January 11, 2013 – Page 2 – NBA Blog

Blazers come from behind to beat Heat

The upstart Portland Trail Blazers would not allow the Miami Heat to pull out of its funk.

Wesley Matthews hit a 3-pointer to put Portland in front with 26.9 seconds left and the Blazers hung on to beat Miami 92-90 Thursday night for their fourth straight win and ninth straight at the Rose Garden.

The Blazers (20-15) are now 12-3 in their last 15 games.

”Our confidence is extremely high,” Matthews said. ”Playing hard, playing well, we’re having fun out there. So that’s a great combination.”

The Heat, meanwhile, have lost two straight and five of eight, yet the defending NBA champions are still 23-11 and lead the Eastern Conference by a half-game over New York.

LeBron James had 15 points, snapping his 54-game streak with at least 20 points that dated back to last season. It was his lowest point total in the last 76 regular-season and playoff contests. But James did have 10 rebounds and nine assists against Portland…

Batum led the Blazers with 28 points, and Aldridge had 20 points and 15 rebounds. Matthews finished with 18 points.

”It felt great,” Matthews said about his go-ahead 3. ”It looked better.”

Bosh had 29 points for the Eastern Conference-leading Heat, who were coming off an 87-77 loss to the Pacers on Tuesday night. Dwyane Wade had 18 points.

— Reported by Anne M. Peterson of the Associated Press

Mavs snap 4-game skid, beat Kings in OT

An elbow from DeMarcus Cousins helped hand the Dallas Mavericks a win and gave Sacramento fans another stinger.

O.J. Mayo had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Vince Carter scored 23 points off the bench and the Mavericks took advantage of a flagrant foul by Cousins to rally from 17 points down to beat the Kings 117-112 in overtime Thursday night.

With the franchise’s possible sale and relocation to Seattle on the minds of Kings fans, Cousins finished with 29 points and nine rebounds before getting ejected in overtime for elbowing Carter in the face. Officials reviewed the played and upgraded the call from a flagrant 1 to a flagrant 2 foul. It also was Cousins’ sixth personal foul.

”It’s one of those things that you see coming but you can’t move fast enough,” Carter said.

Shawn Marion added 19 points and 10 rebounds to help the Mavericks snap a four-game losing streak. Dallas, which had lost 10 of 11, finished its short road trip 1-2.

Tyreke Evans scored 20 points and Isaiah Thomas had 18 points for the Kings, who dropped their third straight game. Sacramento outshot the Mavericks 49 to 42 percent but finished just 5 for 21 on 3-pointers and committed 20 turnovers. Dallas also outrebounded the Kings 52 to 41…

The game marked the first time the Kings played since the latest – and perhaps most serious – round of relocation talks began a day earlier, when word spread that Seattle investor Chris Hansen has contacted the Maloof family about buying the Kings. No deal has been reached yet.

— Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press

Paul George leads Pacers past short-handed Knicks

First the Heat, now the Knicks.

The Indiana Pacers are proving they can beat up on everyone in the Eastern Conference these days.

Paul George scored seven of his 25 points during a decisive 13-0 fourth-quarter run, leading the Pacers past New York 81-76 on a night the Knicks were without their top scorer, Carmelo Anthony. Indiana has won 12 of 15 and swept the two other Eastern Conference division leaders this week.

”We want to compete for the one and two (seeds) and for sure want to compete for the No. 1 spot,” George said. ”We probably could be pushing one or two if we would have started off playing the way we’re playing right now.”

Clearly, the Knicks (23-12) weren’t the same without their All-Star forward, who was suspended for the game after Monday’s postgame confrontation with Boston’s Kevin Garnett. They finished with a season-low point total, shot just 34.8 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3-point range.

And the Pacers (22-14) took Anthony’s absence by pulling off a rare double – beating defending champion Miami and Atlantic Division-leading New York – in back-to-back games.

It’s about time. The Pacers came into this season with high expectations, but struggled early as they tried to adjust to life without their top scorer, Danny Granger, who still has not played because of a left knee injury…

George started the game by missing his first five shots, but wound up finishing 10 of 24 from the field. He also had 11 rebounds, six steals, five assists and one block on a night point guard George Hill played with bronchitis and All-Star center Roy Hibbert left twice with a bad back…

Ian Mahinmi finished with 13 points and six rebounds, and Lance Stephenson added nine points and seven rebounds.

— Reported by Michael Marot of the Associated Press