The AP reports: Rajon Rondo was off and running, and Kevin Garnett was hardly missed. Rondo scored a career-high 32 points to go with 10 assists on his 23rd birthday in Boston’s 128-108 victory over the Suns on Sunday… Ray Allen scored 31 and Pierce 26 in Boston’s first game since Garnett went down with a strained muscle in his right knee that is expected to sidelined him for at least two weeks… Jason Richardson scored 21 for the Suns in their first loss in four games under new coach Alvin Gentry. Steve Nash added 19 points and 11 assists. Leandro Barbosa scored 18 and Shaquille O’Neal 17 for Phoenix.
Day: February 23, 2009
Bargnani 28 and 10, Raptors beat Knicks 111-100
The AP reports: Anthony Parker and the Toronto Raptors didn’t have to wait very long to avenge an ugly loss at Madison Square Garden. Andrea Bargnani had 28 points and 10 rebounds on Sunday to help Toronto beat New York 111-100 two days after absorbing a 30-point loss against the Knicks… Each of Toronto’s starters reached double figures and four of the five had double-doubles. Shawn Marion had 16 points and 15 rebounds, and Chris Bosh added 11 points and 12 boards. Jose Calderon had 13 points and 11 assists… Al Harrington scored 31 points and David Lee had 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Knicks, who have lost nine straight games in Toronto and 11 of 12 overall against the Raptors. Chris Duhon finished with 17 points.
Murphy scores 27, Pacers beat Bulls 98-91
The AP reports: Who needs Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy? Troy Murphy had a season-high 27 points and the Indiana Pacers, still without their two injured scoring leaders, survived a second-half stretch of 11 minutes without a field goal to beat the Chicago Bulls 98-91 on Sunday. The Pacers now are 5-1 without Granger, a first-time All-Star this season, and 4-1 without both Granger and Dunleavy… T.J. Ford finished with 19 points for Indiana—nine in the final 4 minutes— while Marquis Daniels and Jarrett Jack added 16 each… Ben Gordon had 28 points to lead Chicago, which used three of the five players that came to the Bulls in a series of trades last week.