LAst Night's Action: Clippers Almost Giant Killers

LeBron James doing his thing. But notice the Chris Kaman sighting. AP Photo/Hector Mata

Cleveland Cavaliers defeat LA Clippers 87-83. If the game ended after three quarters, the Clippers would have gotten their biggest upset of the season. After all the Boston Celtics were a little road fatigued and injured when the met in the Staples Center several weeks ago. The Clippers had held the Cavs to under 20 points in each of the three quarters and had a 19 point lead. But the fourth quarter happened, and just like that the Cavs turned it on. LeBron James notched his second straight triple-double with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. However the Cavs were only 3-for-20 behind the three point line with all three coming as they were rallying in the fourth quarter. Questionable shots by the Clippers didn't help things any especially Zach Randolph's airball from three-point land with four seconds left in regulation when down by only two points. This game was marked by the Loch Ness-esque appearance by Chris Kaman. I could have sworn he didn't really exist.

Notable Notes

• The upset of upsets happened Tuesday night in the World Baseball Classic. When I say Dominican Republic, everyone just tacitly assumes they will go deep in the tournament. When the Netherlands beat them this past weekend, it was a wake up call to the Dominicans. But there was a sense for bad things to come when the game was a scoreless tie after nine innings. Then after the Dominicans scored a run in the top of the 11th inning and came out onto the field celebrating, you really knew the baseball gods would not look kindly. And boy did the gods strike. With a runner on third Yurendell DeCaster hit a squibber down the first baseline that should have been handled by first baseman Willy Aybar. But he botched the play which allowed the winning run to score. Lesson: don't fuck with the dikes.

• In the Summit League championship game, the North Dakota State Bison beat Oakland 66-64 on a last second jumper by Summit League player of the year Ben Woodside. The Bison make the NCAA Tournament in their first year of Division I ball, the first team to do so (that wasn't vacated by the NCAA) since 1970's Long Beach State 49ers. This could be an interesting team the first weekend of the Tournament.
• After all that fracas in the Rose Garden in Portland, Lamar Odom was suspended one game by the NBA. Rudy Fernandez's x-rays and MRIs were negative and had only suffered a bruised chest and injured right hip. As reported earlier, Trevor Ariza will not suffer any further consequences.
• Living legend John Wooden was released from the hospital Tuesday after suffering from pneumonia.

Tonight's Action

LA Lakers at Houston Rockets. 5:30 pm KCAL 9, AM 570 KLAC.

Vancouver Canucks at Anaheim Ducks. 7:00 pm FS Prime Ticket, AM 830 KLAA.