Lay Up Line: Denver Finally Wins, Detroit Still Losing and Nate Robinson Under Control?

Music to listen to:  Man On The Silver Mountain by Rainbow

The Bulls may be OK after all:  Chicago looked to be in trouble at the start of the season with Derrick Rose missing in action until at least the All-Star break.  However, with its 99-93 win over Orlando last night, the Bulls improved to 3-1, giving handed the Magic it’s first loss of the season.  The Magic were doing work for the first three quarters of the game, getting major contributions from Aaron Afflalo (28 points) and Glen Davis (16 points, 10 rebounds).  Even somebody named E’Twaun Moore (17 points) was getting buckets for Orlando.  However, the Bulls outscored the Magic, 31-23, to clinch the victory.  While Luol Deng continued his pursuit of his first All-Star game appearance with 23 points and Joakim Noah had another solid contest for the Bulls with 20 points and nine rebounds, the story of the early season for Chicago has been Nate Robinson.  He has been the Bulls best point guard and stayed in control, which has to make the coaching staff.  Robinson still has moments but his stability at the point spot coming off of the bench has been vital for the Bulls staying afloat until Rose returns.

All OK in OKC:  Oklahoma City outscored Toronto, 30-17, in the first quarter, coasting to an easy 108-88 win on Tuesday.  When Kyle Lowry only scores two points and had to leave the game due to injury in the first half, you knew it was going to be a rough night for the Raptors.  Another bad sign for Toronto was when the most competitive moments of the game came when Andrea Bargnani and Hasheem Thabeet looked like they wanted to recreate an old Charles Oakley/Dale Davis fight but it never came to blows.  Also, for those keeping score, Russell Westbrook attempted one more shot than Kevin Durant…just stating facts.

Home is the best remedy:  The Nuggets lost their first three games of the season, all on the road, and the prognosticators and stat geek’s chic pick to be one of the top teams in the West looked rough.  However, throw on one of the top-five uniforms in the NBA (those gold alternate jerseys are that good looking) and host the Pistons in your home opener and all will go well.  Denver coasted to an easy 109-97 win over Detroit, who now sits at 0-4 for the season.