The AP reports: Caron Butler scored 15 straight points, including a game-winning 18-footer at the buzzer, as the Wizards edged the Indiana Pacers 119-117 on Sunday night… Danny Granger led Indiana with 29 points, while T.J. Ford added 23 and Troy Murphy had 18 and 10 rebounds… Through the first three quarters, Antawn Jamison kept Washington afloat with a season-high 34 points, but he missed both his shots in the fourth quarter. Fortunately for the Wizards, who recorded just their 11th win against 40 losses, Butler more than made up for him.
Wade’s 22, Chalmers’ double-double lead Heat past Bobcats
The AP reports: Dwyane Wade emerged after the game wearing oversized red boxing gloves and a black robe, barely able to see out of his left eye after getting struck by Juwan Howard… Yes, the Miami Heat star was ailing, but Mario Chalmers and Daequan Cook did enough to put a smile on Wade’s stitched-together face. Fighting off the flu, Wade scored 22 points, Chalmers added 16 with a career-best 13 assists, and Cook’s 16-point effort included two key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Heat beat the Bobcats 96-92 Sunday night… D.J. Augustin scored 27 points for Charlotte, which has lost five straight. Howard added 14 points and one blow that forced Wade into getting six stitches.
Howard’s 30 leads Magic past Nets 101-84
The AP reports: Playing fewer minutes and sitting out key stretches, Dwight Howard had 30 points and 16 rebounds to lift the Orlando Magic to a 101-84 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Sunday night. Howard played a little more than 35 minutes, about seven fewer than he’d been playing over the past few weeks… Mickael Pietrus added 17 points, and Hedo Turkoglu scored 15 for the Magic, who rebounded from an ugly loss to Indiana on Friday and improved to 2-1 since All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson suffered a shoulder injury. Devin Harris had 28 points and 12 assists, and Brook Lopez added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Nets, who had their four-game winning streak snapped a day after beating Denver 114-70 in maybe their most impressive performance of the season.
Lakers stop Cavaliers home winning streak
The AP reports: With Kobe Bryant suffering from the flu, Lamar Odom scored a season-high 28 points—15 in the third quarter— and Paul Gasol scored 18 as the streak-busting Los Angeles Lakers dominated the second half and handed Cleveland its first home loss this season, 101-91 on Sunday to complete a 6-0 road trip… Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 22 to lead Cleveland, which shot just 28 percent (11-of-39) in the second half and didn’t play its customary shutdown defense. Williams, whose All-Star snub had infuriated the Cavs, scored 19 and James finished with 12 assists and eight rebounds. Odom, who added a season-best 17 rebounds, was unstoppable in the third, when the Lakers outscored the Cavaliers 31-16 and turned a 10-point deficit into a 82-77 lead entering the fourth.
Mason’s 3, Ginobili steal help Spurs beat Celtics 105-99
The AP reports: Roger Mason pulled up and leaned into a 3-pointer with 20.4 seconds left to give San Antonio the lead, then hit a pair of free throws after Manu Ginobili hit four as the Spurs pulled away from the Celtics. Tim Duncan scored 23 points with 13 rebounds and Matt Bonner had 23 points—the second-most in his career— including 3-of-6 from 3-point range… Ginobili scored 19 points off the bench, playing more than 31 minutes after sitting out Tuesday’s game against Denver with a bruised hip… Kevin Garnett scored 26 points with 12 rebounds, Paul Pierce had 19 and eight and Rajon Rondo had 16 assists for Boston.
InsideHoops talks with David Lee
New York Knicks power forward David Lee (who plays center on a small team) tends to do all the right things on the court.
He’s also good at saying all the right things in interviews.
Here’s a quick David Lee mini-interview.
Scoring comes easy for Melo
The Boston Globe (Marc Spears) reports: Playing with the likes of Chauncey Billups (acquired from Detroit Nov. 3), a healthy Nene, a healthy Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith, and Linas Kleiza, Carmelo Anthony doesn’t feel the pressure to carry the scoring load anymore. “Scoring will never be an issue as long as I play basketball,” Anthony said. “But it was just like, ‘What else are you going to do? Are you going to come out and average 7-8 rebounds or 3-4 assists? Are you going to make everybody better?’ “And when Chauncey came, it was like we have the type of team where I don’t have to score 25 and 30 points on a night-in and night-out basis. I’m at 20 points, 23 points and I feel better and feel like it’s one of my best seasons so far.”
Celtics set moving picks, says Jackson
Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson is fun sometimes. Here’s an example. The Los Angeles Daily News (Elliot Teaford) reports:
Asked about the difference between having Kobe Bryant guard Boston’s Ray Allen and having him check Cleveland’s LeBron James, Jackson said.”Chasing Ray Allen off multiple picks, especially ones that move as often as Boston’s do, it’s just not feasible to wear him out and get run into by (Kendrick) Perkins and (Kevin) Garnett.”
That’s gold.
Nowitzki’s 44 lead Mavericks to OT win over Bulls
The AP reports: With one teammate out with an injury and another in foul trouble, the Dallas Mavericks needed a special effort from star Dirk Nowitzki. And Nowitzki delivered with 44 points—14 in overtime—to send the Mavericks to a 115-114 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night. Jason Terry, Dallas’ No. 2 scorer at 20.2 points per game, will be out for an extended stretch after sustaining a broken bone in his left hand in the first half. Josh Howard, who spent long stretches on the bench because of fouls, finished with 13 points, almost five below his average… Ben Gordon scored 28 points, Thomas added 23 points and 12 rebounds, and rookie Derrick Rose had 22 points and nine assists for the Bulls. Jose Juan Barea came off the bench to score 20 points for Dallas.
Yao, Alston lead Rockets past Wolves 107-90
The AP reports: The Houston Rockets keep saying they need to play better defense. That’s what it took to turn around their game with Minnesota on Saturday night. Yao Ming scored 30 points, Rafer Alston added 22 and the Rockets rallied from a 15-point deficit in the first half to beat the Timberwolves 107-90. Tracy McGrady added 15 points and Ron Artest 14 for the Rockets, who also overcame Al Jefferson’s 36 points to beat Minnesota for the sixth straight time. Jefferson matched a career high with 22 rebounds, but couldn’t keep the Timberwolves from losing for the fifth time in six games.