Records, Game Winners and More (November 12th)

[Andrew]

A pretty eventful day in the NBA yesterday. The scuffle is probably going to stand as the biggest story in the Suns/Rockets game yesterday but before that broke out Shaquille O'Neal moved into the tenth spot on the career scoring list, appropriately with a dunk for his twelfth point of the night. I remember back in the day when a lot of people were dismissive of Shaq's ability to lead a team anyway, claiming "all he can do is dunk" and suggesting he didn't have the personality or drive to be a champion. He's certainly proved them wrong.

Elsewhere, the Hawks are no longer undefeated after Paul Pierce's game winning shot.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GcnYb4YtIM[/youtube]

That leaves the Lakers as the league's only undefeated team. As noted on Sportscenter, in two of the previous three seasons where the Lakers have stood as the league's last undefeated team they've gone on to win the championship, a fact that guarantees nothing of course but some might find encouraging all the same given that it's a sign of the team playing at a high level.

Dwight Howard also registerd his first career triple double, picking up the third double in blocks. He may have a long way to go before he eclipses or even equals Shaq's career achievements but the way he's played over the last couple of years he's making a strong claim for the title of being the best centre in the league right now.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72csxfq3sdo[/youtube]

He's also reportedly going to defend his slam dunk championship.