Marc Gasol Emerging

Marc Gasol posted an impressive 26-point, five-rebound, six-assist, three-steal and three-block line against the Clippers on Sunday. Perhaps most amazing of all, Gasol’s 13-of-18 shooting today brings him to 59-of-76 (78%) over his last eight games. Gasol is emerging into a potential NBA all-star and a very efficient, effective player. His hot stretch shooting will end sooner than later, but ride the wave while you can.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Houston: Houston Rockets F Luis Scola left Sunday’s game 22 seconds into the first quarter after getting poked in the eye by the Thunder’s Etan Thomas. Expect Scola to be day-to-day.

Boston: Kevin Garnett shot a near-perfect 11-of-12 from the field to score 24 points with eight rebounds, one assist and one steal in the Boston Celtics’ 92-85 win over the Heat on Sunday. At times, Garnett still appears to be struggling with injuries but the big-ticket is still better than most.

Philadelphia: Eddie Jordan admitted that the Sixers have held conversations about Allen Iverson, and other free agents, just an hour after saying certainly that “he had not talked to anyone about Allen Iverson.” We all know that coaches bend the truth, but it’s always nice to see it happen on an hour-by-hour basis.

Detroit: Charlie Villanueva announced Sunday on his Twitter account that he will have surgery on his broken nose Monday, and we’re calling his status for Wednesday’s game “questionable.”

Detroit: Ben Wallace grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds on Sunday, and added 10 points to go with two steals and two assists.

San Antonio: Manu Ginobili (groin) will play Sunday against the Sixers, but Roger Mason (hamstring) will not. “If he got over 20 minutes, I’d be very surprised,” coach Gregg Popovich said.

Phoenix: The Associated Press updated a post-game report identifying that Leandro Barbosa left Sunday’s game due to an ankle injury, not Amare Stoudemire.

New Orleans: Peja Stojakovic will not play against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday due to personal reasons.
Peja was also suffering from an illness, but this adds a new wrinkle to his situation as he hasn’t even made the trip to Sacramento. It’s unclear at this time whether he’ll be able to meet the team in Los Angeles to play the Lakers on Tuesday. The Nets have just two games next week, and Peja belongs on the bench.