A pair of down-the-wire games was on
offer in yesterday’s NBA action, with the Rockets winning at the Madison Square
Garden and the Warriors pulling the rug from under the Thunder at home.
The
Best:
- The night’s best moment did not come from its best performer, but, still, seeing Andre Iguodala drain a buzzer-beating corner fadeaway jumper over Thabo Sefolosha to push the Warriors past the Thunder was pretty awesome. Iggy finished with just 14 points, but he was very efficient, shooting 5/6 from the field and handing out 9 dimes.
- The night’s best performer came from one of the losing teams. Carmelo Anthony drained 45 points on 17/30 FG shooting on top of 10 rebounds and 4 assists, but his Knicks still came up short (albeit a little on the controversial side) against Houston. Melo hit a three to tie the game in the dying seconds, but referee Scott Foster nullified it as Anthony was fouled by James Harden on the floor.
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| Andre Iguodala hit the marginal basket to lift GSW past OKC. (image by Kyle Terada/USA Today) |
The
Worst:
- NYK’s Raymond Felton continued to struggle in the young season. Against the Rockets, Felton registered just 8 points on 3/9 FG shooting while also turning the ball over 5 times. Yikes.
- I loved every point, every assist, and every rebound from Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Dwight Howard yesterday, BUT I hated the turnovers – all TWENTY of them. That’s right. Twenty turnovers between those four guys. Just not good enough be champs just yet.
Final
Score: Houston 109, New York 106
New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) -
After being immediately hacked by James Harden from beyond the arc along the
right wing, Carmelo Anthony flipped up an off-balanced 3-pointer off his back
foot in the final seconds. It somehow went in. Referee Scott Foster, though,
immediately whistled it a no shot. Harden had 36 points and nine rebounds as
the Houston Rockets held off the New York Knicks, 109-106, on Thursday. New
York trailed 107-104 with 5.8 seconds left when Anthony, who had an NBA
season-high 45 points, got the ball along the right wing. Houston elected to
foul right away instead of playing out the possession defensively. Anthony,
however, didn't get the continuation call. Anthony made both foul shots before
Harden sunk a pair at the other end with 2.9 ticks to go. J.R. Smith's
desperation heave from midcourt then ricocheted sharply off the backboard as
time expired. Jeremy Lin finished with 21 points, five rebounds and three
assists in his second return to the Big Apple. During the 2011-12 season, "Linsanity"
became an overnight sensation when Lin averaged 18.2 points and hit several
game- winning shots for the Knicks.
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| Melo and the Knicks found themselves wanting after dropping a home game to Houston. (image by Maddy Meyer/Getty Images) |
Final
Score: Golden State 116, Oklahoma City 115
Oakland, CA (SportsNetwork.com) -
Russell Westbrook's 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left gave the Oklahoma City
Thunder their first lead in over 23 minutes. That advantage was short-lived.
Andre Iguodala's fadeaway right baseline jumper at the buzzer lifted the Golden
State Warriors to a 116-115 win over the Thunder. Reggie Jackson's driving layup
with 36.2 seconds remaining pulled OKC within 114-112 and the Thunder regained
possession when Stephen Curry misfired on a deep step-back jumper at the other
end. Kevin Durant snatched the rebound and dribbled to the top of the arc. He
was forced to give the ball away to Westbrook along the right wing several feet
beyond the arc. With Klay Thompson playing back on him, Westbrook pulled up and
rose above him for the Thunder's first lead since the 11:35 mark of the third.
Following a timeout, Iguodala received the inbounds pass along the right
baseline and knocked down the tough fadeaway over the outstretched arms of
Thabo Sefolosha.
Russell Westbrook thought he hit the game-winner till Andre Iguodala hit his own:
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