NBA Teams – Page 1303 – NBA Blog

Mavs beat Bucks 115-108 for 4th straight win

Vince Carter may not be able to throw down big dunks like he used to, though he can still knock down big shots.

Carter hit three key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and scored 23 points off the bench as the Dallas Mavericks won their fourth straight with a 115-108 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.

”I felt in the groove,” Carter said. ”The basket just seemed extremely big, and I felt comfortable with my shot. I was just in the flow of the game. A couple of shots, once I let them go, I happened to look down and see the 3-point line was up there. Oops. I know if I don’t make them, Coach is going to yell. But I was just prepared. I had my feet set, in rhythm, just in attack mode.” …

The Mavericks, who are three games out of the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoff race, know now is the time to get going if they are to make the postseason for the 13th consecutive time…

Dirk Nowitzki added 19 points, 17 in the first half, and 11 rebounds, while O.J. Mayo had 14 points. Mavericks rookie and former Marquette star Jae Crowder, last year’s Big East player of the year, was one off his career high with 14 points.

Monta Ellis scored 32 points for the Bucks, giving him 20 or more in all six of Milwaukee’s games this month. Ellis has been putting up big numbers since the All-Star break, averaging 23.7 points.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Ricky Rubio gets first career triple-double in Timberwolves win over Spurs

There hasn’t been much to cheer about at Target Center while the Minnesota Timberwolves endure another long, painful march toward another draft lottery.

Wolves fans do have Ricky Rubio, though. And that was enough on Tuesday night.

Rubio had his first career triple-double with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, leading the Timberwolves to a 107-83 victory over the San Antonio Spurs…

Rubio made 9 of 17 shots and grabbed his 10th board with 9:14 to play in the game, earning a standing ovation from the long-suffering Wolves fans. Alexey Shved broke out of a big slump to score 16 points and Barea had 17 for the Wolves, who hit 12 3-pointers…

Stephen Jackson had 14 points and Danny Green 10 for the Spurs, who left Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard at home to rest after they throttled Oklahoma City on Monday night. San Antonio turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 30 points for Minnesota, and shot just 35.4 percent…

”We’ve got to get things together and go back to who we were,” said Manu Ginobili, who had seven points on 2-for-10 shooting. ”Because it’s happening too often now.” …

Duncan and Leonard stayed back in San Antonio for the second half of a back-to-back with what the team called sore left knees. But coach Gregg Popovich has been known to rest players, especially older veterans like Duncan on back-to-backs. Point guard Tony Parker is also out for another few weeks with a sprained left ankle, so the Spurs started Jackson, Matt Bonner and Cory Joseph in their places.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

RELATED: Watch video of Rubio’s triple-double.

Brook Lopez scores 26, Nets beat Hornets

Having Brook Lopez and Andray Blatche on the floor at the same time worked in a big way for the Nets.

Brooklyn’s big men combined for 44 points in a 108-98 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday night.

Lopez led all scorers with 26 points and enjoyed sharing the floor with Blatche, who scored 12 of his 18 points in the second quarter.

”He has such a high basketball IQ,” said Lopez, ”and he plays so well with everyone on the floor, which makes everyone’s job a lot easier.”

Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said the Lopez-Blatche tandem works well with specific match-ups, and considering Brooklyn needed an offensive jolt after Monday’s dismal loss to lowly Philadelphia, the plan worked.

”Andray makes the game easier for me,” said Lopez, who went on a 10-point scoring run himself in the third quarter to preserve a dwindling lead. ”You see Andray playing out there like that, I want him to play the entire game then. The great thing about our bigs, there are a lot of good players there who can do different things, so we can have a lot of combinations.”

Lopez had a monstrous dunk over his twin brother, Robin, with 3:49 left in the third quarter. It’s something the Lopez family will be talking about for years. Robin finished with 15 points and eight rebounds…

Deron Williams had 21 points and 13 assists, continuing his strong play since the All-Star break.

— Reported by Chris R. Vaccaro of the Associated Press

Heat winning streak is now 19 straight games after beating Hawks

Standing at his locker after yet another victory, LeBron James finally acknowledged the obvious.

This winning streak is something for the Miami Heat to savor.

Dwyane Wade scored 23 points and on a night where the stat sheet would suggest a struggle, the Heat rolled once again, extending their winning streak to 19 games and leading wire-to-wire in beating the Atlanta Hawks 98-81 on Tuesday.

”Let’s be honest, guys,” James said. ”We’re not sitting here and saying this is not something special. This is an unbelievable streak that we’re on. We’re playing great basketball. We’re winning in different phases of the game, we’re playing different styles, we’ve won every game, on the road, at home, double-overtime games, end-of-regulation games, whatever the case may be.”

James scored 15 points and Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers added 14 apiece for the Heat, who matched the fifth-longest streak in NBA history. They will try for their 20th straight win on Wednesday at Philadelphia, the start of a five-game trip.

Only three teams have won at least 20 consecutive games in the same season: the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33), the 2007-08 Houston Rockets (22) and the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (20). The Washington Capitols also won 20 straight, spanning the end of the 1947-48 season and the start of the 1948-49 campaign.

”Ten is enough for me,” Bosh said. ”Twenty’s cool. I’d take it.”

Josh Smith scored 15 for the Hawks, who got 12 apiece from Al Horford and Jeff Teague.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Gerald Henderson scores 35, Bobcats beat Celtics

Paul Pierce rested while Gerald Henderson went to work.

Henderson scored a career-high 35 points and Charlotte Bobcats snapped a 10-game losing streak by pounding the lackluster Boston Celtics 100-74 on Tuesday night.

It was Charlotte’s biggest margin of victory since beating the Miami Heat 104-65 on Jan. 20, 2010.

”I was just trying to be aggressive from the start and just attack,” said Henderson, who was 11 of 19 from the field and knocked down all 12 of his foul shots.

Ben Gordon scored 17 points and new starting forward Josh McRoberts had his first double-double for Charlotte with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

When asked if the Bobcats took Doc Rivers’ decision to rest Pierce as a slap in the face, Gordon simply shrugged his shoulders…

Kevin Garnett needed nine points to pass Jerry West and move into 15th place on the NBA’s career scoring list, but was held to just five on 2-of-10 shooting. Jeff Green and Jordan Crawford each had 14 points for the Celtics, who were outrebounded 48-29 by a Bobcats team not known for its prowess on the glass…

The Celtics probably should have been expecting more of a game from the Bobcats after losing in Charlotte earlier in the season. But Rivers decided to sit the 35-year-old Pierce with Boston in the midst of a difficult part of the schedule.

— Reported by Steve Reed of the Associated Press

Lakers center Dwight Howard scores 39 in Orlando

Dwight Howard scored a season-high 39 points, had 16 rebounds and was sent to the free throw line 39 times by his former team as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Orlando Magic, 106-97 on Tuesday night.

The victory came in Howard’s first return to Orlando since his drama-filled offseason trade to the Lakers. He endured a chorus of boos throughout, and tied his own NBA record for free throw attempts.

The majority of them came as the Magic tried to employ an intentional foul strategy. It backfired, though, as the All-Star center hit on 16 of 20 attempts in the second half.

The victory was the Lakers’ fourth straight.

Jameer Nelson led Orlando with 21 points. The Magic have lost three of their last four and haven’t won back-to-back games since December.

After a week of back-and-forth in the media following some perceived negative comments made about his former team during a television interview, Howard and Nelson spoke briefly just after the final buzzer and shook hands.

It was a light moment in what was mostly a hostile atmosphere.

Homemade signs jeering Howard with sentiments that said everything from ”Coward” to ”Kobe’s Kid” were sprinkled throughout the Amway Center stands.

Boos rained down on the All-Star center almost every time he touched the basketball. They were followed by louder cheers when he missed a free throw.

— Reported by Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press

Danny Granger to miss at least three more games

Indiana Pacers swingman Danny Granger will miss at least three more games, according to coach Frank Vogel.

Pacers coach Frank Vogel said Tuesday after practice that Granger, out but all of five games this season, will have his left knee re-evaluated at the end of this week.

“Even if he’s cleared at the end of this week, that’s not going to be him back in game action right away,” Vogel said. “That’s him resuming activity.”

— Reported by Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star

Chase Budinger cleared to practice for Wolves

The Timberwolves received some good news in this injury-plagued season when forward Chase Budinger, out since Nov. 10 with a knee injury, was cleared Tuesday, March 12, to practice with the team.

Budinger spoke by phone Tuesday morning with Florida-based orthopedist James Andrews, who performed the Nov. 13 surgery to repair a torn lateral meniscus ligament in Budinger’s left knee.

“The doctor said I can go into the next phase, which is a lot of contact work,” Budinger said after the Wolves’ shootaround. “What I can do is start playing one on one with the coaches and do some two-on-two stuff. Hopefully, (Wolves forward) Kevin (Love) will get cleared and we can start working out together and do some two-on-two stuff.”

— Reported by Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press

Still no return date for Derrick Rose

Speaking on the 10-month anniversary of surgery to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, Derrick Rose said Tuesday he still isn’t sure if he will play this season but has suffered no setbacks during his rehabilitation.

“I’m waiting to that day where I feel normal,” Rose said before a practice at UCLA. “Until then, I will just wait. I haven’t had any pressure from the organization. No one has to push me to go out there to play.

“My teammates have been doing great, playing hard for me. They’re out there fighting so that’s a good sign. And we’re winning games. So I’m not worried about anything right now.”

Rose said he can do everything physically, downplayed the hubbub over recent comments about his hamstring pain and said the main hurdle he has to clear is the mental one.

“I can do everything,” Rose said. “It’s just me having the confidence to do it and me feeling normal.”

— Reported by K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune

Brandon Knight does not regret trying to defend DeAndre Jordan

If given the benefit of hindsight and knowing the reaction that would come from the outside world, most would take a step back as DeAndre Jordan launched his 7-foot frame near the rim for a thunderous dunk, especially if you’re eight inches shorter.

But Brandon Knight? Nah. He’d go after Jordan again because in his mind and heart it was the right play.

He took things personally. Not the reaction from the public, which used Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to make fun of Knight becoming a poster, but of the Los Angeles Clippers clowning the Pistons on Sunday night without much resistance.

“When I step on the court, I don’t take people dunking six, seven or eight times and not attempting to stop it. It’s personal to me,” said Knight with crutches under his arms after sustaining a “severe” ankle injury in the first quarter of Monday’s 103-90 loss to the Utah Jazz.

— Reported by Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News