Day: March 22, 2009

Sixers’ Igoudala scores 27 in win over Kings

The AP reports: Andre Iguodala made his first 10 shots and scored 27 points, and the Philadelphia 76ers never trailed in beating the Sacramento Kings 112-100 Sunday night to end a two-game skid. Thaddeus Young scored 22 points for the 76ers, who shot nearly 60 percent and never let their lead fall below double digits after taking a 17-5 lead midway through the first quarter. Louis Williams scored 18 points, Marreese Speights had 15 points and Willie Green added 10 for Philadelphia. Francisco Garcia made six 3-pointers and scored 24 points for the Kings, who outscored the 76ers 26-17 in the fourth quarter but couldn’t get closer than 11. Spencer Hawes had 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to narrowly miss first career triple double. Kevin Martin scored 16 and Jason Thompson had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Paul, West lead Hornets over Warriors

The AP reports: New Orleans held Golden State to 13 field goals while opening a 20-point first-half lead and then coasted to a 99-89 victory Sunday. “We came out with the right mind-set,” said David West, who scored 23 points. “We were prepared for them defensively and didn’t allow them to get any control of the game.” Chris Paul scored 27 points as the Hornets pulled within 1 1/2 games of the Southwest Division-leading Houston Rockets. They trail the San Antonio Spurs, who lost to the Rockets earlier Sunday, by a game… Stephen Jackson led Golden State with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Kelenna Azubuike added 16 points after missing his first eight shots.

Cavs win 9th straight, beat Nets 96-88

The AP reports: LeBron James had 30 points and 11 rebounds, and the Cavaliers won their ninth straight game, beating the New Jersey Nets 96-88 on Sunday night to tie a franchise record with their 57th victory. Ilgauskas added 18 points as the Cavaliers improved the NBA’s best record to 57-13… Vince Carter had 25 points and nine rebounds, but without injured All-Star point guard Devin Harris the Nets simply lacked the firepower to hang with the NBA’s toughest defensive team. .. James finished two assists shy of a fifth triple-double during the winning streak on a night where he was content to let his big men handle the scoring load early. Anderson Varejao finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, helping Cleveland outrebound New Jersey 46-37.

Rockets stun Spurs to claim division lead

The AP reports: Knocking the Spurs from first place in the Southwest Division for the first time since January, Houston capped a furious fourth-quarter rally when Yao Ming fired a perfect pass to Luis Scola underneath with 11.9 seconds left to stun San Antonio 87-85 on Sunday. Ron Artest scored 24 as Houston won its fourth straight and headed to Utah with a half-game division lead over the Spurs. Not since Christmas have the Rockets enjoyed at least a share of first place… Tim Duncan scored 23 points and Tony Parker had 22 and 12 assists for the Spurs, who had appeared to start pulling away midway through the fourth before the Rockets embarked on a 10-2 run.

Bosh lifts Raptors past struggling Clippers 100-76

The AP reports: The Toronto Raptors gave Chris Bosh an early birthday present: a rousing win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Bosh had 16 points and 13 rebounds, Shawn Marion added 14 points and 13 boards and the Raptors routed the struggling Clippers 100-76 Sunday… Jose Calderon scored 15 points, including a rare dunk, and Joey Graham added 13 for the Raptors, who have won five of six against the Clippers… Zach Randolph scored 20 points and Baron Davis added 12 for the Clippers, who have won just two of their past 12… Randolph shot 10-for-17 while the rest of the Clippers combined to go 19-for-58. Davis shot 3-for-15, rookie guard Eric Gordon was 3-for-10 and Marcus Camby finished 2-for-6.

Durant leads Thunder past Wolves 97-90

The AP reports: Kevin Durant had his best game since returning to the Oklahoma City lineup after missing seven games with a bum ankle. But it wasn’t Durant’s 30 points that caught the eye of his coach. “Like I told him before our last game, ‘Kevin, you can fill up the stat sheet, but you don’t have to worry about your points to help us win,”’ Thunder coach Scott Brooks said after the Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 97-90 on Sunday… Durant had eight rebounds and five assists, and Jeff Green added 17 points for the Thunder, who jumped on the lethargic Timberwolves early to make up for a humiliating, 42-point defeat the last time they visited Minnesota… Craig Smith scored 19 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota and Bobby Brown fueled a late Wolves run with 12 points in the fourth quarter.

Wade, Haslem lead Heat in 101-96 win over Pistons

The AP reports: Dwyane Wade scored 39 points in the first 47 minutes Sunday. In the final minute, he turned into a defensive specialist. Wade blocked two shots in the final 22 seconds and Udonis Haslem scored six points in the last 6.3 as the Miami Heat rallied for a 101-96 victory over the short-handed Detroit Pistons… Detroit was missing three key players—Richard Hamilton (groin), Rasheed Wallace (calf) and Allen Iverson (back)—but took a 96-95 lead on Walter Herrmann’s 3-point shot with 13 seconds left… Stuckey led the Pistons with 24 points, while McDyess had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

LeBron James talks of playing with Dwyane Wade

Sunday evening in New Jersey the Nets are hosting LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Before the game, LeBron spoke with InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner and other reporters.

Dwyane Wade was brought up and it was mentioned (by our main man Ken Berger of CBS) to LeBron that as long as both he and Wade are in the Eastern conference the two can never meet in the Finals.

“I don’t know… it doesn’t matter,” said James. “Whatever happens, we go against each other. Maybe… we’ll play against each other in practice. I don’t know. That’d be fun, wouldn’t it?”

Now, LeBron paused after that “maybe” before the practice statement, as if he was thinking carefully about what he was going to say next, knowing full well media members lik me would relay it back to the entire fan world aned cause about a billion discussions to break out.

After the interview was over, LeBron yelled over to an inquisitive reporter that he did not say that he said he is headed for Miami, but then said that he is not saying Wade is coming to Cleveland.

Then, he left.

Enjoy discussing this, NBA fan world.

More Cavs stuff late tonight here on InsideHoops.com.

John Salmons rocking with Bulls

The Arlington Heights Daily Herald (Mike McGraw) reports (via blog): John Salmons continues to be almost shockingly efficient. In the last four games, he’s averaged 28.0 points and shot 63.1 percent from the field. Some people figured he averaged 18 points in Sacramento only because he got so many opportunities with a horrible team, but he’s been even better with the Bulls. His assist total is minuscule, but I don’t see that as a problem right now. Rose, Gordon and Kirk Hinrich spend so much time handling the ball that when Salmons gets it, it’s usually time to make something happen before the shot clock runs out. The best thing about Salmons is he’s had an almost even mix of outside shots and drives to the basket. He’s got a quick first step and finishes very well near the hoop. Tough to complain about his game. He outscored Bryant and Paul Pierce in games this week.