The AP reports: Brandon Roy scored 19 points in only three quarters against Minnesota, leading Portland to a 102-82 victory over the listless Timberwolves on Friday night… Rudy Fernandez added 18 points for the Blazers, who snapped a five-game road losing streak by sending the sputtering Wolves to their eighth-straight home loss. Travis Outlaw and LaMarcus Aldridge each added 15 points and Sergio Rodriguez had 12 for the Trail Blazers, who built a 19-point lead through three quarters and were never threatened… Mike Miller and Craig Smith each scored 16 points to lead Minnesota, which continues to struggle without Al Jefferson in the lineup.
Category: Games
Basketball games blog
Celtics beat Pacers 104-99 in Marbury debut
The AP reports: Ray Allen added 30 points and Rajon Rondo matched his career high with 17 assists for Boston. Glen “Big Baby” Davis, starting in place of the injured Kevin Garnett, scored 18, and Kendrick Perkins had 11 rebounds. Marbury finished with eight points and two assists in under 13 minutes— just hours after clearing waivers and signing with the Celtics for their push toward the playoffs and a try at back-to-back NBA titles… T.J. Ford scored 23 and Troy Murphy had 20 points and 13 assists for the Pacers, who had won three out of four.
Miller, 76ers hold off frisky Knicks 108-103
The AP reports: Andre Miller had 25 points and six assists to lead Philadelphia, which has won two in a row since ending a four-game losing streak. Andre Iguodala added 15 points for the Sixers and Samuel Dalembert had 14 rebounds… Thaddeus Young scored 23 points, but his block prevented the Knicks from getting within two points for the fourth time in the fourth quarter, a situation the Sixers desperately wanted to avoid in frenzied Madison Square Garden… Al Harrington added 23 points for New York and David Lee had 17 with 11 rebounds for his 22nd straight double-double and NBA-best 47th of the year.
Horford double-double, Hawks beat Heat 91-83
The AP reports: Al Horford had 21 points and a career-high 22 rebounds and Joe Johnson scored 24 points Friday night in helping the Atlanta Hawks to a 91-83 win over the Miami Heat… The Hawks, who had lost three straight and four of five on a recent West Coast trip, also got 14 points from Josh Smith, 13 from Marvin Williams and 12 from Flip Murray. Michael Beasley led Miami with 23 points, 16 in the fourth period, and 21 from Dwyane Wade, who also had 10 assists.
With Obama in front row, Wizards beat Bulls 113-90
The AP reports: Caron Butler implored the officials not to start the game until a certain special spectator reached his front-row seat. And when President Barack Obama finally arrived Friday night, delaying the tipoff by a few minutes, Butler and the rest of the Washington Wizards set out to send a message to the First Fan by beating his Chicago Bulls… But with Antawn Jamison leading the way with 27 points and 11 rebounds, Washington led by as many as 15 in the first quarter and—after the Bulls closed within 49-45 at halftime—by 25 in the fourth period to the delight of most of the 18,114 in attendance… John Salmons scored 25 for the Bulls, who shot under 40 percent and were outrebounded 53-37.
Pistons end 8-game skid, top Magic 93-85
The AP reports: The Detroit Pistons found their answer without The Answer. Richard Hamilton had 31 points and six assists in his return to the starting lineup in place of Allen Iverson, and the Pistons ended their eight-game losing streak with a 93-85 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night… Rodney Stuckey had 22 points and Tayshaun Prince added 17 for the Pistons, who snapped their longest losing streak in 14 seasons. Rasheed Wallace, who was fined $25,000 by the league earlier Friday for his actions after an ejection Wednesday night, finished with six points. Dwight Howard had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and Rafer Alston scored 14 for the Magic, who fell again to a Pistons team that has knocked them out of the playoffs the last two seasons and has won 21 of the past 26 meetings.
Bryant’s Lakers beat Shaq’s Suns 132-106
The AP reports: Without Steve Nash, nobody got the ball inside to Shaquille O’Neal, and that made the Phoenix Suns a pushover. The Los Angeles Lakers scored 70 points in the first half and rolled past the Nash-less Suns 132-106 Thursday night for their sixth consecutive victory. Kobe Bryant had 22 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers, while O’Neal had 12 points while taking just seven shots, and grabbed seven rebounds for the Suns in the former teammates’ first meeting since sharing MVP honors at the All-Star game… Lamar Odom had a team-high 23 points and Pau Gasol added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who own the NBA’s best record at 48-10 and lead the Pacific Division by 15 games over the Suns… Leandro Barbosa scored 18 points and Alando Tucker added 16 starting in place of Nash. Jason Richardson added 13.
Ben Wallace hurt, Rockets beat Cavs 93-74
The AP reports: LeBron James missed shots, complained to the refs and went an entire game without an assist for the first time in his career. The Houston Rockets, meanwhile, showed they just might be contenders in the Western Conference with a 93-74 win over James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night. Yao Ming scored 28 points and Ron Artest added 15 while harassing James on defense most of the night, leading the Rockets to their six consecutive win and ninth straight at home. “It is a big win,” said Yao, who hit 13 of 15 shots, despite Cleveland’s constant double-teams… James scored 21 points, but went 7-for-21 from the field with three turnovers… To make matters worse, forward Ben Wallace broke his right leg in the second quarter and will miss 4-6 weeks, the team said.
InsideHoops.com notes: For the Rockets, Yao had 28 points and 8 rebounds but 0 assists and 5 turnovers. Von Wafer shot 5-of-10, including 4-of-6 three-pointers, for 19 points off the bench. Ron Artest had 15 but needed 15 shots to get it. Luis Scola shot 5-of-7 for 14 points and 9 rebounds. The Cavs, however, only shot 33.8%. They were a force on the offensive boards thanks to Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who had 11 points and 13 rebounds, but shot badly. Mo Williams shot 8-of-18 for 21 points.
Randolph leads Clippers upset of Celtics
The AP reports: Zach Randolph scored 30 points, including the final three of the game, to lead the Clippers past the defending NBA champions—who have run into injury problems of their own. Already missing Kevin Garnett and Brian Scalabrine, the Celtics lost a bit more of their edge when Paul Pierce dislocated his right thumb in the third quarter, and again in the fourth. He finished with 20 points, but went 7-of-19 from the floor and missed a 13-footer that would have given Boston the lead with 20 seconds remaining… Randolph also had 12 rebounds. Davis had 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Los Angeles. Rondo and Ray Allen each scored 17 in the loss.
Wallace and Bobcats beat Kings 98-91
The AP reports: Once a seldom-used Kings reserve, Gerald Wallace returned to Sacramento and enjoyed a starring role. Wallace showed little remorse for the struggling Kings, scoring 27 points to help the Charlotte Bobcats win their first road game in nearly a month, defeating the Sacramento 98-91 Wednesday night… Boris Diaw scored 23 points for Charlotte, which had dropped seven straight road games. Emeka Okafor had 13 points and 11 rebounds, DJ Augustin scored 12 points and Vladimir Radmanovic added 10. Kevin Martin scored 23 points for the disjointed Kings, who added seven new players following last week’s trading deadline. Francisco Garcia had 15 points, newcomer Drew Gooden scored 12 and collected 13 rebounds, and Andres Nocioni added 11 points.