The AP reports: The Knicks held Shaquille O’Neal to just one field goal in the second half after he had 18 points in the first. And the smaller players forced to guard him created mismatches of their own on the offensive end. David Lee led the Knicks with 25 points and 16 rebounds. Tim Thomas, saddled by foul trouble the first three quarters, scored all 10 of his points in the first five minutes of the fourth as New York pulled in front for good… The Suns made it 112-109 on Jason Richardson’s 3-pointer with 11 seconds left, but Al Harrington hit a pair of free throws to clinch the win. Richardson led the Suns with 27 points. Steve Nash had a season-high 19 assists.
Category: Games
Basketball games blog
Bell, Okafor lead Bobcats past Grizzlies 101-86
The AP reports: Raja Bell gave Brown the game he craves Wednesday night, helping the Charlotte Bobcats continue their impressive turnaround from an ugly start in Brown’s first season in charge. Bell scored 25 points, but perhaps more importantly pestered Memphis’ O.J. Mayo all game, limiting him to 13 points in the Bobcats’ 101-86 victory over the Grizzlies… Charlotte has won four of five and 10 of 17 overall, which coincides with the trade with Phoenix that put Bell and Boris Diaw under Brown’s watch… Emeka Okafor had 20 points and 15 rebounds—proving the Bobcats are getting the ball inside. Raymond Felton scored 19 and Gerald Wallace had 13 points, nine rebounds and four steals, helping harass the Grizzlies into 21 turnovers.
Kleiza helps Nuggets push past Kings, 118-99
The AP reports: Linas Kleiza scored 27 points, Chauncey Billups had 22 and the Denver Nuggets used strong second and third quarters to beat the Sacramento Kings 118-99 on Tuesday night. J.R. Smith had 19 points and Nene 13 points and 12 rebounds for Denver, which outscored the Kings 71-44 in the middle frames. Kevin Martin led Sacramento with 25 points and rookie Jason Thompson had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings, who fell behind by 30 in the fourth quarter. The Nuggets trailed by as many as 10 in the second quarter when Kleiza and Smith led the charge back.
Okur and Jazz beat Wolves 112-107
The AP reports: Mehmet Okur scored 22 points and hit consecutive late 3-pointers to boost the Utah Jazz past the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-107 on Tuesday night for their seventh straight home win. Paul Millsap led Utah with 28 points and 15 rebounds and his dunk gave the Jazz a 97-89 lead midway through the fourth quarter… With a chance to claim their first lead, Al Jefferson, who had 25 points and eight rebounds, missed a jump hook and Okur grabbed the rebound. He then made his consecutive 3s and added a free throw. Deron Williams, who had 17 points and 11 assists, drained a jumper to expand the advantage to 106-97. Ryan Gomes and Foye led Minnesota’s rally with late 3-pointers and each finished with 19 points. Sebastian Telfair scored 17, but couldn’t keep the Timberwolves from losing a sixth consecutive game in Salt Lake.
Bibby leads Hawks over Bulls 105-102
The AP reports: Mike Bibby scored nine of his season-high 31 points in the final five minutes, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Chicago Bulls 105-102 Tuesday to complete a three-game season sweep… That’s the sort of night it was for him. On offense and defense, Bibby rarely missed. “He is one of those types of players that when he gets it going, it’s kind of hard to stop him,” said Josh Smith, who had 17 points and 14 rebounds… Bibby hit 12 of 21 shots in all, 5-for-10 from 3-point range, and while he did his part to carry the Hawks, teammates were there to lend a hand… Zaza Pachulia scored a season-high 18 points, and Joe Johnson added 16 for the Hawks, who have struggled this month after enjoying their best December in 21 years… Ben Gordon led Chicago with 21 points, Andres Nocioni added 15, and Deng had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Kirk Hinrich and Rose scored 13 apiece, but 18 turnovers did in the Bulls.
Duncan’s 27 powers Spurs past Pacers
The AP reports: Tim Duncan scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Manu Ginobili scored 26 before San Antonio sat their stars early in a 99-81 over cold-shooting Indiana on Tuesday night… Danny Granger had 17 points for the Pacers, who shot 37 percent from the field and scored their second-fewest points in a game this season. Indiana entered ranked third in the league in scoring. Duncan had 10 rebounds to notch his 27th double-double and didn’t play in the fourth quarter. Neither did Tony Parker, who scored 13 points and had seven assists… Mike Dunleavy had 15 points for the Pacers and T.J. Ford added 10.
Bryant, Gasol lead Lakers past Cavaliers 105-88
The AP reports: Kobe Bryant and LeBron James tussled to a virtual standoff Monday night, but Bryant’s supporting cast was far more effective, and that was the difference as the Lakers beat Cleveland 105-88 to snap a five-game losing streak to the Cavaliers. Bryant had 20 points, six rebounds and 12 assists in 41 minutes despite dislocating the ring finger on his shooting hand less than two minutes into the game… Pau Gasol shot 11-of-13 and led Los Angeles with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Andrew Bynum and Sasha Vujacic scored 14 points each and Derek Fisher added 11 for the Lakers, whose 32-8 record is tops in the Western Conference. James had 23 points and nine rebounds, but shot just 9-of-25. Mo Williams added 16 points, six rebounds and five assists and Sasha Pavlovic scored 12 for the Cavaliers (31-8), who absorbed their most one-sided loss of the season.
Oden comes alive in Blazers’ 102-85 win over Bucks
The AP reports: Greg Oden had just one word to describe how he felt after arguably his best game of the season. “Hungry,” he said, showing off his goofy side Monday night after he scored a career-high 24 points and added 15 rebounds in the Portland Trail Blazers’ 102-85 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks… LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 points and nine rebounds for the Blazers. Richard Jefferson and Charlie Villanueva had 23 points each for the Bucks, who have lost two straight. Villanueva also had 10 rebounds… The Bucks were without top rebounder Andrew Bogut, who missed his third straight game because of back spasms. Bogut is averaging 10.4 rebounds a game.
Celtics blow out Suns
The AP reports: Rajon Rondo had 23 points and seven assists before sitting out the fourth quarter with the rest of the starters, and Boston opened a 30-point lead before coasting to a 104-87 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night. The Celtics have won five straight since a 2-7 slump that was the worst stretch of the new Big Three era. “I don’t think this is a team that will get shaken or rattled when we go through a struggle,” said Paul Pierce, who had 12 points, eight rebounds and eight assists… Pierce scored all of his points by halftime to help Boston take a 64-34 lead. Ray Allen scored 20, and Kevin Garnett had 16 points with eight rebounds… Shaquille O’Neal scored 16 with 11 rebounds for Phoenix, which had won seven of its last 10. Amare Stoudemire, the Suns’ leading scorer this season, had just three points on 0-for-7 shooting.
Iverson scores 27 to lead Detroit over Memphis
The AP reports: Allen Iverson and the Detroit Pistons tightened up on defense to end their losing streak and prolong the agony of the Memphis Grizzlies. Iverson scored 27 points and helped Detroit limit Memphis to just four shots in the final quarter on the way to an 87-79 victory over the Grizzlies on Monday, ending the Pistons’ longest losing streak in five seasons. Rasheed Wallace scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half to help bring Detroit’s five-game skid to an end… O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay led the Grizzlies with 15 points apiece and rookie center Marc Gasol had 12 points and 13 rebounds… The Grizzlies, who lost their sixth straight and for the 14th time in 16 games, missed 10 of their final 12 shots. They didn’t score after Mike Conley’s driving layup with 2:56 left.