March 2013 – Page 27 – NBA Blog

Warriors beat Raptors 125-118 to snap 4-game skid

David Lee had 29 points and 11 rebounds to back Andrew Bogut’s strong return, and the Golden State Warriors snapped a four-game losing streak by outlasting the Toronto Raptors 125-118 on Monday night.

Stephen Curry added 26 points and tied a season high with 12 assists, and Klay Thompson scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter to help the Warriors pull away with a 9-0 run late. Bogut had four points and eight rebounds in a season-high 30 minutes after missing the last six games because of a bad back.

Andrea Bargnani scored 26 points and tied a career high with five 3-pointers, and Amir Johnson added 23 points and 15 rebounds in Toronto’s fifth straight loss. Kyle Lowry finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, and Rudy Gay scored 26 points after missing the Raptors’ loss at Milwaukee on Saturday night with back spasms.

Golden State’s streaky shooting still proved to be too much. The Warriors outshot the Raptors 57 to 44 percent and made 23 of 28 free throws.

After a frustrating 1-4 road trip, Golden State began a stretch of seven straight and 16 of its last 22 at home. The Warriors improved to 19-7 this season at Oracle Arena, where the ever-loyal fan base has sold out 17 straight games and is begging for a playoff berth.

— Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press

With nice bench production, Nuggets beat Hawks 104-88

Denver’s bench is giving the Nuggets’ starting five a push for playing time. At this rate, the reserves might be just as good as the starters.

This time, it was Corey Brewer scoring 22 points and being, as his coach said, ”a pest defensively,” and Wilson Chandler chipping in 13 points in the Nuggets’ 104-88 win over the depleted Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.

Starter Ty Lawson had 18 points and Kenneth Faried had another double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds, but it was Denver’s bench – which outscored Oklahoma City’s reserves by 60 points in their last game – that provided the effort and energy that helped the Nuggets finally shake the Hawks.

Behind their reserves’ 50-point night, the Nuggets won their 11th straight game at the Pepsi Center and matched Miami’s NBA-best 26-3 home record…

With Chandler and Brewer providing the scoring off the bench, JaVale McGee chipped in some more amazing dunks to go with five electrifying blocked shots and Andre Miller dished out nine assists…

Al Horford scored 18 points for Atlanta, and Josh Smith chipped in 15 points, becoming the 24th player in league history to collect 10,000 points, 5,000 rebounds, 2,000 assists and 1,000 blocks. His milestone came on a night when many of his teammates were spectators as the Hawks were without Kyle Korver (toe), Zaza Pachulia (sore right Achilles) and DeShawn Stevenson, who skipped the second game of this back-to-back like he normally does because of balky knees.

Then, Jeff Teague (15 points) sprained his left ankle in the first quarter and Ivan Johnson dislocated his left middle finger in the second quarter. Both returned.

— Reported by Arnie Stapleton of the Associated Press

Ellis, Bucks beat Jazz 109-108 in overtime

After scoring just nine points in regulation, J.J. Redick nearly matched that total in overtime Monday night.

Redick, acquired by the Milwaukee Bucks at last month’s trade deadline, scored his new team’s first eight points in the extra period. He finished with 17 as the Bucks beat the Utah Jazz 109-108.

”I was just taking what was there. I didn’t feel like I was struggling at all (in regulation),” Redick said. ”I got good looks and the ball was in and out a lot of times. I never feel like I’m struggling. I always feel like the next shot is going in.”

Milwaukee coach Jim Boylan said he has extreme confidence in Redick’s ability to make shots.

”The guy is a great shooter. I know he missed a couple but the thing with J.J., when he shoots the ball, you expect it to go in,” Boylan said. ”Whenever I see him raising up for a shot, I feel pretty good.”

Monta Ellis scored 34 points to lead Milwaukee, which won its fourth consecutive game after dropping three in a row following the All-Star break…

Brandon Jennings had 20 points and 17 assists for Milwaukee, while Larry Sanders chipped in with eight points, 16 rebounds and six blocked shots…

Derrick Favors tied a career high with 23 points and added 15 rebounds for Utah, which lost for the fourth time in five games. Paul Millsap had 22 points and 14 rebounds, Alec Burks added 19 points and Enes Kanter had 18 points.

— Reported by Rich Rovito of the Associated Press

Wade, James lead Heat to record 15th straight win

Alonzo Mourning never did it. Shaquille O’Neal didn’t, either. Even Dwyane Wade had never won 15 games in a row as a member of the Miami Heat.

The Heat have had their fair share of stars come through South Beach over the last 25 years, none of them as bright as LeBron James.

Wade had 32 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, James shrugged off a sore left knee to score 20 points and grab 10 rebounds, and the Heat earned their franchise-record 15th straight victory with a 97-81 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night.

”Any time you get an opportunity set a record, it’s great for the organization and the guys involved,” James said. ”But we want to keep going. We want to keep winning each game by itself. We don’t talk about the streak, we just go to the next game and play it out. We look forward to the next one.”

Chris Bosh added 11 points and nine rebounds, and James played 35 minutes despite being listed as a game-time decision with a twisted left knee.

Derrick Williams had 25 points and 10 rebounds and Ricky Rubio had 14 points, eight assists, six steals and five rebounds for the Timberwolves. J.J. Barea had four points on 1-for-11 shooting and was ejected in the fourth quarter after getting a Flagrant-2 foul for a hit on Heat guard Ray Allen.

Minnesota was down six points with eight minutes to play when Barea was ejected. The Heat then went on a 17-5 run to put away the game.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Afflalo leads Magic past Hornets 105-102

Arron Afflalo bolted through a crowd of Hornets defenders as he angled toward the hoop, switching the ball from his left hand to his right to hit a layup Orlando needed to keep another game from slipping away.

Minutes later, he sank an 11-foot turnaround fade in the lane with Eric Gordon’s hand in his face – yet another clutch play that led the Magic to an unlikely comeback on the road.

Afflalo finished with a game-high 26 points, scoring five in the final 38 seconds, and Orlando snapped a three-game skid by erasing a 17-point, second-half deficit en route to a 105-102 victory over New Orleans on Monday night.

”It was great to see the guys feel it and get rewarded for their effort,” Magic coach Jacques Vaughn said. ”We get down 17 and still plug away and play each possession.”

Jameer Nelson, returning from a left knee injury that sidelined him six games, scored 15 points and Tobias Harris also scored 15 for Orlando, which erased a nine-point deficit during the final 3:15.

Afflalo scored 11 of his points in the fourth quarter. His late turnaround over Gordon gave Orlando the lead for good at 101-100 with 38 seconds left.

— Reported by Brett Martel of the Associated Press

Knicks rally without Melo, beat Cavaliers 102-97

Carmelo Anthony tripped, stumbled and fell.

The New York Knicks picked themselves up and won without him.

Amare Stoudemire scored 22 points, J.R. Smith added 18 and the Knicks overcame a 22-point deficit and the loss of Anthony, their All-Star forward who went out with a knee injury in the first half, to beat the Cavaliers 102-97 on Monday night and end a 10-game losing streak in Cleveland.

Steve Novak made three of New York’s seven 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and added 15 points as the Knicks, sparked by their second unit, shook off a tough home loss on Sunday, when they blew a 16-point lead to Miami…

Kyrie Irving scored 22 points in his first game back after missing Cleveland’s past three with a hyperextended right knee. Irving added six assists and five rebounds in 36 minutes…

The Knicks were down by 22 and looking pathetic when Anthony caught a pass from Kidd near midcourt, tripped over his own feet and hit the deck. He stayed on his back for several seconds, got up and without talking to New York’s trainers headed directly to the locker room. Anthony didn’t appear to be injured and seemed to be more embarrassed than anything.

With Anthony out and icing his knee, the Knicks went on a 17-4 run and closed within 61-49 at halftime – not bad, considering how poorly they had played…

Knicks C Marcus Camby played for the first time since Jan. 10. He had been sidelined with plantar fasciitis.

— Reported by Tom Withers of the Associated Press

New Celtics taking advantage of practice time

The Celtics are coming off a stretch of one game in seven days as they fly to Philadelphia this afternoon for a two game road swing against the 76ers tomorrow and Indiana Wednesday.

The time was important as a break for the veterans and as a mini-camp for newcomers Terrence Williams, Jordan Crawford and 10-day signees D.J. White and Shavlik Randolph.

“I mean, this is huge that we had these few days with these guys,” said Paul Pierce.

“As you see right now,” he added, nodding to the practice court where the four were working, “they have a chance to go over plays and get a better understanding of the system. I mean, it’s definitely not the same as being here from Day 1 of training camp, but coming from where they came from a week ago — not doing any practicing, just kind of getting put out there in the mix — anything is good eight now when we can get time in the gym with them.”

— Reported by Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald

Brook Lopez, Andray Blatche may get more minutes together for Nets

Brooklyn Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo intends to tighten his team’s rotation, but wouldn’t divulge exactly how he’s going to do so.

One thing Carlesimo does want to try to do is play centers Brook Lopez and Andray Blatche together more.

“It’s something that I’d like to look at more, but there’s more teaching. … It’ll probably fall on Dray at the 4 spot,” Carlesimo said of Blatche playing power forward alongside Lopez. “The 4 spot is not that different. It’s not different than the 5 spot in a lot of the things we do. In some things we do it is different, like out of bounds [situations].

“There’s going to be situations that are going to come up that are put Dray in a little bit of a box because he’s not used to playing 4 [for Brooklyn]. So we have to spend some time making sure he knows some or most of those [situations]. … It’s something we definitely want to look into.”

— Reported by Mike Mazzeo of ESPN New York

Kobe Bryant discusses eating a proper diet

“Diet is always the hardest thing,” Bryant said. “We’re accustomed to eating what we want to eat whenever we want to eat it. You become comfortable with that. A change in that is a change in your lifestyle. That’s been the most difficult.”

Bryant maintained he never lost focus with his diet, workout regiment or sacrificing time with family for the sake of maximizing his play.

“After so many years, it becomes easy to lose focus,” Bryant said. “Some guys lose focus from game to game. I take it as a challenge to try to be challenged for many many years.”

— Reported by Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Blog)

Roy Hibbert has found his offensive touch lately

Has Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert finally turned the corner or is he just teasing everybody?

If the past six games are any indication, Hibbert has put his poor offensive start to the season behind him.

The fifth-year big man is playing his best offense of the season, averaging 14.5 points on 57 percent shooting in the past six games.

He’s come a long way from when he was shooting less than 40 percent from the field, which is significant considering he’s 7-2 and takes the majority of his shots near the basket.

— Reported by Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star