Ewwww: Dirk Nowitzki Destroys Carl Landry’s Grill

After catching a vicious elbow for Dirk Nowitzki, shattering five of his teeth, Rockets guard Carl Landry will probably have to holler at some veneers. Both players left the game because of the incident, and Dirk had some of Landry’s teeth stuck in his elbow as a result of the play. Guaranteed Landry will be rocking a mouthpiece for the foreseeable future as a result of this grill smasing.

Guess Who’s Bizzack: T-Mac Makes Season Debut

T-Mac was back in action Tuesday night for the first time since undergoing microfracture surgery 9 months ago on a knee that was already shady. With Trevor Ariza serving a one game suspension for throwing a phantom elbow at DeMar Derozan, the Rockets decided to activate T-Mac, who has insisted that he was ready to play for a while now. McGrady played only 8 minutes and his only bucket was a 3-pointer as the Rockets easily disposed of the Pistons in front of the home crowd.

The team decided to be cautious given the magnitude of McGrady’s injury and because they have an insurance policy out on the once all-star, which allows them to save oodles of cheese for every game that he doesn’t play in.

McGrady made his season debut with a new number, switching from his trademark #1 to #3 to help promote his “3 points Darfur” initiative, which helps raise funds for refugees of the region. McGrady also released a film called “3 Points,” which documented his visit to Darfur in 2007. The new number may bring new life to McGrady, who has had a rocky relationship with the Rockets organization and fans because of the injuries that have plagued his career the past few seasons. Some believe that the team is still trying to trade T-Mac while he is still has some value, but only time was tell how much gas the 30-year old has left in the tank. Via Houston Chronicle

Check out T-Mac’s only bucket against the Pistons after the jump…

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Ariza Gets Suspended For Throwing Them ‘Bows

Trevor Ariza was suspended one game following his ejection Sunday during the Rockets loss at the Raptors. Ariza was having a nasty game and after losing a ball to fellow socal product DeMar Derozan, decided to throw and errant elbow punch in Derozan’s direction as he dribbled down the court. Despite the squarish brain media’s (including the commentators for this game) contention that Trevor was aiming for Derozan’s head, this was not the case.

After reviewing the various angles of the video it clearly shows that Ariza did indeed throw the elbow, but not with the intent of binging him in the back of the head. If anything he was aiming at Derozan’s midsection but missed him entirely. It’s whatevs.

Ariza could have easily binged Derozan if he wanted, his arms are long like Pippen’s, and the Raptors rookie was well within reach. The action was more in frustration that he was having one of the nastier nights in his career. Ariza also probably thought (erroneously) that he was fouled on that particular play, but solid defense is one of the biggest instigators known to man, just ask Ron Artest. However, we blame Canada, for obvious reasons.

In The Face: Corey Brewer Demoralizes Derek Fisher

Dunk Score: 10

Damn D-Fish might need to retire after this one. This dunk gets the rare perfect score and would have easily gotten the Dunk of 2009, if not for Dwyane Wade elevating over the 7-footer that is Anderson Varejao. This bang on was beyond embarrassing and D-Fish might want to consider retirement after this one. Fisher has gained a reputation throughout his career for trying to be a hero, doing the little things like diving for loose balls (no homo) and trying to take charges.

Unfortunately trying to be a hero leaves you susceptible to getting your life shat all over, like Corey Brewer caught Fisher on Friday night. With a clear lane to the basket and only a little man standing in his way, Brewer saw a golden opportunity to get on Sportscenter and took advantage.

Following the play even Kobe Bryant had to give it up to Brewer for getting his nuts near Fisher’s forehead. Real recognizes real in these type of situations and even though he wanted to be loyal to his teammate, even Kobe had to break character after witnessing his boy getting shat on like that.

Martell Webster banging on Chuck Hayes after the jump…

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In The Face: Ariza Sheezas All Over Kaman’s Grill

Dunk Score: 9.7

We’ve seen Trevor Ariza deliver these types of demoralizing facials throughout his career, and it never gets old. Chris Kaman has no chance with this one, there is no way that dude can go chest to chest with Ariza, especially when he has a full head of steam and direct lane to the basket. If Kaman was a few inches shorter, he would have got some nuts on his chin and no those wouldn’t be considered chin nuts. Ariza has been doing some work since his departure from the Lake Show. His presence in Los Angeles is definitely missed.

In The Face: Scola Bloodied By Etan Thomas Bang On

Dunk Score: 9.2

Etan Thomas catches Luis Scola with something fierce like Sasha with this one. Scola tries to be a hero and go for the block off of the help side defense, but unfortunately is a little too late. When he tried to meet Etan chest-to-chest, all Thomas has to say to that is, “weight room.” Any time you are laying on the ground with a bloody grill, after getting dunked on, you know it was something crucial. Somebody wipe Scola’s face…literally.

Lakers Give Ariza Ring, Rockets Give Lakers Buckets

The Lakers showed some semi-class to former forward Trevor Ariza during the Rockets visit to Staples Center Sunday. During pregame warmups the Lakers honored Ariza with a highly qualited video and Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant present him with his 2009 Championship ring to a standing ovation. Ariza was holding his son, Tajh, during the brief ceremony and it had to be a bittersweet moment to be back in his hometown.

Although the Rockets did get the win behind a career-high 33 points from Aaron Brooks, it was obvious that Ariza was impacted by the return. He did manage to fill up the stat sheet with 9 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals but also had 6 turnovers. Either way, the Rockets handed the Lakers their 2nd straight loss and currently have the 6th-best record in the Western Conference without Yao or T-Mac.

On the surface the pregame gesture was classy and what the Lakers were supposed to do, but the reality still is they spit in Trevor’s face this offseason when they signed Ron Artest instead paying Ariza the cheese that he deserved. Many critics have scoffed at the notion that Ariza will be a star in the League, but he could have been the proverbial Pippen type on the Lakers squad and it’s obvious that the team could use him now. The Artest experiment is solid by The Show has looked vulnerable the entire season. They might not have Gasol, but their current squad ain’t too shabby.

Video of the Ring ceremony after the jump…

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Rockets vs Lakers: Ariza & Artest Trading Places

Rockets guard Trevor Ariza was entered Wednesday’s game against the Lakers with a chip on his shoulder, after The Show spit in his face this offseason and signed former Rockets guard Ron Artest. Ariza has showed the Lakers that they made a mistake in letting him go, entering the game putting up an impressive stat line 21 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, smashing Artest’s averages 11 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists this season. We were disappointed that the Lakers decided to Let Trevor go, while keeping the likes of Luke Walton, but at the end of the day the NBA is a business.

Ariza performed solidly in the game putting up 15 points, on a dismal 5-21 shooting, but he did hit the game-tying 3-pointer late in the 4th quarter that sent the game into overtime. But in the end Kobe was just a little too much for the Rockets to handle, tying a season high with 41 points as the Lakers made it 3 straight wins following their embarrassing home loss to the Mavericks last Friday.