Written by: Christopher Sells - Chris lives, works, and goes to school in Austin and obsesses over basketball in most of his free time. Time not spent obsessing over basketball is usually spent obsessing over football, ’90s (...) More
Pistons 94, Wizards 107 New lineup, same results. The Pistons started strong, but couldn’t keep it up against the Wizards. This probably had a lot to do with Caron Butler’s 33 points (14-14 from the free throw line) and six assists and Washington’s 31-14 edge in free throws. Richard Hamilton had 29 in the loss and Rasheed Wallace added 19. This is the Pistons’ third straight loss and foruth in five games. Raptors 94, Cavaliers 114 LeBron James needed just over 30 minutes to score 31 points and the Cavs cruised to yet another lopsided win. Wally Szczerbiak added 16 and Mo Williams 13 points and nine assists. Cleveland set a record in this game by winning their ninth straight game by at least 12 points. In fact, their average margin of victory during their current streak is 21.5 points. In case you’re wondering, no one on Toronto’s team really did anything of note.
Jazz 99, Wolves 96 Kevin McHale’s first game as head coach was ruined by a running one-hander by a seven-footer with shaved armpits. Mehmet Okur put the Jazz ahead for good with 1.7 seconds left and Minnesota dropped a game that was close throughout. Okur finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds and Ronnie Brewer led the Jazz with 25 points. Deron Williams had 11 assists. Al Jefferson put in 21 points and Kevin Love grabbed 15 rebounds off the bench for the Wolves, who lost their sixth straight despite managing 19 offensive boards. Knicks 100, Bulls 105 New York looked like they had one in the bag, but then Chicago took advantage of what looked to be tired Knicks legs and dropped one on the road. Drew Gooden had team highs of 22 points and 16 rebounds for the Bulls while Ben Gordon scored 17. Al Harrington led the Knicks with 28 points and Quentin Richardson had 22 points and eight rebounds. Chris Duhon, playing in the arena where he started his career, narrowly missed a triple double with 15 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds. New York has lost four of its last five games.
Hawks 84, Rockets 92 On Monday night, Yao Ming had four rebounds as they dropped a gimme to the Grizzlies. He made up for it last night, pulling down a season-high 19 to go with 21 points as the Rockets got back to their winning ways. Ron Artest added 19 points and nine rebounds after sitting out the last game because of an ankle injury. Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 22 points and Josh Smith contributed 13 points and team highs of 11 boards, five blocks, three steals and a partridge in a pear tree.
Bucks 110, Suns 125 The last time Milwaukee beat the Suns in Phoenix was nearly 22 years ago. Shaquille O’Neal made sure tonight wouldn’t be the night that streak was broken with 35 points and eight rebounds and the Suns shot a ridiculous 59% as they ran away from the Bucks. Amare Stoudemire had 22 points and eight rebounds and Steve Nash 19 points and 10 assists for Phoenix. Charlie Villanueva recorded 24 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Milwaukee; Michael Redd and Richard Jefferson had 23 and 22 points, respectively. Spurs 133, Mavericks 126 If you weren’t paying attention to the actual players on the floor, last night’s double overtime game might have reminded you of three years ago, when San Antonio and Dallas were two of the best teams in the league. Things have changed now, but it didn’t make things any less entertaining. Tim Duncan had 32 points and 14 rebounds for the Spurs; Tony Parker added 29 points, 10 assists and three steals. Jason Kidd almost had a triple double with 24 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds for the Mavs. Dirk Nowitzki had 35 points and 10 rebounds to lead Dallas, but he scored only seven points after the third quarter. The loss snapped Dallas’ four-game win streak and pushed the Spurs’ win streak to three. The Spurs were very effiecient, turning the ball over only six times in 58 minutes of basketball. Magic 109, Blazers 108 With two minutes left in the game, the Blazers led 108-100. That’s when things went south, as Orlando closed with a 9-0 run and handed Portland its first home loss of the year as Hedo Turkoglu banked in a three with .3 seconds left. Rashard Lewis led the Magic with 27 points and nine rebounds and Turkoglu scored 24. Brandon Roy scored 30 and grabbed nine rebounds for Portland; LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 and 13. The Blazers lost despite outrebounding Orlando 44-29. Lakers 101, Kings 113 When the Lakers come to town and you’re on an eight-game losing streak, you should probably go ahead and count number nine. Unless you’re the Kings, that is. The Lakers were unable to overcome 40% shooting and 16 turnovers as Sacramento handed them their third loss of the season. Kobe Bryant had 28 points but shot only 9-25 from the floor; Pau Gasol put in 25 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. Six Kings scored in double-figures, including 21 each by John Salmons and Francisco Garcia. The Kings shot 49% for the game.
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