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Alston returns to Orlando and puts up a triple-double, impressive. The team was quite impressive as well for a period of time. Orlando kept on signaling a hot streak, but we kept on putting out the flames until mid-third quarter. We definitely fought, but we just looked helpless after the game was slipping away. Tough game for Lopez. He was able to stay in the game longer than last time, but he was only overpowered more by Howard. T-Will and Lopez combined for an ugly 4-29 from the field. Can't expect Miami to be much easier tomorrow, but we can stay in the game against the Heat with better shot selection and with no Howard in the paint.

If we're going to foul, we can't let a shot go down along with it. We've allowed 4 AndOne's in about five minutes.

Wow, we're hanging in there. We're having troubles with Howard, but we've shut down the rest of the team, who's shooting 8-28, and 3-17 from the arc. Alston's preventing the game from slipping away, along with the help of Hassell and minor contributions from the rest of the team. Lopez hasn't hit a FG yet. He's having trouble finishing at the basket, so hopefully he can turn that around second half.

No Courtney Lee today. CDR will get little playing time if any. Lopez is matching up with Howard for the second time in two weeks. He's been looking really strong lately and he's stayed out of foul trouble. We'll see if there's any difference from the home opener.

I was going to come in here frustrated over the no-call, but if this is the second time in seven games you can't even get a shot attempt trying to tie the game, you don't deserve to win games. The last play pretty much summarized our whole season to this point, along with Harris' reaction. It wasn't a youngster mistake, it was Alston throwing it blindly, and I don't know why Simmons was looking in another direction when going outside, along with why he reacted so late. Either we shock the world, or we start off 0-10.

At least the place still gets filled up whenever AI comes to Philly.

You need "clear and conclusive evidence" to overturn the original call. Unless there was an angle the officials saw that others didn't, there really wasn't any clear and conclusive evidence.

Terrence Williams may start for the first time tonight. We want to have a win in our record before we get ready for Orlando and Miami.

I'll give it a 4. Doing by best to give feedback from a general baseball fan's point of view, this is the first World Series since 2003 that went beyond Game 5. This is also the first time since 2002 that the team taking Game 1 did not go on to win it all. There was a change of trends, and the fact that a New York-Philly rivalry has risen is pretty awesome.

The Yankees' 3-Peat, '98, '99, and 2000.

A lot of credit goes to the team tonight. This isn't the first time we've kept it close against a really good team and stumble at the end. We held Boston to one 3, we didn't let Allen get hot until late, and we didn't let Boston slip away until late. This was our first great 3-point shooting game. Alston came up big for the second or third time since Harris' injury. Lopez had his best long-range shooting game of the year. Starting Boone and Lopez continues to work out well. Hassell had his struggles. We didn't get to the stripe as much as we could have. Turnovers were also a problem for us. If this season's about letting our guys impress and get used to the big stage more, I'd say we're not doing so bad with what has been available to us.

Atlanta seemed to be in charge the whole way. Crawford put up great numbers and led the way, and Atlanta's shooting was great overall. Denver was held to two 3's they weren't able to shoot well from the field. Anthony's shooting was off, though he did get to the line consistently. The Nuggets clearly missed Kenyon Martin today. Atlanta seemed to be on fire throughout.

About 4 days ago, actually. That's strange, the distance shouldn't be the problem if it's been over a month.

I got the free t-shirt in the mail today for becoming a Z-lister.

1) Who is better right now when healthy: Brook Lopez or Bynum? 2) Who is better in five years when healthy: Brook Lopez or Bynum? 3) Who from the East is the biggest threat to the Lakers? 4) Who from the West is the biggest threat to the Lakers? 5) Which team do you follow more, the Packers or Angels? 6) Would you rather have the Angels keep Figgins or Guerrero? 7) Thoughts on the Yankees possibly signing Lackey? 8) What do you like the most about Windows 7? 9) What do you dislike the most about Windows 7? 10) Which upcoming video game are you anticipating the most?

Denver's starting backcourt has been quiet with Billups playing through an injury, and Lawson and Afflalo have been great off the bench for George Karl. Afflalo has scored in double digits in his last three games, and Lawson is a great long-range shooter, which is vital for Denver with no Smith and Billups not yet 100%. Atlanta has been great with all-around scoring, and the numbers are distributed well among the starters. Crawford's also been a weapon off the bench.

A healthy Boston team is facing a Nets team that's down to the minimum eight players. That hopefully means more touches for Brook, matching up against Wallace and Perkins. If Frank uses Boone and Lopez at the same time again, who gets Garnett? Lopez matching up with Wallace is interesting, two centers that we can expect to see outside of the paint quite a bit on both ends of the floor. We've seen the Knicks and other struggling teams come away with a big upset or two in recent years, so I'm waiting for a couple of unexpected wins this season. This one's especially hard considering our situation.

I don't know if it's just me, but from what I've observed, it seems like the NBA isn't trying as hard as it did last year to downplay news that gives players a bad name. Last year, they were concise with their news on suspensions and fines, tried to get rid of any videos that involved altercations, etc. Now, you can look at their newest headline: "After tumultuous first week, Iverson not about to apologize." It's an article they probably wouldn't even have put up last year. I guess it's somewhat unimportant, but there are noticeably more articles everyday on the home page, and that's partially due to this. Just something I found interesting.

Harris can strengthen our low percentage shooting, which is very weak right now. That allows Lee to do a lot more when the ball is in his hands.

Harris' Return Delayed Full Article And we're waiting for more news on CDR's flu-like symptoms.

Well neither team ever blew the game open. Our biggest lead was 8 and Philly's biggest was 6. We can look at quite a few more positives than usual this time. As I mentioned above, Lopez seems to play better with Boone on the floor at the same time. He had his second double-double of the season tonight. He and Boone combined for 30 points on 12-23 shooting, along with 18 boards. Hassell was great. In his first game as a starter, he put up a double-double. Simmons attempted 5 3's off the bench. He hit 2, so I guess it's not too big of a deal. I don't think we have had an impressive 3-point shooting game yet, though we did shoot well overall today. We outscored the Sixers 54-38 in the paint as well.

It's been two days, and I already miss Yankee baseball terribly. Of course, there will be a lot of action in the near future, but I'm simply not in the mood to watch basketball yet. After such an exciting run and looking back at the highlights of the postseason, you don't want to say goodbye to the 2009 season and wait so long for 2010 to come.

Frank's trying out a new setup of having both Boone and Lopez on the floor together, and it's worked out pretty well. Lopez has stayed out of foul trouble, and Boone puts up better numbers as well. Hassell has been great as a starter in his second game back. If Bobby Simmons can come off the bench as an effective outside shooter, then maybe we aren't looking so bad preparing for the return of Harris and Hayes.

If he is a product of good players around him, we'll be waiting for Harris to come back and see a difference because our only other usual starter playing right now is Lopez.

Well as I said, we're anticipating a better Courtney Lee when Harris returns. Lee can definitely turn his problems around. We're talking more about the differences in Anderson from last year.