The Daily Dime #1

Here at Drop It Like It's Hot, we believe in taking a good, hard look at those boxscores every night, schedule permitting. We know that it doesn't always permit, so we want to do the work for you, and take you on a quick walk through each day's most intriguing performances. Schedules being what they are, we'll appreciate your restraint in not pointing out that these updates will not always, in fact, be daily.

MEM 111, CLE 114

Stromile Swift followed up his 38 minute, 18 point, 9 rebound performance with 10 points, 5 boards, and 2 blocks in only 23 minutes. This doesn't bode well... Gasol still wasn't on the court.

Zydrunas llgauskas went for 22 points, 9 boards, 5 blocks, 1 steal, 1 turnover on 7-14 from the field and 8-11 from the line. Sometimes it looks like Z's slumping, but actually he's just maddeningly inconsistent.

Drew Gooden: 27 PTS, 11 REB, 2 AST, 1 BLK, 11-18 FG 5-9 FT. Nice.

LAC 105, LAL 89

Trust me, you weren't too excited about any of the Lakers' performances in this one.

Jaric's second game back, plays 24 minutes and drops 11 dimes...

Chris Kaman is the real deal. 14 points, 16 boards, 5 blocks, 1 steal, 2 assists. Never mind the 5 TO.

MIA 111, TOR 96

Chris Bosh is the real deal. 27 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block. You could have had him for a song. Now it's time to pay up. Sigh.

Rafer Alston with nice rebound game, 29 point, 8 assists, 3 threes, 5 TO. This is not an illusion.

Shaquille: 33 and 18 helps, but he went 7-20 from the line. Ouch. One block.

SEA 100, UTA 109

Uh oh. Remember Andrei Kirilenko? He's back. 20 minutes, 5 blocks, 2 steals, 12 points. That's all you need to know.

Raul Lopez... Could be very, very good if he plays 35+... 20 points, 11 assists, 3 steals. He and Eisley are the only PGs left...

Radmanovic: Follows up 8-three performance with 0-8 performance. Roll with the punches.

Ridnour/Daniels: A devastating combo. Ridnour 17 points, 4 assists, 3 steals... Daniels 25 points on 10 shots, 3 assists, one turn.

WAS 117, PHI 107

Dalembert: 32 minutes, 11 boards, 1-6 shooting, no blocks. Remain calm.

Willie Green: Great AI impression, even Gil Arenas had to admit. 32 points, 2 threes, nice %s, 6 rebs, 4 assists, 4 turns.

Arenas: 33 points, 9 assists, 4 threes, 3 steals, 5 turnovers. What is it with you and the turnovers, Gil?

Juan Dixon: 14 point 4th quarter en route to 22 points, 5 assists, 3 steals, 2 threes, no turns.

IND 86, BOS 100

Ugly.

Jermaine O'Neal: 24 points, 6 reb, 4 blk, 2 stl, 4 TO. Fort hose of you who haven't noticed yet, Jermaine is no longer a good FG shooter.

Pierce. 23-8-4 with 2 steals and 3 threes.

Al Jefferson... 7 minutes. Foot's bothering him.

DET 87, DEN 70

Carmelo being Carmelo... 28 minutes, 5 points on 13 shots. No defense. 2 tunovers.

Camby... Back in the mix and doing it right. No minutes for Nene.

Detroit... Man they put up some ugly boxes. Pick of the litter is Ben Wallace: 14 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turn.

Even Tskitishvili got some run at the end of this one.

MIN 104, ATL 87

Mismatches galore. Keep every single Hawk off of your roster at all costs.

Cassell returns! 11 games! Played 15 minutes and dropped 8 dimes.

Sprewell scores 32 on ridiculous shooting; Szczerbiak 18 on a great night. Each played 31 minutes.

PHO 121, MIL 115

I think Nash has got the kinks worked out. 21 points, 2 threes, 17 assists, 3 steals. Awesome.

Jim Jackson: 20 minutes. That ain't much.

Michael Redd. Nothing from downtown but 27 points on 24 shots, no D.

HOU 82, NO 77

Forget about both Bob Sura and David Wesley, sooner the better.

Nailon... The flaws are showing but the scoring remains.

Chris Andersen: only 24 minutes; extra players from JJ deal may not be good for his PT.

Dan Dickau: What did I tell you about Dan Dickau? 23 points, 10 assits, 1 steal, 3 threes, 9-16 FG 2-2 FT.

DAL 95, POR 88

Nice games from the usual suspects in Dallas. Stackhouse looking like a strong add.

Van Exel starting to look like a nice drop. 5 points on 2-9 shooting.

Damon Stoudamire: he does great things if you can stomach the FG. 22-7-6 with 2 steals and 4 threes.

D. Miles: 29 minutes, 15 points, 6 boards, 2 TO, 2 steals, one block. Watch the minutes continue to rise...

NJ 113, GS 99

With Speedy out of the lineup with a thigh contusion, Derek Fisher got exposed. 2-14 shooting.

Troy Murphy, 21 & 10. Clean.

Brian Scalabrine! Going for 29 points and 10 rebounds on 12-17 FG, I watched the big man play for USC. He has that shot. Maybe not that shot, but kudos to Veal on a nice night. Does this mean he'll play 40 minutes every night now?