Morning Hardwood: Powers and Banners

Highlighting the Most Powerful Men in the Universe ...

Herr-mann and Battle Cat. Little-used, yet awesome-looking, Walter Herrmann scored a career-high 19 points and Gerald Wallace had 27 and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Bobcats stunned the Cavs 108-100 to snap Cleveland's eight-game winning streak. LeBron scored 30 of his 37 points after halftime, but missed a runner in the lane with 10 seconds left in regulation and a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force more overtime. Question: Why does he always seem to settle for that deep, deep three in the clutch? Drive, man.

Drop the Banner, Buy the Shirt. As The Association was quick to note this morning: "Start the parade, roll out the champagne, call in sick and most importantly ... DROP A BANNER!!! The Suns are Pacific Division Champs!!!!!!!!!" Yes, the Suns regrouped from two rough losses to clinch their third consecutive division crown with a 108-90 victory over Minnesota last night. Raja Bell scored 22 points and Leandro Barbosa -- starting in lace of Diaw to get things going -- added 20, but enough already. Stop what you're doing, and go buy your division title t-shirt! There flying off the virtual shelf!

The Western Conference Keeps Getting Better and Better. Carmelo scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth to lead the trailblazing Nuggets to their fifth straight victory with a 94-90 decision over the Nets. It marked the first time this season that Denver has won a game (1-21) when scoring less than 99 points. It also marked the first time this season that I could use that stat. Vincent Lamar missed a wide-open three that would have tied it with 12 seconds to go. My smile is extra wide today.

More False Promises. You already know the story, cuz you've heard it once before: Agent Zero predicts he'll drop 50 on the Blazers; Agent Zero doesn't come close to dropping 50 on the Blazers. (I don't care though, I still love it.) Gilbert Arenas scored 19 points and had 10 assists, but shot just 4-of-16 from the field in the Wizards 100-98 loss to the Blazers. I predict we'll hear much more about Arenas and his antics later today on the Haus. Just a hunch. Portland rookies, LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy, combined for 44 points and 20 boards in the win. Solid.

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