crucial late game three pointer.  This loss moves Arizona 20-3 and 8-2 in the Pac 12 this season.

#1 Kentucky Extends Streak to 23 Games:
The top ranked team in the country extended their winning streak Saturday with a 68-61 win over Florida.  Yes, Kentucky was actually tested for once.  Although, the game was on the road in a tough environment against a decent Florida team.  Kentucky's freshman Karl Towns was ready to answer to the pressure placed upon them though.  He finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds, while teammate Aaron Harrison led the team in scoring with 23 points.  Although this game was closer than many expected, Kentucky still escaped with another win.  Also, Willie Cauley-Stein finished off a fast break with this beautiful poster finish.

#4 Duke Stomps Over #10 Notre Dame

After losing to Notre Dame at their house recently, Duke wanted to show ND how they play at home.  And that they did.  Duke stomped over Notre Dame with a 90-60 blowout win.  Duke's freshman Jahlil Okafor dominated once again with 20 points and 10 rebounds.  Another one of their star freshman also had a great game.  Justice Winslow finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists.  Although Duke's offense was stellar, their defense was also great.  They held Notre Dame's star players Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton under 10 points a piece.  Grayson Allen also added to the defensive punch with this block of his own.  

#8 Kansas Loses Momentum Against Oklahoma State

Just as they were starting to play better, Kansas lost.  They were just starting to click and it seemed they figured out everything they needed in order to win.  But it went wrong on Saturday during their 67-62 loss to Oklahoma State.  Granted, it's only a 5 point loss, but it still slows the momentum they were building at a crucial point of the season.  Kansas choked in the second half and lost an 11 point lead.  They shot a dismal 27% from the field in this second half.  Oklahoma State also brought it on the offensive end.  Le'Bryan Nash capped off his performance with 18 points and 5 rebounds.  For Kansas, their offense was more stagnant.  Their offense seemed to be slowed down and not as fluid last night.  Their next try to regain momentum will be at Texas Tech on Tuesday.

#3 Virginia Slides Past #9 Louisville

This is a bittersweet victory for Virginia.  They beat Louisville 52-47 after holding off a late push, but they also lost a key player.  Their leader Justin Anderson broke his finger last night and is going to be out 4-6 weeks.  Louisville's big three helped lead their second half comeback.  Terry Rozier led the big 3 with 16 points and 5 assists.  For Virginia, it was Malcolm Brogdon (15 points) and Darion Atkins (9 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks) who led their team to victory.  Virginia capped off their tough 3 game stretch against Duke, UNC, and Louisville with 2 wins and 1 loss against Duke's promise filled team.  Now they can relax a little as that stretch of terror is over. 

#8 Kansas Continues Winning Ways Against #11 Iowa State

Kansas Freshman Kelly Oubre Jr.

Last night #8 Kansas defeated the 11th ranked team in the country, Iowa State.  The Jayhawks pulled off and impressive 89-76 win.

Led by a second half run, the Jayhawks showed off their true ability last night.  Sophomore guard Wayne Selden scored 20 points and led their second half charge.

The most impressive player for Kansas happened to be freshman Kelly Oubre Jr..  At the beginning of the season he was expected to be one of the top freshman in the country, but at times he was coming off the bench and was not producing anything.  Because of the struggles, Coach Bill Self challenged Oubre to develop more as a college player and brought him off of the bench until he was ready to play at a higher level.  This taught him a lot and also installed a motor to play inside Oubre.   Last night, this motor pushed him all over the court and he finished with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

So what has gotten into Kansas.  They have won their last 5 games against some of the nation's best teams.  One may say it's their change in style of play.  At the beginning of the season the Jayhawks were a team loaded with talent, but they looked confused on their court.  Their play seemed choppy.  Now, their play is smooth, passes are crisp and jumpshots are falling.  Kansas has started to play less selfish and more like a team.  Last night they finished with 22 assists, 7 over their season average of 15 APG.

As long as the ball movement and unselfishness continues, Kansas is ready to be a force come tournament time.  They are filled with experience in Wayne Selden and Perry Ellis (17 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists last night) who will be able to lead young stars like Cliff Alexander and Kelly Oubre.  Standing at 19-3 right now the Jayhawks have 5 games left against ranked opponents.  This year they are 7-2 against ranked opponents, one of which was Kentucky.  The Jayhawks will have quite a few more tests before the tournament in order to prime them for crunch time in college basketball.  They have already improved so much this season, therefore nothing is holding them back from becoming a contender for the national title.