January 5, 2013 – Page 2 – NBA Blog

Rondo leads Celtics to chippy 94-75 win vs Pacers

Kevin Garnett went over the fans sitting courtside to save the ball, and then he ran through the seats halfway up the court before he found an opening – over the broadcast table – to get back on the floor.

By the end of the game, he couldn’t get back on the floor at all.

Garnett scored 18 points before he was ejected for a flagrant foul in the fourth quarter, but by then the Boston Celtics were on their way to a 94-75 victory over the Indiana Pacers that snapped a four-game losing streak.

”You could tell we needed this win, and that’s how we came out tonight,” Garnett said after Boston held the Central Division-leading Pacers to a season-low 31.8 percent shooting. ”We needed a win. Tonight was the night to stop the bleeding. I felt like we did that.”

Rajon Rondo added 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds for Boston, which had lost eight of 10 to fall a season-worst three games below .500. Garnett also had seven rebounds and made a nice play to keep a ball from going out of bounds in the second quarter.

After going over the thickly padded courtside seats, Garnett couldn’t find a gap in them to get back on the court. He ran through the fans until he got to midcourt, then jumped onto and over the broadcast table to return to the game.

Things weren’t so comical by the fourth quarter, though. After three Pacers technical fouls, Garnett picked up a Flagrant 2 for hitting Tyler Hansbrough in the face while flailing with his arms…

Hansbrough, who scored 19 points, said his immediate concern was his history of concussions.

— Reported by Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press

Wes Matthews scores 21 to lead Blazers past Grizzlies

The Portland Trail Blazers turned up the defense down the stretch to turn back the Grizzlies.

Wesley Matthews scored 21 points, J.J. Hickson added 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Portland beat Memphis 86-84 on Friday night.

Rudy Gay’s jumper from near the top of the key was off the mark as time expired, allowing the Trail Blazers to escape a closely played game that saw nine ties and 21 lead changes.

”I thought we played very good team defense,” said LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Portland. ”We played their tendencies very well down the stretch. We had talked about it all game, about knowing what guys were going to do, and I thought down the stretch we guarded that.”

Nicolas Batum and Damian Lillard added 11 points apiece for the Trail Blazers, Lillard also handing out eight assists, as Portland won for the ninth time in its last 12 games.

Marreese Speights had a season-high 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Grizzlies in place of Zach Randolph, who missed the game with flu-like symptoms. Gay had 19 points, but was 8 of 21 from the field.

Marc Gasol scored 12 points and had a career-best eight blocks. Darrell Arthur contributed 10 points off the Memphis bench.

— Reported by Clay Bailey of the Associated Press

Nets beat Wizards 115-113 in double overtime

Exactly three hours after the game started, Joe Johnson finally won an exhausting game for the Brooklyn Nets.

Johnson’s 18-footer with 0.7 seconds left in the second overtime lifted the Nets to a 115-113 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

Bradley Beal’s two free throws tied the score at 113 with 9.1 seconds to play before Johnson, who had 18 points, hit the shot that improved Brooklyn to 4-1 under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo…

Brook Lopez had 27 points and 13 rebounds for the Nets, and Deron Williams added 24 points and 10 assists.

Beal had a career-high 24 points. Jordan Crawford scored 23 points and Nene, who fouled out in the first overtime, had 20 for Washington, which lost its fourth in a row and is now 4-27…

The game featured the return of Andray Blatche, who was let go by Washington last summer after seven stormy seasons. The Wizards used the amnesty provision on Blatche, who was banished from the team by Wittman last March for poor conditioning.

Blatche was booed by the crowd when he entered with just under five minutes to play in the first quarter. Moments later, with the crowd still booing, he hit his first shot and then drew laughs when he tripped as he ran down the court. He had 13 points and 12 rebounds…

Brooklyn was without G C.J. Watson (bruised right knee) and F Kris Humphries (sprained left ankle). F/G Jerry Stackhouse returned after missing Wednesday’s game at Oklahoma City with a sore right hamstring.

— Reported by the Associated Press

DeMarcus Cousins drops 31 points, 20 rebounds on the Raptors

Sacramento Kings coach Keith Smart called DeMarcus Cousins ”the guy who makes it all work for us.”

Friday night’s performance was the perfect example of that.

Cousins scored a season-high 31 points and matched his career high with 20 rebounds, John Salmons scored eight of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and the Kings topped the Toronto Raptors 105-96.

”He had the right energy to start the game, he had the right mindset of not trying to score 50 but trying to let his teammates play,” Smart said of Cousins. ”He’s in a good spot as a basketball player right now and he’s only going to get better.”

Salmons said Cousins is helping the Kings win by trusting his teammates and giving up the ball when he gets double-teamed…

Jason Thompson scored 14 points and Isaiah Thomas had 11 as the Kings won their second straight road game. They’d gone 1-13 away from home before winning at Cleveland on Wednesday…

Kyle Lowry scored 24 points and Ed Davis had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors, who came in having won eight of nine and a season-best five straight at home.

”We did not have an answer for DeMarcus Cousins inside,” said Raptors coach Dwane Casey. ”We did not play with any zip. We were flat.”

Alan Anderson scored 20 points, DeMar DeRozan had 14 and Jose Calderon added 13 for the Raptors, who also lost 107-100 at Sacramento on Dec. 5.

— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press

Kyrie Irving scores 33, lifts Cavs over Bobcats

Kyrie Irving feels he’s at his best when the fourth quarter begins.

He certainly was Friday night.

Irving scored 16 of his game-high 33 points in the final period, including a pull-up jumper from the foul line with one second left, to help the Cleveland Cavaliers defeat the Charlotte Bobcats 106-104 and snap a three-game losing streak.

Irving scored 16 of his team’s final 18 points in the fourth quarter.

”I kind of got in a zone and kept it going,” Irving said. ”And they kept feeding me.”

With the game tied and 16 seconds left, everyone in the crowd knew who was going to take the last shot for the Cavaliers.

”Those are the moments I kind of live for,” Irving said.

— Reported by Steve Reed of the Associated Press