and these guys are professionals?

I know box scores don’t tell the whole story of a game but it can sure tell a lot. And there have been a couple crazy games already this week in the NBA that caught my eye.

On Monday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 114-69. In the middle of the 3rd quarter the score was 79-25. And then the Thunder coach pulled the starters. If this was last year when they were the worst team in the history of the NBA it would be a little easier to understand the Bobcats’ struggles. But they have actually been competitive this season. In fact, coming into that game they had a record of 7-5 (as many wins as they had all last season).

On Tuesday night, Kobe Bryant was sick with the flu but played anyway. Meanwhile, his teammates didn’t. The Lakers lost 79-77 in Los Angeles to a 6-8 (now 7-8) Pacers team. Kobe Bryant committed 10 turnovers (understandable; he was sick) but scored 40 points. The rest of the team might as well have stayed home. Outside of Kobe’s and Dwight Howard’s shooting, the rest of the Lakers were 5 for 38 (13%). They turned the ball over (7) more times than they got it in the basket (5). Kobe scored 40, the rest of the Lakers scored 37.

And lest you think Dwight Howard also carried the team, his free throw numbers continue to leave even Shaq shaking his head in shame. Howard was 3-12 from the charity stripe. 25%. And he’s actually getting paid to play basketball. This was already the sixth time this year that he has missed at least 6 free throws, third time he’s missed at least 9. I don’t know what it is about playing center for the Lakers but the way things are going, three of the top five worst free throw shooters in history are Laker centers (Wilt Chamberlain, Shaq and Howard). Steve Nash or not, a team with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard should not be 7-8. But especially in the NBA where games are usually close, leaving free points on the floor will continue to pile up losses.