line of the night: Dec. 8th

[JasonJohnHorn]

The Goldenstate Warriors saw three starters reach 20+ points in a road win over the Washington Wizards, David Lee had a game high 24 points and a game high 17 rebounds! The Kings got double-doubles out of Salmons and DMC to get a convincing road win over the Trailblazers. The Hornets, sill without Anthony Davis, lost on the road to the defending champions in Miami. The Hawks got a big win over Memphis in Memphis. The Clippers defended their home court against the visiting Suns. The Rockets fell to the Mavs who were lead by O.J. Mayo who lead all scorers with 40 points, though Harden came away from the same game with 39 points and needed 9 fewer FG attempts to do it. In a battle of cellar dwellers the Pistons came away with a win over the Cavs. Knight scored a game high 30 points. The Bulls beat the Knicks in Chicago, the Knicks were without Melo. The Spurs trunced the Bobcats in Charlotte (don’t worry, no Bobcats fans were at the game, so they didn’t have to endure their teams’ loss). Pop brought the bench out early to finish this game up. And finally Boston got their revenge on Philly after an overtime loss the other night with a win in Boston’s. Rondo’s double-digit assist streak is up to 2 now!

[Sneaky]

Harden: 39 points 6 rebounds 9 assists 2 steals 1 block

[Swashcuff]

To me this thread is about stats and nothing else so I'm sure as hell not going to give a player the nod because his team won when another player was more impressive with that said however OJ Mayo had 17 of his 40 in the 4th quarter, when his team came into the quarter down by 5 and won by 7. I think for his 17 points in a single quarter he should be recognized. All that said though Harden's stat line was more impressive and despite scoring 1 point less he accounted for more of his team's offense than Mayo did his. Vote Harden.

[Bravo95]

Josh Smith played small forward last night and put up 24-8-4-3, while guarding Rudy Gay (who shot 7 for 25), and it apparently wasn't enough to make the poll.

[greg_ory_2005]

Ill say Mayo since the Mavs won the game.

[Chavacano]

James Edward Harden Jr's.

[JasonJohnHorn]

Josh Smith played small forward last night and put up 24-8-4-3, while guarding Rudy Gay (who shot 7 for 25), and it apparently wasn't enough to make the poll.

Would you have voted for him if I put him on? I mean, there are literally 10 other guys who I could have thrown on the list, but the bottom line is with Lee scoring as as JSmoove while also out-rebounding him 17-8, there really isn't much of a case ofr JSmoove over Lee, let alone over Mayo's 40 and Harden's 39, both of which came with solid defensive stats and nice rebounding and assist numbers.


I can't possibly include everybody on the list. I pick the numbers I think stand out the most, and while some guys deserve mention, they are not in the conversation for best line of the night. And I don't care if you are a SF or SG, if you only manage to equal the points of a C or PF who gets like 10 rebounds more than you, or a PG who gets 7 or 8 more assists than you, you aren't going to be in the conversation for line-of-the-night on the basis that SF and SG generally get fewer rebounds and assists than do C, PF and PGs.

Josh Smith had a great all-around game, but last night there were 4 or 5 guys who clearly had better nights than him. Smith is a great player and is generally underrated, but last night he simply did not have the best line.

That said, I will gladly concede that the defensive efforts of a player don't show up in the stat lines, and when determining something like MVP or DPOY, it is important to take that effort into consideration, but when considering something as trivial as line-of-the-night, the defensive effort is that important outside of stats.

Line-of-the-night is about who the better player is, its about who had the best line.


That said, everybody is welcome to vote how they see fit. I don't often include FG% unless it's important, or turnovers or fouls unless they are excessive. I also don't personally consider who won the game, but for some people who wins factors in. Everybody can vote however they like.

[Bravo95]

Would you have voted for him if I put him on?

Didn't say Josh deserved to win, although yeah I probably would have voted for him, ha. But I commented on him not making the poll at all. Blake Griffin basically had the exact same line (against an inferior opponent). It's cool though.

[ATX]

Mayo, because they won, and Harden disappeared in the 2nd half statistically.

[black1605]

Harden. I don't look at wins and losses in line of the night. I look at it as being purely based on individual performance. Line means stat line, and wins and losses aren't an individual stat in basketball.

[baller101200]

Harden's for sure. His first half alone wins this for him.

[KingsPhillies]

Looking strictly at the stat lines, I gotta vote Harden.

[Swashcuff]

Mayo, because they won, and Harden disappeared in the 2nd half statistically.

He scored more than half his teams points in the 4th quarter what do you mean he disappeared. You're telling me that had his teammates done a better job and score more points thus resulting in a victory for his team he'd get the vote?