January 2013 – Page 7 – NBA Blog

Jazz edge Pacers 114-110 in overtime

Al Jefferson scored 25 points and Paul Millsap had 21, leading the Utah Jazz to a 114-110 overtime victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.

Utah scored the first six points in overtime after blowing a 97-89 lead with 2:44 left in regulation. Gordon Hayward coughed up three turnovers to Indiana’s George Hill in the final minute of the fourth.

Paul George scored 24 points, David West added 23 and Hill had 22 for Indiana (26-18), which lost for the third time in four road games. The Pacers outrebounded the Jazz 41-28.

Hayward scored 15 points, but had the ball stolen from him three times on the final three possessions for Utah in regulation…

The Pacers trimmed the lead to three on Roy Hibbert’s basket with 4:22 left. Then Jefferson took over, making a free throw and a pair of baskets to increase Utah’s advantage to eight.

Indiana closed the second quarter with a 9-0 run to take a 48-45 halftime lead. West closed the run with a jumper.

Indiana shot 62.5 percent (20 of 32) from the field in the first half. … Hibbert finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. … Utah went 3 for 10 from 3-point range, compared to 7 for 21 for Indiana.

— Reported by John Coon of the Associated Press

Nic Batum gets triple-double, Blazers edge Clippers 101-100

Nicolas Batum had 20 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 12 assists for his second triple-double in a week and the Portland Trail Blazers handed the Los Angeles Clippers their fourth straight loss with a 101-100 victory on Saturday night.

The Clippers, playing without guard Chis Paul for the third straight game because of a bruised right kneecap, trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half but reclaimed the lead in the fourth quarter.

They held off the Blazers until Wesley Matthews pulled Portland within 100-99 with a layup and free throw.

J.J. Hickson made a pair of foul shots to give the Blazers back the lead with 45 seconds left and Jamal Crawford missed a 19-foot jumper for the Clippers with 0.9 seconds left for the final margin.

Blake Griffin had 24 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Clippers, just shy of his third career triple-double.

The Clippers are 3-3 in the six total games Paul has missed because of his kneecap.

Eric Bledsoe once again started in the All-Star guard’s place…

The Clippers have been without guard Chauncey Billups since Dec. 5 because of tendinitis in his left foot. Billups, Del Negro said, is improving, although there is still no timetable for his return. … DeNegro said he thought Clippers sixth man Jamal Crawford – who played for the Blazers last year – should have made the All-Star team. Crawford is averaging 16.7 points and playing starter’s minutes (29.3 per game) with the Clippers. ”Obviously I’m biased,” Del Negro said. ”Jamal has been fantastic for us.”

— Reported by Anne M. Peterson of the Associated Press

Jrue Holiday scores 35, leads 76ers over Knicks

Jrue Holiday showed a couple of his All-Star teammates he belongs.

Holiday scored a career-high 35 points, Nick Young had 20 and the Philadelphia 76ers cruised to a 97-80 victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday night.

Holiday, who at 22 became the youngest Sixers player selected to an All-Star team this week, shot 16 of 25, and had six assists and five rebounds. He’ll be playing with New York’s Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler on the East squad.

”We played well against a good team,” Holiday said. ”We came off really aggressive offensively and played well defensively.” …

Evan Turner also added 20 points for the Sixers, who led from the start and beat the Knicks for the first time in four tries and second in eight games.

The victory should make coach Doug Collins feel better. He left the bench in the third quarter and was diagnosed with a sinus infection and blocked nasal passage…

Anthony needed 28 shots to get 25 points. He has 28 straight 20-point games, tied with Patrick Ewing for second-longest streak in franchise history. Richie Guerin did it 29 games in a row in 1961-62…

Amare Stoudemire had 20 points for New York. Jason Kidd, Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith combined to go 0 for 17. Kidd had zero assists in 15 minutes…

Sixers guard Jason Richardson (left knee) missed his third straight game. Young started in his place. Spencer Hawes replaced Lavoy Allen in the lineup. … A sellout crowd of 20,540 included plenty of Knicks fans.

— Reported by Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press

Kyrie Irving lifts Cavaliers past Raptors 99-98

Kyrie Irving made a 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left to give the Cleveland Cavaliers a 99-98 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night.

Headed to his first All-Star game, Irving added to his credentials by calmly draining a pull-up jumper from the top of the arc to send the Cavaliers to their third straight win.

Irving finished with 32 points and Marreese Speights had 17 for the Cavs. Tristan Thompson scored 14 and Wayne Ellington had 12.

Toronto had five players score in double figures. Amir Johnson had 18 points and 12 rebounds, Alan Anderson scored 17 and Ed Davis finished with 16…

DeMar DeRozan, whose buzzer-beating jump shot gave Toronto a 97-95 victory at Orlando on Thursday, got off to a strong start, making six of his first seven field-goal attempts and scoring 12 points to help the Raptors to a 25-19 lead after one. But DeRozan had just three points the rest of the way…

Cleveland’s Daniel Gibson left at half with a sore right big toe and did not return. … Toronto’s Landry Fields started despite suffering from flulike symptoms. … Cleveland F Luke Walton did not play because of soreness in his left foot and ankle. … The Raptors wore camouflage uniforms to mark Canadian Forces Appreciation Night. More than 500 Canadian Forces members and their families attended the game.

— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press

Wizards keep improving, beat Bulls 86-73

Emeka Okafor had 15 points and 16 rebounds, helping the surging Washington Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls 86-73 on Saturday night.

John Wall and Nene each scored 16 points for Washington, which has won consecutive games for the second time this season. The Wizards have won five straight at home for the first time in five years, and seven of 10 overall.

It’s a marked improvement from the start of the season, when Washington (11-31) dropped 28 of its first 32 games.

Chicago had won a season-high three in a row for the third time.

Nate Robinson scored 19 points for the Bulls, and Joakim Noah narrowly missed a triple-double with nine points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists, which equaled his career high.

The Wizards outscored Chicago 23-11 in the third quarter to take a 73-55 lead. The 11 points were a season low for the Bulls. Chicago had twice as many turnovers (six) as field goals (three) in the period…

Chicago F Luol Deng missed his fifth straight game with a strained right hamstring.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Lakers beat Jazz 102-84 to snap 4-game skid

Airing things out among themselves had the desired effect for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Metta World Peace hit five 3-pointers on his way to scoring 17 points and the Lakers pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Utah Jazz 102-84 on Friday night, snapping a four-game skid.

Coming off an 0-3 road trip during which players confronted each other last Wednesday in Memphis, the Lakers got balanced scoring and better team defense that helped them beat the Jazz for the first time in three meetings this season.

Kobe Bryant suggested ”our closed-door meeting that everyone seems to know about” had something to do with the victory.

”It’s a relief, especially against a team that’s handled us pretty well,” he said. ”We made shots and that makes the game a lot easier. It’s not about showing we’ve turned the corner. It’s about doing it.”

Derrick Favors led the Jazz with 14 points off the bench. Fellow reserve Gordon Hayward scored 13 and Al Jefferson had 12. Paul Millsap and Randy Foye added 10 points each. Utah had won six of its previous seven.

Dwight Howard had 17 points and 13 rebounds, Steve Nash scored 15 and Pau Gasol added 15 points off the bench for the Lakers. Bryant had 14 points, a season-high 14 assists and nine rebounds in bringing Utah’s four-game winning streak to an end…

The Lakers’ 15-4 run to start the game was helped by World Peace and Nash combining for three 3-pointers. The Jazz quickly closed within two before the Lakers stretched their lead to 26-19.

— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press

Big 3 lead surging Thunder past Kings 105-95

If the Oklahoma City Thunder never play in Sacramento again, they sure left quite a lasting memory.

Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Martin overcame a slow start, and Oklahoma City overwhelmed the Kings 105-95 on Friday night behind its star trio.

Durant had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Martin scored 24 and Westbrook added 18 points and a season-high 14 assists to anchor a 28-10 run to start the third quarter. The spurt helped the Thunder go ahead by 25 points and improve to 3-2 on their season-long six-game road trip, which ends Sunday at the Los Angeles Lakers.

”Maybe one of our better quarters of the year,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said.

With the Kings’ pending purchase agreement to a group that wants to relocate the team to Seattle, there’s no guarantee the Thunder – coincidentally the former SuperSonics, who moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008 – will be back in California’s capital city next season…

Oklahoma City outshot Sacramento 48 to 41 percent, won the rebounding battle 47-39 and dished out 27 assists. The Kings had only one more assist than Westbrook, who had what Brooks called ”one of his best overall games,” especially considering the point guard shot 3 of 16 from the floor in a loss at Golden State on Wednesday night…

Tyreke Evans scored 16 points and DeMarcus Cousins had 14 points and eight rebounds on a difficult shooting night for the Kings, who have lost three straight and four of five. Cousins finished 6 of 16 from the floor and had seven of Sacramento’s 18 turnovers.

— Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press

Hinrich scores 25, Bulls beat Warriors 103-87

Kirk Hinrich insisted his shot has felt good all season.

The Chicago Bulls guard was averaging only 6.5 points per game but broke loose for a season-high 25 in a 103-87 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday night.

Hinrich made six of his seven 3-point attempts for the Bulls in their third straight victory. He was scoreless in his previous game Wednesday against the Pistons after he scored a season-high 22 points Monday against the Lakers.

”The guys set me up with some great plays,” Hinrich said. ”I was hitting shots and they just kept finding me.”

Nate Robinson added 22 points off the bench for Chicago.

All-Star forward David Lee scored 23 points and Stephen Curry added 21 for Golden State, which shot 34.6 percent from the field. The Warriors had their three-game winning streak snapped.

Jimmy Butler had 16 points and a career-high 12 rebounds while starting in place of Bulls All-Star Luol Deng, who missed his fourth consecutive game due to a right hamstring injury…

Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah, the Bulls’ other All-Star selection, also finished with double-doubles. Boozer had 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Noah had 14 points and 16 rebounds.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Grizzlies build early lead and defeat Nets 101-77

The Memphis Grizzlies are adding a better scoring offense to complement one of the league’s best defenses.

Marc Gasol had 20 points and nine rebounds as the Grizzlies built a 30-point lead in the second half en route to a 101-77 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night.

Gasol was 10 of 15 from the field, all of his points coming in the first half, as Memphis, which had seven players in double figures, won for the fourth time in the past five games.

It also marked the second straight game Memphis has topped the century mark after reaching 100 only twice in the 24 games before Wednesday’s 106-93 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

”One thing that we have had all season is our defense,” said Rudy Gay, one of three Grizzlies who finished with 11 points…

Mike Conley made six of seven shots, including 2 of 3 outside the arc, for 14 points, while Zach Randolph had 12 points and matched Gasol’s nine rebounds…

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 18 points, while Deron Williams scored 12, adding six assists before leaving late in the third quarter with a quad contusion…

Joe Johnson and Reggie Evans scored 11 points each, with Evans grabbing 10 rebounds.

— Reported by Clay Bailey of the Associated Press

James Harden scores 30, Rockets beat Hornets 100-82

James Harden committed a season-high eight turnovers against the Hornets. He shrugged that off because he also handed out eight assists, one off his season high, as the Houston Rockets played their best game in almost three weeks.

Harden had 30 points and the Rockets broke out of their worst slump of the season by beating New Orleans 100-82 on Friday night.

”It was about making the easy play,” said Harden, selected to his first All-Star team Thursday. ”Sometimes I tried to do too much, but for the most part our team played great defensively and offensively for four quarters. We needed it a lot just for our confidence.”

The Rockets, who had lost eight of nine and trailed by double digits in 12 straight games, led almost all the way this time. Harden scored 10 points and Patrick Patterson had six during a 16-2 run early in the third quarter as Houston took control, going ahead 64-46…

Jeremy Lin had 13 points and eight assists for Houston, matching his assist total from the previous three games combined.

The Rockets outrebounded the Hornets 44-34 and made 11 of 21 3-pointers after barely hitting more than 30 percent during their skid. Houston limited the Hornets to 38.8 percent shooting, including a dismal 3 of 20 from 3-point range. The Rockets scored 20 fast-break points to nine for New Orleans…

Eric Gordon scored 20 points for New Orleans and Ryan Anderson added 19 off the bench, but point guard Greivis Vasquez had a season-low two points on 1-of-6 shooting and played barely more than 6 minutes in the second half.

— Reported by Guerry Smith of the Associated Press