Cassell drops in 35 pts and 11 assts opening night on Seattle

Amen!
I saw that on my free league pass this week.
Sam went wild on them. Has any noticed that Sam's stop and pop from 15 feet is unstoppable?
I would dare put this move up there with the dream shake.
NO ONE ever stops Cassell on that shot.

On the other hand, Cuttino didnt play that well in that game.

 

Cassell carries Clippers past Sonics

SEATTLE (AP) -- Sam Cassell kept saying these weren't the same old Los Angeles Clippers.

Showing a new level of resiliency, Cassell led a rally from 13 points down in his first game with the Clippers, as Los Angeles beat the Seattle SuperSonics 101-93 on Wednesday night.

Cassell won a duel with Seattle's Ray Allen, scoring 35 points, as the short-handed Clippers rallied in the fourth quarter.

"Like I was saying the whole training camp, this is not going to be the old Clipper team from the past," Cassell said. "We're going to play hard for 48 minutes. ... We executed when we needed to down the stretch and we made shots."

Cassell made three 3-pointers in the final five minutes, leading the Clippers 37-point fourth quarter charge. His pull-up 18-footer with 1:43 left gave the Clippers the lead for good at 95-89, spoiling Bob Weiss' debut as Seattle's coach.

The 37 points for Los Angeles eclipsed its highest scoring quarter from all of last season of 35.

Cassell was 14-for-26 shooting, including 15 points in the fourth quarter, and added 11 assists. Elton Brand had 15 points and James Singleton added 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

"Sam is a monster," Clippers' coach Mike Dunleavy said. "That's what he does, he makes big shots."

Allen scored 31 points on 11-of-21 shooting. Rashard Lewis added 18 for Seattle, but no other Sonics' player reached double figures. It was Seattle's first loss in a home opener since 1997 when they were beaten by Dallas.

Down 87-82, Cassell made consecutive 3-pointers to give the Clippers an 88-87 lead with 3:41 left. Allen and Quinton Ross exchanged free throws, before Cassell's third 3-pointer. Allen missed a 3-pointer at the other end, and Cassell answered with his jumper. He added another fall-away jumper and two free throws in the final 18 seconds for good measure.

"I can't do 82 games like that," Cassell said. "But if it takes me hitting shots down the stretch to prevail my team to win ... I did what I had to do."

Los Angeles played without starting forward Corey Maggette, still hampered by a left hamstring injury. Maggette averaged 23 points in four games against Seattle last season. Ross started in Maggette's place and finished with 10 points, but it was Singleton who made the biggest contribution.

In his first NBA game, the former Murray State standout came up with key baskets, scoring eight points and pulling down six rebounds in the fourth quarter.

"We wanted it more. We just kept playing hard no matter how many points we were down," said Singleton, who played the last two seasons in Italy.

Seattle led 57-55 midway through the third quarter, when Allen ignited a 14-3 run to build Seattle's lead back to double-digits. Allen made two 3-pointers, Lewis added another, and Vladimir Radmanovic capped the run with an emphatic fastbreak dunk, giving Seattle a 71-58 lead.

Nick Collison scored to open the fourth quarter, giving Seattle a 77-64 lead. From there, the Clippers scored 16 of the next 18 points. Ross' two free throws gave the Clippers their first lead at 80-79 with 7:23 left.

"I thought we shot ourselves in the foot," Weiss said. "I thought we had a chance to put them away in the third but we had too many turnovers. And then Sam came in and took over in the fourth."

While the Clippers sizzled in the fourth quarter, Seattle went cold, making just 4-of-17 shots, 2-for-11 on 3-point attempts.

"We just stopped playing, plain and simple," Allen said. "Offensively, I don't know what to say."

The Clippers shot nearly 70 percent in the first quarter and 57 percent in the first half, using the hot shooting to overcome an early 16-4 deficit and pull even at 50-50 at halftime.

 

This still proves that Sam was the best PG the Rockets ever had.
11 assists to 1 turnover
35 points

if you said Kobe or LeBron or KG did this, people would say "MVP numbers, blah blah".

This is what drives Sam. He gets no respect, no matter how many times he embarasses the other team.

 

This is the Sam I remember from the Rockets tonight..

This the same Sam who hit clutch 3s on the Knicks.

 

Ok don't get carried away...

I liked Sam as much as the next guy but saying that he's the greatest point guard that we ever had is just indicative of the fact that we never had a great point guard.

He still hogged the ball too much and committed too many turnovers. He was a instant offense shoot first point guard and he won't consistently put up numbers like he did today.

 

11 assists to 1 turnover

a. 11 assists=not hogging the ball
b. 1 turnover=not too many turnovers

 

Sam had a great opening game against a team that doesn't play defense very well. It's an 82 game season and we'll see how many of them Sam actually plays in. I already said the Clips have no excuses for missing the playoffs this year. The talent is there.

 

I can't believe someone compared a Sam Cassell move to the Dreamshake. Disgusting.

 

We were swept by the Sonics in his third, our first time playing them in 3 years. Then we traded him for the fat round guy, who helped us beat the Sonics but we lost to the Jazz.

 

since he is in a contract year and knows, that this might be the last chance to cash in, he will for sure have a nice season

 

Mobley 3-14.

 

I said it in the offseason, and I will say it again here: Clips will make the playoffs this year.