February 2013 – Page 25 – NBA Blog

Chris Paul scores 25, Clippers beat Knicks 102-88

Chris Paul preserved the big lead that Jamal Crawford helped build, then they both looked elsewhere for the key to this Clippers victory.

”I think the game ball goes to Grant Hill,” Paul said.

Hill led the defensive effort that limited Carmelo Anthony to one basket in the fourth quarter, and Los Angeles pulled away for a 102-88 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday.

Anthony scored 42 points in his fifth 40-point game of the season, but took only two shots in the final period while defended by the 40-year-old Hill, who didn’t even play in the first half but was on the floor for the final 15:21…

Paul scored 25 points in his second game back from injury and Crawford, a former Knicks guard, had 27. Blake Griffin finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who bounced back from a 22-point loss in Miami on Friday to win for just the fourth time in 12 games. They finish off their eight-game Grammys road trip Monday in Philadelphia…

Raymond Felton scored 20 points for the Knicks, who lost for the second time in eight games and wrap up their successful first half Wednesday against Toronto. J.R. Smith was only 1 for 9 from the field, getting badly outplayed by Crawford in a matchup of top NBA reserves…

Paul added seven assists and six rebounds after being held to a season-low three points Friday in Miami. He had missed nine straight and 12 of the previous 14 games with a bruised right kneecap, and an excellent Clippers season hit a rocky patch without him…

The NBA’s three oldest active players were at Madison Square Garden: the Knicks’ Kurt Thomas, who turned 40 in October, Hill (a day younger) and the Knicks’ Jason Kidd (who turns 40 next month).

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Shawn Marion scores 26, Mavericks beat Warriors 116-91

Dallas didn’t have to worry about another close finish against the weary Golden State Warriors.

Shawn Marion scored a season-high 26 points, O.J. Mayo added 19 and the Mavericks handed the Golden State Warriors their fourth straight loss, 116-91 on Saturday night.

Dallas had lost its first two meetings to Golden State by a combined seven points. The Warriors beat the Mavericks 105-101 in overtime on Nov. 19 and edged Dallas 100-97 on Jan. 31. The narrow loss last week was still on Dallas’ mind, especially since coach Rick Carlisle was fined $25,000 for criticizing the late-game officiating.

Darren Collison, who had 18 points and eight assists, keyed a 21-6 first-quarter run. The Mavericks stretched the lead to 27 in the second quarter and were barely threatened after that.

”We were right in the game against Golden State when we played them at their place a week ago,” Collison said. ”I think everybody was upset about that game. We knew had to go at them in the first five minutes.”

Marion went 11 of 16 from the floor and grabbed 11 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki chipped in with 15 points for the Mavericks…

Golden State’s Stephen Curry had 18 points on 8-of-23 shooting and Carl Landry added 13. The Warriors were winless on a four-game road trip that started with a 140-109 loss to Houston on Tuesday night.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Isaiah Thomas scores 25, Kings beat Jazz 120-109

After a prolonged absence, Sacramento Kings fans did a long version of The Wave on Saturday night at Sleep Train Arena.

The Wave was embraced by Kings fans, but the question that lingers is will fans be sadly waving goodbye to the Kings after this season and moaning about their departure to Seattle?

Isaiah Thomas scored 25 points and Marcus Thornton had 24 for the Kings, who played one of their better games in a mostly dreadful season, defeating the Utah Jazz 120-109.

It was a boisterous crowd of 16,193 that was chanting ”Sacramento!” just before tipoff in support of the Kings, who could be sold and move to Seattle next season. The great fan support culminated late in the fourth quarter with The Wave taking more of the center stage than the game. Several Kings players were even doing it on the bench in the fourth quarter, including center DeMarcus Cousins.

”Their energy was crazy, nonstop,” Cousins said. ”I never had a chance to do The Wave so I made sure I included myself in that and it was an incredible experience. Yeah, I got a little fatigued at the end. I didn’t expect it to last that long.”

Sacramento led throughout most of the game and played an aggressive, up-tempo style that had the crowd loudly cheering throughout and displaying signs of support. There were more children at the game than normal, thanks to a grassroots campaign that raised more than $9,000 for kids to attend.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Jose Calderon shines as Pistons beat Bucks 105-100

Hitting a clutch 3-pointer helped Charlie Villanueva forget a critical mistake.

Villanueva big shot with 9.7 seconds left and Rodney Stuckey’s two free throws led the Detroit Pistons past the Milwaukee Bucks 105-100 on Saturday night.

Brandon Jennings, who scored 26 points, took an inbounds pass from Monta Ellis and made a tough fadeaway shot with 47.8 seconds left, but Jose Calderon, who tied his season high with 23 points, came back with a running layup for Detroit that tied it at 100.

After a timeout, the Pistons worked the ball to Villanueva, who got it at the top of the key and swished a 3 with 9.7 seconds left. On the Bucks’ next possession, Jennings fired up a 31-foot 3-point attempt with 3.2 seconds left.

”I was kind of disappointed I made a turnover,” Villanueva said after making a bad pass with less than a minute to play and the game tied at 98. ”I was down on that for a little bit, but I jumped on the next play right away.”

Villanueva said his teammates just made the play happen.

”The guys made the right play. I don’t even know who passed it to me,” he said. ”Once it hit my hand, I wanted to make sure it went in so they could forget about that turnover I did.”

Stuckey’s two free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining were the final margin…

Calderon had 10 assists and three steals in his fourth game since coming to the Pistons in a trade on January 30.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Lavoy Allen grabs 22 rebounds, Sixers beat Bobcats

Lavoy Allen had 14 points and a career-high 22 rebounds, and Jrue Holiday scored 20 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to an 87-76 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday night.

Evan Turner had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Jeremy Pargo scored 12 points in his Sixers debut. Pargo signed a 10-day contract this week after he was waived by Cleveland.

The Sixers improved to 5-2 on their eight-game homestand that ends Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers. The solid showing at home has helped the Sixers inch closer to the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Ramon Sessions scored 20 points, Byron Mullens had 16 and Gerald Henderson 13 as the NBA-worst Bobcats lost their seventh straight.

Wearing No. 0, Pargo was a pleasant surprise in his first game since he was waived at the end of last month. He started 11 of his 25 games played with the Cavaliers and averaged 7.8 points. He even scored a career-high 28 against the Sixers in November.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Nuggets beat Cavs 111-103 for 9th straight win

Danilo Gallinari scored 19 points, Kenneth Faried added 17 and the Denver Nuggets won their ninth straight game with a 111-103 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.

The Nuggets, who have won 15 of 17, are on their longest winning streak since posting 10 straight victories from March 30-April 15, 2005.

Kyrie Irving led Cleveland with 26 points, but was plagued by foul trouble. The All-Star guard picked up his fourth foul with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter and went to the bench with the Nuggets leading 72-61. Irving returned to start the fourth quarter with Denver ahead 84-73. He scored 12 points in the period, but Cleveland’s rally fell short.

The loss ended Cleveland’s three-game winning streak that matched a season high. The Cavaliers haven’t won four games in a row since March 17-24, 2010, which was LeBron James’ final season with the franchise.

Alonzo Gee scored 20 points for Cleveland with 16 coming in the first quarter.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Chris Wilcox stepping up for Celtics off bench

When the season began, Chris Wilcox was an everyday rotation player who entered games as a first-quarter sub for Kevin Garnett.

Injuries, inconsistent play and the emergence of Jared Sullinger (and to a lesser extent, Jason Collins) relocated Wilcox to near end-of-the-bench status even after he was cleared to play following his most recent ailment.

Sullinger’s season-ending back surgery has paved the way for Wilcox to garner more minutes, and the veteran is making the most of the opportunity.

Although the final score in Boston’s 116-95 win over the Los Angeles Lakers was decisively lopsided, Wilcox’s play off the bench was among the subtle but important contributions in the Celtics victory.

— Reported by A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE

Rick Carlisle impressed with Warriors

Just because the Golden State Warriors played and lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, 99-93, on Friday night, Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle doesn’t believe that gives his team a distinct advantage when they face the Warriors tonight at 7:30 at American Airlines Center.

“They’re very, very good and they always bring it,” Carlisle told three reporters after this morning’s shoot around. “The other thing about them statistically, a lot of teams have big dropoffs on (the second game of) back-to-backs.

“These guys actually have better stats in a lot of areas on back-to-backs, which shows what great condition they’re in and how tough-minded they are.”

— Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Blog)

Knicks defense can use improvement

John Wall torched the Knicks on pick-and-roll plays in the Wizards’ win over New York on Wednesday. The Bucks and Magic backcourt scored at will against the Knicks in the first half of recent home games. And Jeff Teague (27 points) and Jrue Holiday (35 points) had big scoring nights against New York, thanks to pick-and-roll success.

“When you’re playing quick point guards like that you have to stick to the game plan and if the game plan doesn’t work, then you have to make adjustments,” Tyson Chandler said last week. “We had problems in accomplishing either.”

The Knicks have relied heavily on switching against the pick-and-roll play, rather than having the player guarding the ball handler fight through the screen. This has led to favorable mismatches for the opponent. It’s also forced the Knicks into defensive rotations that oftentimes have created fissures in coverage.

“We’ve got to stop begging for help,” said Woodson, whose team has another tough test on Sunday against Chris Paul and the Clippers.

— Reported by Ian Begley of ESPN New York

Efficient LeBron playing at highest level yet

He’s made 37 of his last 47 shots over his last 111 minutes, a torrid 79-percent clip. For the season, he’s shooting a career-best 56 percent so far, easily on pace for the sixth straight season of improvement in that department. His 3-point shooting, at 42 percent this season, is much improved. He’s shooting 70 percent inside the paint.

“I want to continue to push the button, continue to get better, maximize my potential and not waste an opportunity,” James said.

The numbers go on and on. He’s averaging 26.9 points this season. According to STATS LLC, only five players in NBA history have averaged that many points while shooting at least 56 percent over a full season. Maybe that’s why Heat guard Dwyane Wade marvels when talking about James these days, saying “every year, it seems like he does the amazing.”

“Numbers don’t lie,” James said.

At least, they don’t in this case. After winning his third MVP award, second Olympic gold medal and first NBA championship, James said he wanted to get even better.

— Reported by the Associated Press