I had a “Good, Bad, And Ugly of the NBA” post all set to go, but then last night happened, and it was basically an entire week’s worth of content in a single 10-game slate, so I figured this would be more fun. Also, we can get to some players and topics that we haven’t discussed yet this season.
We’ll start in Chicago, where the Bulls and Mavericks played a ridiculous double-overtime game, which the visiting Mavs ended up winning 132-129. It was ridiculous for two reasons: 1) it probably shouldn’t have gone to overtime in the first place, and 2) once it did get to overtime, it almost certainly shouldn’t have gone to a second overtime. How did we get so far, and why did Pau Gasol have to play 50 minutes in an NBA game on December 2nd? Two words (actually, four): Kirk Hinrich, dumb foul.
After the game, head coach Tom Thibodeau actually bailed out his backup point guard, saying that the team (the Bulls had a foul to give) was instructed to foul — just not when, you know, Monta Ellis is in the act of shooting a three-pointer. Monta made all three, sending the game to overtime. After the game, Dirk Nowitzki said what pretty much everyone was thinking:
In his 17 years in this league, Dirk Nowitzki said Kirk Hinrich’s foul on Monta’s 3-pointer was “one of the dumber fouls I’ve ever seen.”
— Eddie Sefko (@ESefko) December 3, 2014
Meanwhile, Dallas was almost out of the woods at the end of the first overtime, until Derrick Rose launched what ever the hell this was. I guess it’s what we call a running floater bank three? Whatever it is, it went in. Even more amazing is that it didn’t cause Bulls color analyst Stacy King’s head to explode . Unfortunately, Rose’s next desperation three (at the end of the second overtime) was a harmless air ball.
