The AP reports: Josh Howard had 14 points and six rebounds in 22 minutes in his return from an 11-game absence, Dirk Nowitzki had 23 points and 12 boards, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves 108-88 on Tuesday night. Howard has missed a total of 28 games due to various injuries this season, and each time he has returned seemingly without missing a beat… Jason Terry scored 21 points and Jason Kidd had eight points and 13 assists for the Mavericks, who shrugged off a blowout loss at Cleveland on Sunday and moved four games ahead of the Phoenix Suns for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. Kevin Love had 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who played their second straight game without Randy Foye and Craig Smith. It was the rookie’s 25th double-double, which is one more than the former MVP Nowitzki has.
Category: Games
Basketball games blog
76ers overcome Smith, Hawks 98-85
The AP reports: The Philadelphia 76ers proved they could win without Thaddeus Young. They might have to keep proving it over their final nine regular-season games. Andre Iguodala scored 19 points, Andre Miller added 18 points and 10 assists, and the 76ers overcame a season-high 33 points from Josh Smith and the loss of Young in their 98-85 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night. Marreese Speights contributed 16 and Willie Green had 15 for the Sixers (38-35), who climbed within a half-game of the Miami Heat for fifth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race… Flip Murray added 19 and Joe Johnson had 11 for the Hawks (43-32), who haven’t won a road game over a team currently in playoff position since a victory on Feb. 11 at Detroit. Still, Atlanta holds the No. 4 spot in the postseason.
Wallace, Bobcats beat Lakers, again, 94-84
The AP reports: Continuing perhaps the most unlikely dominance of one team over another in the NBA, the Bobcats got 21 points and 13 rebounds from Gerald Wallace and used stifling defense to beat the Lakers 94-84 on Tuesday night and move within one game of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Raymond Felton added 16 points, D.J. Augustin scored 14 and Boris Diaw had 12 assists as the Bobcats frustrated Kobe Bryant and completed a season sweep of the Western Conference leaders, who have lost six of seven to Charlotte over the past four seasons… Bryant scored 25 points, but hit just 11 of 28 shots. Lamar Odom added 20 points as the Lakers slipped to three games behind Cleveland for the NBA’s best record and home-court for a possible finals matchup.
Cavaliers win 13th straight, beat Pistons 79-73
The AP reports: LeBron James made two crucial three-point plays down the stretch and finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds as the Cavaliers won their 13th straight game, 79-73 on Tuesday night over the Detroit Pistons, who gave the NBA’s best team all it could handle… With the win, Cleveland improved to 36-1 at home, won the season series from Detroit for the first time in 11 years, and became just the sixth team in NBA history to win 16 games in one month… Richard Hamilton scored 13 and Allen Iverson 11 for the Pistons, who were held to 35 percent shooting and shot off their mouths afterward… Delonte West scored 12, Anderson Varejao added 11 and several hustle plays, and the Cavaliers held off the Pistons in one of those old-school Eastern Conference street fights.
Big Ford game, Pacers beat Bulls 107-105
The AP reports: T.J. Ford’s shot with 3.9 seconds left gave the Pacers a 107-105 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night to tighten the race for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. All-Star Danny Granger, who scored 31 points, had built a reputation this season for making clutch shots. Despite that, the Pacers knew they were going to their point guard… Ford finished with 22 points and nine assists as a reserve… Troy Murphy had 15 points and 12 rebounds after missing the previous three games with a strained medial collateral ligament in his left knee. Derrick Rose had 24 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, Kirk Hinrich had 20 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, and Tyrus Thomas added 20 points for the Bulls.
Huge Mayo game, Grizzlies beat Warriors 114-109
The AP reports: O.J. Mayo scored 24 points and had a career-high 10 assists, Rudy Gay added 21 points and the Grizzlies rallied from nine points down in the fourth quarter to beat the short-handed Warriors 114-109 on Monday night.. Memphis (19-54) did it behind Mayo, Gay and seldom-used reserve Hamed Haddadi, who came off the bench to score all of his career-high 10 points in the fourth quarter when the Grizzlies overcame a 90-81 deficit to win going away behind a late 25-5 run… Mike Conley added 21 points and six rebounds for the Grizzlies (19-54), who won for just the fourth time in 22 games. Monta Ellis had 29 points for Golden State, which suited up just eight players for the second straight game and lost its fifth in a row.
Williams, Boozer shine, Jazz beat Knicks 112-104
The AP reports: Utah led by 24 early in the fourth quarter, but for the second game in a row watched a big lead slowly erode into a deficit… Deron Williams had 24 points and 13 assists and Carlos Boozer added 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz, who are becoming consistent in some very bad ways… Al Harrington scored 24 to lead the Knicks before getting ejected with two technicals for arguing a foul call with 22 seconds left… David Lee had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Nate Robinson and Jared Jeffries scored 11 each for the Knicks. Paul Millsap had 12 points and seven rebounds and Ronnie Brewer scored 17 for the Jazz, who survived another defensive collapse.
Jefferson has double-double, Bucks rock Nets
The AP reports: Richard Jefferson had 29 points and 10 rebounds against his former teammates and the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a season-high, five-game losing streak with a 107-78 victory over the reeling New Jersey Nets on Monday night. Charlie Villanueva added 20 points for the Bucks, who kept their slim hopes for a playoff berth alive by snapping a seven-game road losing streak and sending the Nets to their fifth straight loss, matching their season high… Chris Douglas-Roberts had 14 points and Brook Lopez added 10 points and 10 rebounds for New Jersey, which suffered its second embarrassing loss in 24 hours. Minnesota snapped a seven-game losing streak by beating the Nets on Sunday… Nets guards Vince Carter and Devin Harris sat most of the second half, combining for 19 points on 6-of-22 shooting.
Howard leads Magic past Heat, spoiling Zo’s night
The AP reports: On the night Miami retired Alonzo Mourning’s number, Orlando’s big man wrecked the party. Dwight Howard scored 22 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, passing Wilt Chamberlain as the youngest NBA player to reach the 5,000-board mark, and the Magic kept their grip on the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference by beating the Heat 101-95 on Monday night. Rashard Lewis scored 21 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:32 remaining for Orlando (55-18), which stayed five games behind Cleveland and percentage points ahead of defending champion Boston in the East race… Dwyane Wade scored 13 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter for the Heat (39-35), whose edge over Philadelphia for the East’s No. 5 seed was trimmed to one game, despite the lift that came from seeing Mourning’s jersey being retired… Backup point guard Luther Head broke his left hand during the game and will miss four to six weeks, meaning there likely will be no way he’s available for Miami’s first-round playoff series.
Hornets hold off Spurs, 90-86
The AP reports: Chris Paul found an unconventional way to deliver a knock-out blow to one of the better defensive teams in the NBA. With New Orleans clinging to an 87-86 lead over San Antonio, Paul split two defenders on the dribble and heaved up a wild, inaccurate shot from behind well behind the 3-point line as he was being fouled by Manu Ginobili. The result was three free throws for Paul, who calmly made them all with 7.1 seconds left, helping the depleted Hornets hold on for a 90-86 victory over the Spurs on Sunday night… Paul finished with 26 points and West scored 23 points to go with 16 rebounds. West made all 11 of his free throws and Paul made all nine of his… Tony Parker led San Antonio with 20 points. Tim Duncan had 19 points and 15 rebounds and Ginobili added 17 points.