Davis, Celtics blow by Grizzlies in second half

The AP reports: With Kevin Garnett playing limited minutes and Paul Pierce scoring limited points, Glen Davis stepped up for the best scoring night of his career. Davis had a career-high 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting, and the Boston Celtics pulled away in the second half for a 105-87 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night… Ray Allen added 20 points and six assists, while Eddie House contributed 15 points as the Celtics won their third straight overall and fifth in a row over the Grizzlies. Garnett, still playing limited minutes in his second game back from a right knee injury, scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds in 17 minutes… Hakim Warrick scored 20 points for Memphis, which dropped its sixth straight at home and fourth in a row overall. Rudy Gay finished with 15 points on just 5-of-15 shooting, while O.J. Mayo and Mike Conley scored 12 apiece.

Jack scores 31, Pacers rout Bobcats 108-83

The AP reports: A night after getting into an on-court argument with T.J. Ford, Jarrett Jack replaced T.J. Ford at point guard and scored 31 points on 13-of-14 shooting, leading the Indiana Pacers to a dominating 108-83 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats to snap a five-game losing streak… Danny Granger added 21 points and Brandon Rush—who started in Jack’s old spot at shooting guard—scored 15 for Indiana, which outscored Charlotte 33-9 in the third quarter in their best performance in weeks… Gerald Wallace, who had scored at least 25 points in the past three games, got into early foul trouble and finished with three points on 1-of-4 shooting. Raja Bell scored seven points on 3-of-9 shooting that included a 10-second sequence where he threw up an airball and was called for a flagrant foul. Felton shot 3-for-13.

Lewis’ 27 points leads Magic over Knicks 110-103

The AP reports: Rashard Lewis scored 27 points, Hedo Turkoglu added 20 and the surging Orlando Magic nearly blew a 15-point lead before holding off the New York Knicks 110-103 on Saturday night. The win kept Orlando (51-18) a game behind Boston—but tied in the loss column—for the Eastern Conference’s second-best record behind Cleveland… Rafer Alston had 17 points, and Dwight Howard battled foul trouble to score 15 for the Magic, who have won nine of their last 11 games. Quentin Richardson scored 33 points, and Nate Robinson added 27 for New York (28-41), which has lost four straight games and was dealt another crushing blow to its already grim playoff hopes.

Cavs win 8th straight, beat Hawks 102-96

The AP reports: LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers rolled to a 24-point lead early in the second period in winning their eighth straight game, 102-96 over the Hawks. “That’s what we wanted to do,” said James, who scored 22 points as the Cavaliers upped their home record to 32-1. “We wanted to first protect home court like we’ve been able to do. We had a lot of energy.” … Mo Williams led the Cavaliers (56-13) with 24 points. He was 8-for-14 from the field, including 3-for-4 on 3-pointers, and made all five of his foul shots… Joe Johnson led Atlanta with 24 points, while Flip Murray added 22. Maurice Evans scored 15. The Hawks have lost three straight road games and are 14-22 away from home.

Sam Mitchell wants to coach

The St. Paul Pioneer Press (Don Seeholzer) reports (via blog: Sam Mitchell says it’s been a long season, but he’s tried to make the best of it. Fired Dec. 4 by the Toronto Raptors after an 8-9 start, the 2006-07 NBA coach of the year is still adjusting to life off the court. “It’s tough,” he said. “It’s the first time in 22 years I’m not working. I’ve always had a job in basketball. It’s a tough experience to go through being fired, but it happens. So you’ve got a choice, to sit around and say how tough it is or to move on with your life and do some positive things.” Mitchell, who played 10 of his 13 NBA seasons for the Timberwolves, said he would like to get back into coaching but that it’s not up to him when he’ll get the opportunity.

Bulls re-sign Linton Johnson to second 10-day contract

The Chicago Bulls announced today they have re-signed forward Linton Johnson III to a second 10-day contract.  Johnson, a 6-8, 205-pound forward, originally signed a 10-day contract with the Bulls on March 10, 2009.

In two appearances with Chicago, Johnson has averaged 1.50 rpg in 7.0 mpg.  In his second tour with the Bulls, the Chicago native is currently in his sixth season out of Tulane.

Celtics reassign J.R. Giddens to D-League

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have reassigned rookie guard J.R. Giddens to their NBA Development League affiliate Utah Flash. This is the third time this season that Giddens has been assigned to Utah.

Giddens has appeared six games this season for the Celtics scoring four points in eight total minutes.  Giddens has averaged 17.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.27 steals and 1.40 blocks per game in 15 games for the Flash this season.

Blake Griffin gets flipped by Ameer Ali

Morgan State basketball player Ameer Ali grabbed Oklahoma star Blake Griffin’s arm, pulled him and completely flipped him onto his back. It was a disgusting, cheap play from a player who scores under 3 points per game and is lucky to even be near a talent like Griffin. Here’s the video:

The Washington Post (Michael Lee) reports: Oklahoma Coach Jeff Capel was a bit fired up after Morgan State’s Ameer Ali flipped Griffin with 7 minutes 41 seconds to play on Thursday. Griffin popped up and refused to retaliate. Ali was ejected. “I couldn’t do it,” Capel said after the game. “When I was his age, no way I was able to handle that. It shows how smart he is. He understands why people are doing these things. I don’t think it was intentional, but it was something bad that happened. “Those kinds of things upset me. I know [Morgan State] coach Todd Bozeman doesn’t teach his kids to do that. I hope it was inadvertent. It upsets me. He gets hit like that all time, and it’s not called. I know he is a difficult guy to officiate. You have to be physical with him because he’s so physical. It’s borderline ridiculous. For me it’s scary and [ticks] me off, to be honest with you.”

Kobe, Gasol help Lakers hold off Warriors, 114-106

The AP reports: After giving up leads of 15 points and 14 points in their previous two games, the Los Angeles Lakers came within a 3-point miss by Kelenna Azubuike of squandering an 18-point advantage to the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers held on for a 114-106 victory Thursday night as Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol each scored 21 points to help complete Los Angeles’ third four-game season sweep of the Warriors in four years… Thursday’s victory was the Lakers’ 31st at home, eclipsing last season’s total, and kept them a full game behind Cleveland for the NBA’s best record and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs with 14 games remaining. Monta Ellis scored 27 points and Azubuike added 25 for the Warriors, who have lost 19 of their last 22 meetings with the Lakers and are 2-18 at Staples Center since the arena opened in 1999.