The AP reports: Grant Hill hit a 12-foot jumper in the lane to break a tie with 58.6 seconds remaining, then added a free throw with 6.2 seconds left to help Phoenix extend its season-high winning streak to five games in a 118-115 victory over Denver on Monday night. “That may have been the only jumper I hit,” said Hill, who had a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds, but also committed six turnovers… Carmelo Anthony, who led the Nuggets with 29 points, missed a 3-pointer from the left wing in the final second. Billups had 20 points… Shaquille O’Neal, who played only 24 minutes because of foul trouble, had six of his 19 points in the final 5:04, when he made four of five free throws. Kenyon Martin had 18 points and J.R. Smith 14 for Denver (45-26), who remained tied for the best start in franchise history.
Month: March 2009
Miller helps 76ers rally past Trail Blazers in OT
The AP reports: Andre Miller had 27 points and 10 rebounds and scored the go-ahead basket with 1:56 remaining in overtime as Philadelphia rallied for a 114-108 win over Portland on Monday night… Philadelphia relied on a three-man performance to pull out the win as Miller, Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young combined to score 77 points. Iguodala and Young scored 25 points each. Young made 10 of 15 shots and scored 17 points during the second half and overtime… Philadelphia also shut down Portland’s Brandon Roy. The Sixers held the Blazers’ All-Star guard to 12 points, ending his personal streak of consecutive 20-point or more performances at 12… Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Steve Blake scored 22 points.
Wade gets a record, Heat beat Grizzlies 94-82
The AP reports: Dwyane Wade scored 27 points to top his own Miami single-season record— acknowledging afterward he wasn’t aware he broke that mark—plus added eight assists as the Heat easily beat the Memphis Grizzlies 94-82 on Monday night… Michael Beasley had 17 points and nine rebounds, Udonis Haslem scored 11 points and Jamaal Magloire finished with 10 points and a season-high 12 rebounds for Miami. O.J. Mayo scored 21 for the Grizzlies, who started a four-game road trip by losing for the 17th time in 19 games. Rudy Gay was held to eight for Memphis, matching his third-lowest output this season.
Ray Allen scores 20, Celtics beat Clippers 90-77
The AP reports: Ray Allen scored 20 points and the Boston Celtics, sparked by an alley-oop dunk from Garnett, pulled away for a 90-77 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. Garnett played 18 minutes, hitting all five field-goal attempts while scoring 12 points. He added two rebounds and two assists in his third game back since missing 13 with a sprained right knee… Zach Randolph led the Clippers with 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Baron Davis had 13 points, eight assists and seven boards.
Turkoglu, Magic rally past Knicks, win 106-102
The AP reports: Dwight Howard had 29 points and 14 rebounds, Hedo Turkoglu led a fourth-quarter rally, and the Magic tuned up for a showdown with Boston by beating the New York Knicks 106-102 on Monday night. Turkoglu scored 12 of his 16 points in the final period for the Magic, who lowered their magic number to one to clinch their second straight Southeast Division title… Courtney Lee scored 22 points on some clutch free throws shooting for the Magic, who have won three in a row, the last two coming in a sweep of a home-and-home series with the Knicks. Nate Robinson scored 19 on just 6-of-23 shooting for New York, which dropped its fifth straight in a late-season collapse after entertaining hopes of a playoff spot a week ago.
Gordon 21 in 2nd half, Bulls beat Wizards 101-99
The AP reports: Chicago hung on and beat the Washington Wizards 101-99 Monday night to improve to five games under .500, good enough to hold down the eighth and final playoff spot in the generously spread-out Eastern Conference standings. Despite the close call, the Bulls were perfectly content to win for the fourth time in five games and open up a 1 1/2 -game lead over the ninth-place Charlotte Bobcats… Ben Gordon scored all of his 21 points in the second half—including seven in the final 3 1/2 minutes—for the Bulls, who led 88-77 with 6:09 to play. Antawn Jamison scored the game’s next eight points to put the Wizards back in it, and Nick Young made the score 100-99 with a 3-pointer with 3.6 seconds play… Jamison finished with 34 points and 12 rebounds, and Andray Blatche had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards, who have lost five straight.
Murray scores 30 as Hawks top Timberwolves
The AP reports: Flip Murray scored a season-best 30 points, and Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson each added 20 as the Atlanta Hawks won their season-high eighth straight home game, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 109-97 on Monday night. It was Atlanta’s eighth win in nine games and the Hawks are 28-7 at Philips Arena. It was the fifth straight loss for the Timberwolves… Al Horford added 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Hawks. Bibby, who hit on nine of his first 10 shots, finished nine-of-13. He also had nine assists. Randy Foye led Minnesota with 19 points, while Kevin Love added 17.
Luol Deng slow to heal
The Chicago Sun-Times reports: Following two weeks of rest and low-impact workouts, Luol Deng’s lower right leg is still bothering him and the forward doesn’t appear any closer to returning than two weeks ago when the rest was prescribed. “It’s a stress fracture,” Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. “Until that heals – it takes time – we’ll try to be smart about it.
Raptors recall Nathan Jawai from D-League
The Toronto Raptors announced Monday they have recalled rookie forward-centre Nathan Jawai from the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League. Jawai was assigned to the Raptors’ affiliate in the D-League on February 26.
Jawai appeared in 10 games with the Stampede, starting nine. He averaged 12.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 25.0 minutes. He posted two double-doubles, with personal bests of 21 points at Utah on March 16 and 10 rebounds on two occasions (versus Reno on March 21 and March 16 versus Rio Grande Valley).
Per NBA guidelines, Jawai remained on Toronto’s roster while in the NBDL and was put on the inactive list. At the current time, his status with the Raptors is unchanged.
Jawai, 22, has appeared in five games totaling two points and two rebounds in 18 minutes before his assignment to Idaho. He was cleared December 17 to begin physical activity after being sidelined since training camp for precautionary reasons as a result of an abnormality detected during normal procedural pre-season cardiac screening.
The club acquired the draft rights to Jawai from the Indiana Pacers on July 9. He was the 41st overall selection in the 2008 NBA Draft. He is the first indigenous player from Australia to be drafted by an NBA team.
The Raptors play host to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday at Air Canada Centre. Tip-off is 7 p.m. (The Score/FAN 590).
Rockets sign James White to multi-year deal
Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed guard/forward James White to a multi-year deal. He was signed to an original 10-day contract by the Rockets on Mar. 3 and inked a second 10-day contract on Mar. 13. White joined Houston from the Anaheim Arsenal of the NBA D-League, becoming the 12th Call-Up of the season.
White (6-7, 200, Cincinnati) has appeared in one game with the Rockets since his Call-Up, notching five points (2-2 FG, 1-1 3FG), one assist, one steal and one blocked shot in 3:42 of action vs. Minnesota (3/20/09). He averaged 25.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.18 steals in 34 games (33 starts) for the Arsenal this season. At the time of his Call-Up, White was tied for first in the D-League in points per game and was ranked tied for 12th in the league in field goal percentage. White posted 30 or more points in 12 contests with the Arsenal in 2008-09, including a season-high 47-point performance against Houston’s D-League affiliate Rio Grande Valley Vipers (1/20/09).