Indiana
rising up to 9-0, the Bulls finally winning one on the road, and the Nets
upending Phoenix in OT are only some of the great stuff from today’s NBA
action.
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| Joe Johnson hit the biggest shot of the game as Brooklyn survived Phoenix in OT. (image by Matt York/AP) |
The Best:
- LeBron James missed a total of just 5 of his 29 shots as Miami won over the Dallas Mavericks, 110-104. LBJ score a season-high 39 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists as his Heat improved to 6-3 on the season.
- Atlanta’s Jeff Teague was also quite awesome as the Hawks beat the Sixers, 113-103. Teague registered 33 points on top of 10 assists, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal. He shot 10/16 from the field and 12/13 from the line in a Michael Carter-Williams remained in sick bay and the Hawks improved to 3-1 at home.
- Roy Hibbert stood tall anew for the yet undefeated Pacers. Hibbert nearly crunched a triple-double, scoring 24 markers, grabbing 10 rebounds, and blocking 8 shots. He shot 8/10 from the field and made all eight of his free throws.
The Worst:
- Maybe someday Gordon Hayward will be an All-Star, but in this game against the Spurs, he looked more like a brick-builder. Hayward shot just 5/23 from the field, including 1/9 from beyond the arc to end up with 15 points in 43 minutes.
- I loved Joe Johnson’s game-winning heroics in OT. He is, in fact, 5/5 in terms of game-tying (at the end of the fourth) or game-winning shots since becoming a Net. Still, maybe he shot much better than 6/19 from the floor, the game wouldn’t have gone to an extra inning in the first place.
- Greivis Vasquez is a pretty good pick-up for the Kings, but his main waterloo is taking care of the ball and that was well-exposed against the Pistons. Detroit’s lockdown D forced Vasquez to cough the ball up 8 times in just 29 minutes. Oops.
Final Score: Indiana 104, Milwaukee 77
Indianapolis,
IN (SportsNetwork.com) - The Indiana Pacers weren't about to let the depleted
and struggling Milwaukee Bucks get back into the game early in the second half.
Roy Hibbert made sure of it. Hibbert had 24 points, eight blocks and 10
rebounds as the Pacers remained unbeaten following a 104-77 triumph over the
Bucks. Indiana is the first NBA team to start 9-0 since the 2002-03 Dallas
Mavericks, who began the campaign with 14 straight victories. Hibbert was
8-of-10 from the field and sunk all eight of his foul shots, while Paul George
added 22 points in the victory. O.J. Mayo netted 20 points to lead Milwaukee,
which has dropped four straight and five of its last six. The Bucks were
without starting point guard Brandon Knight, starting power forward Ersan
Ilyasova and bench player Caron Butler. Zaza Pachulia and Gary Neal both
returned from foot injuries, but Pachulia had just four points on 2- of-14
shooting, while Neal chipped in 11 points.
Final Score: Chicago 96, Toronto 80
Toronto, ON
(SportsNetwork.com) - Luol Deng paced Chicago with 19 points and every starter
scored in double-figures as the Bulls coasted to a 96-80 over the Toronto
Raptors without star point guard Derrick Rose at Air Canada Centre. Rose
injured his right hamstring late in Monday's win over the Cavaliers and hasn't
practiced while rehabbing the injury. He is considered day-to-day. Joakim Noah
scored 18 points with nine rebounds while Carlos Boozer and Jimmy Butler added
14 points apiece for Chicago, which has won three consecutive games. DeMar
DeRozan tied a career-high with 37 points and Rudy Gay nearly had a
double-double with 20 points and nine rebounds in the loss.
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| Luol Deng's 19 and 9 led Chicago to its first road win of the season against the Raptors. (image by Ron Turenne/Getty Images) |
Final Score: Atlanta 113, Philadelphia 103
Atlanta, GA
(SportsNetwork.com) - Jeff Teague scored a career-high 33 points with 10
assists while DeMarre Carroll and Al Horford scored 21 and 20 points,
respectively, to help the Atlanta Hawks take down the Philadelphia 76ers,
113-103, at Philips Arena. Teague scored eight points during a 12-2 run that
was capped by a Horford layup with 6:28 remaining, which gave Atlanta its
largest lead of the game, 94-80. The Hawks never looked back as Philadelphia
closed the gap to seven but that was as far as they came to another
fourth-quarter comeback. Evan Turner paced the Sixers with 27 points and Tony
Wroten, making his second consecutive start in place of Michael
Carter-Williams, added 22 points and six assists.
Final Score: Portland 109, Boston 96
Boston, MA
(SportsNetwork.com) - LaMarcus Aldridge tallied 27 points and 12 rebounds as
the Portland Trail Blazers never trailed and took down the Boston Celtics,
109-96, from TD Garden. Mo Williams added 18 points and eight assists off the
bench while Nicolas Batum netted 18 points to go with five rebounds and six
helpers. Portland has won five straight and improved to 7-2 on the young
season. Jared Sullinger paced Boston with 26 points off the bench on 11-of-18
shooting from the floor. Jeff Green scored 14 points and Jordan Crawford put in
11 points with five assists as the Celtics lost their second straight on the
heels of a four-game winning streak.
Final Score: Charlotte 86, Cleveland 80
Cleveland,
OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 16 points and the
Charlotte Bobcats used a big second-half run Friday night to beat the Cleveland
Cavaliers 86-80 and push their road winning streak to three games. Josh
McRoberts added 13 points, Kemba Walker and Ramon Sessions both scored 12 and
Jeff Taylor had 11 for the Bobcats (5-4), who got their second win of the
season over Cleveland. The Cavaliers (3-7) lost for the first time in four home
games this season and dropped their third in a row overall. They got 18 points
and 10 assists from Kyrie Irving and 15 points apiece from Earl Clark and
Tristan Thompson.
Final Score: Miami 110, Dallas 104
Miami, FL
(SportsNetwork.com) - The Dallas Mavericks, Miami's opponent in the 2011 NBA
Finals, are the last team to defeat the Heat in a playoff series. Miami hasn't
lost to the Mavs since. LeBron James had 39 points, six rebounds and four
assists as the Heat downed the Mavericks, 110-104, on Friday night. Dallas
defeated Miami in six games in the 2011 NBA Finals, but have dropped all five
of their regular-season tilts to the Heat since. Miami beat Dallas in the 2006
NBA Finals in six games. Miami has topped the 100-point mark in every game this
season and has won five of its last six contests. Dwyane Wade had eight of
Miami's 19 steals and netted 17 points to go with eight assists in the triumph.
Dirk Nowitzki poured in 28 points to lead Dallas, which turned the ball over 24
times and fell to 3-1 against the Eastern Conference this season.
Final Score: Denver 117, Minnesota 113
Denver, CO
(SportsNetwork.com) - Wilson Chandler had 19 points, Kenneth Faried scored 16
with 10 rebounds and the Denver Nuggets held off a late-game surge to beat the
Minnesota Timberwolves 117-113 on Friday night, extending their winning streak
to three games. Ty Lawson added 14 points and 10 assists and Andre Miller
scored 13 with a key late-game rebound for the Nuggets, who have won 12 of
their last 14 home games against Minnesota. Kevin Love had 28 points and 10
rebounds and Kevin Martin scored 27 for the Timberwolves, who have lost three
of their last four road games.
Final Score: Brooklyn 100, Phoenix 98 (OT)
Phoenix, AZ
(SportsNetwork.com) - Joe Johnson struggled with his shot throughout the
contest but stepped up when it mattered most, hitting the game- winning layup
as time expired in overtime to help the Brooklyn Nets defeat the Phoenix Suns,
100-98, at US Airways Center. Johnson, who finished 6-of-19 from the field,
gathered a long rebound off a Channing Frye missed 3-point attempt with 3.9
seconds left and drove the length of the floor before floating a layup over a
pair of defenders for the dramatic win. Brook Lopez tied a season-high scoring
27 points with seven rebounds and Shaun Livingston added 18 points and six
assists off the bench for Brooklyn, which snapped a four-game road losing
streak. Deron Williams played just 4:40 before leaving the game with a sprained
left ankle. Goran Dragic netted 19 points with 10 assists for Phoenix, while
P.J. Tucker and Eric Bledsoe scored 17 and 15, respectively.
Final Score: San Antonio 91, Utah 82
Salt Lake
City, UT (SportsNetwork.com) - The San Antonio Spurs overcame a sluggish start
and outscored Utah by 16 in the final quarter to down the Jazz, 91-82, on
Friday from EnergySolutions Arena. Tony Parker scored 14 of his 22 points in
the final period for San Antonio, which has won seven straight games and holds the
best record in the western conference at 9-1. Tim Duncan tallied 14 points and
nine rebounds and Boris Diaw contributed 17 points off the bench. The loss
spoiled a career night for Derrick Favors, who scored 20 points and blocked
three shots to go with a career-high 18 rebounds. Alec Burks added 12 points
and a team-high four assists in his first career start as Utah failed to build
off of its first win of the season from Wednesday.
Final Score: Memphis 89, LA Lakers 86
Los Angeles,
CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Zach Randolph had 14 of his 28 points in the fourth
quarter and the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 89-86, on
Friday night. Randolph also snatched 11 rebounds, while Marc Gasol added 18
points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Grizzlies, who had lost three
of their last four games coming in. Memphis was just 1-of-13 from beyond the
arc, but outrebounded the hosts, 51-40. Jodie Meeks netted 25 points to lead
Los Angeles, which has dropped four of its last five tilts.
Final Score: Detroit 97, Sacramento 90
Sacramento,
CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Josh Smith poured in 21 points to go with eight
rebounds and seven assists to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 97-90 win over the
Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena. Andre Drummond added 15 points and
pulled down 18 boards and Brandon Jennings added 11 points, six rebounds and
nine assists for the Pistons, who snapped a four-game losing streak. Rodney
Stuckey and Kyle Singler finished with 16 and 11 points, respectively, in the
win. DeMarcus Cousins scored 26 points to go with 13 rebounds and Isaiah Thomas
added 18 points and seven assists for the Kings, losers in six of their last
seven games.
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