Of Scoring Leaders: Kobe, MJ (and Dunleavy?)

December 15, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

Monday meanderings: In the Chicago Bulls’ 93-75 victory Sunday night at Miami, Bulls forward Mike Dunleavy had no points in the first or second quarters and three in the fourth. He led the team in scoring with 22. Pretty sure that means he had 19 in the third quarter. And that is how some of us learned math to the limited degree that we did.

We don’t do much hockey here. For Stephy C, we’ll always gladly make an exception.

* Speaking of Dunleavy, he went 7-for-8 from the field and 2-of-2 free throws in the third quarter. Meaning he made three three-point field goals. Another example of how some of us learned math to the limited degree that we did. Pau Gasol had nine points and nine rebounds to end his streak of consecutive double-doubles at eight. He committed a team-worst six turnovers and had the team’s second-best plus/minus rating at plus-22. Go figure.

* Bulls guard Derrick Rose had 14 points in 27 minutes. Meaning the Bulls’ blowout allowed coach Tom Thibodeau to rest him a bit in anticipation of Monday’s game at Atlanta. Wonder how many minutes Rose might have logged if the game had been close.

* Speaking of scoring points and Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant had 26 points in a 100-94 victory at Minnesota. Meaning he surpassed for Bulls great Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. MJ had 32,292. Bryant has 32,310. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and Karl Malone (36,928) scored more NBA points. And, yes, fans who consider Jordan the greatest will be quick to point out he won six NBA titles to five for Bryant. Not to mention Jordan had 10 NBA scoring titles to Bryant’s two. So there!

* Speaking of Bryant (who is 36), he could pass Abdul-Jabbar if he continues to average 20-plus points per game — and plays through the 2017-18 season without missing many games. The question is whether he lasts that long. The other question is if he does, will it be with the Lakers?

* Speaking of MJ, he issued a statement regarding Bryant’s accomplishment: “I congratulate Kobe on reaching this milestone. He’s obviously a great player, with a strong work ethic and has an equally strong passion for the game of basketball. I’ve enjoyed watching his game evolve over the years, and I look forward to seeing what he accomplishes next.”

This is Olga from Playboy. Good start to the week.

Speaking of former Bulls players, Steve Kerr — rookie coach of the Golden State Warriors — said his team won’t win 72 games this season. That was an accomplishment the 1996-97 Bulls team (of which he was a member) achieved. Asked after his team improved its record to 21-2 Sunday, he responded: “Oh God, no. No! We had this guy named Michael Jordan on that team. That year, I think we were 41-3. So if we can go 21-1 the next 22 games, come talk to me.”

* Speaking of Kerr’s Warriors, they have won 16 in a row with their 128-122 victory over the Pelicans. With the statistical-analysis department taking Sunday off, your humble — and mathematically challenged — correspondent has calculated the Bulls’ 72-10 team had an .878 winning percentage. The Warriors’ winning percentage is .913. For those of us who can comprehend more simpler stats, Golden State needs to go 51-8 (.864 winning percentage) to reach 72 victories. Note of caution: It’s a long season. Second note of caution: Someone might want to double-check all those numbers; if any are incorrect, please blame the calculator and not the person doing the calculating — thank you).

* Still speaking of Kerr speaking to media after Sunday’s game: “What I remember that year is there were about 10 games where Michael just decided, ‘We’re going to win.’ And every other team on Earth would have lost those 10 games. And Michael Jordan was … there’ll never be another one. Nobody has ever come close, and I don’t think anybody ever will. He wanted to break that Lakers record of 69 wins, so he decided we would do it, so we did it. There’s only one Michael.”

***

Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the efforts of the editorial and video departments at ElliottHarris.com):