Celtics win 6th straight, roll past Heat 98-83

The AP reports: Something about playing in Miami brings out the best in Eddie House. The former Heat guard scored 20 points—more than he’d managed in any game this season—in the second quarter, finishing with 25 and the Boston Celtics ran their winning streak to six games by downing the Miami Heat 98-83 on Wednesday night… He was 7-for-11 from 3-point range, Ray Allen was 5-for-6, and the Celtics finished a season-best 15-for-25 from beyond the arc, matching the most 3’s ever allowed by the Heat in their 21 seasons. Allen finished with a game-high 27 points, Kevin Garnett had 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Paul Pierce added 14 points for Boston… Dwyane Wade finished with 25 points, Daequan Cook scored 20 and Michael Beasley added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat.

Robinson scores 20 and Knicks beat Suns 114-109

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.

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.

Andrew Bynum scores 42 points

The Los Angeles Times (Lisa Dillman) reports: One absent Marcus Camby meant two eye-opening words for the Lakers’ Andrew Bynum. Career night. Or if you want to continue the political theme: Running unopposed. Bynum had 42 points and 15 rebounds in the Lakers’ 108-97 victory over the Clippers on Wednesday night at Staples Center in front of a sellout crowd. Bynum’s previous high was 28 points, and he eclipsed that mark early in the third quarter, pounding home a one-handed dunk. Speaking of pounding . . . were those tire tracks on the backs of poor Brian Skinner and DeAndre Jordan of the Clippers? It was the Lakers’ seventh straight victory over the Clippers to put the Lakers (33-8) in a tie with Orlando for the league’s best record. Lakers Coach Phil Jackson was asked if this was a breakthrough for Bynum. “Offensively, yeah,” he said. “But there’s two ends to the game still. Don’t forget that, right? That was his career high too.” He was speaking about the 23 points by Clippers rookie Jordan.

Alonzo Mourning retires

The Palm Beach Post (Chris Perkins) reports: Alonzo Mourning, perhaps the greatest player in Heat history, announced his retirement Thursday afternoon in a news conference at AmericanAirlines Arena. Mourning, 38, is a likely Hall of Fame selection who spent the majority of his career – roughly 11 full years of his 15 seasons – with Miami. The 6-foot-10 center teamed with guard Tim Hardaway and coach Pat Riley to form the basis of Miami’s success of the late 1990s and early this decade. Mourning, who returned to the NBA after undergoing a kidney transplant in 2003, was a key contributor to the Heat’s only championship season in 2006. Mourning, who will be 39 on Feb. 8, sustained a devastating knee injury on Dec. 19, 2007 in Atlanta, tearing his patella tendon and quadriceps muscle in his right leg. “I spent the past year rehabbing and thinking about my basketball future. after 16 years I truly feel it’s best i retire from the game of basketball,” Mourning said Thursday. “If you’ve got something you love and you’re passionate about it’s hard to let that go.”

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Phil Jackson to coach West All-Stars

Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson will coach the Western Conference All-Stars for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game, to be played on Sunday, Feb. 15, at US Airways Center in Phoenix.

With the Lakers’ 108-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers tonight, Jackson and the Lakers (33-8, .805) have at least tied for the best winning percentage in the conference through Feb. 1. In the event that the Spurs and the Lakers have the same winning percentage through Feb. 1, Jackson would earn the spot to coach the West All-Stars since Gregg Popovich has coached an All-Star team most recently (2005). This marks the fourth time Jackson will serve as an All-Star head coach (1992, 1996, 2000).

Head coaches for the East and West All-Star teams are based on teams with the best winning percentage in each conference. Last year’s coaches – Boston’s Doc Rivers and New Orleans’ Byron Scott – are not eligible to coach in the 2009 All-Star Game.

This season marks Jackson’s ninth year at the helm of the Lakers and his 18th season as a head coach. Jackson’s 1,009-426 (.703) record gives him the best winning percentage in NBA history, with his win total ranking him sixth all-time. Jackson became the first coach in NBA history to lead a team to three consecutive championships three different times (Chicago, 1991-93 and 1996-98; Los Angeles, 2000-02), while his 193 postseason wins are the most by any head coach in league history. A member of the Naismith Hall of Fame, Jackson has led the Lakers to three NBA Championships and five Western Conference Championships. The Lakers’ 15-1 (.938) run in the 2001 NBA Playoffs marked the highest winning percentage by any team in a single postseason. From 1996 to 2003, Jackson led his teams (Chicago and Los Angeles) to an NBA-best 25 consecutive postseason series wins. With nine NBA championships over the last 18 years, Jackson is tied with Red Auerbach (Boston) for most NBA Championships in league history.

Hornets sign Anthony Tolliver to 10-day contract

The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have signed free agent Anthony Tolliver from the D-League’s Iowa Energy to a 10-day contract.

Tolliver (6-8, 240) played nine games in the D-League with the Energy and Austin Toros, averaging 15.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 37.1 minutes. He appeared in 19 games for the San Antonio Spurs this season where he averaged 2.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10.9 minutes. He was cut by the Spurs on Jan. 7.

Tolliver appeared in 25 games with the Energy during the 2007-08 season, averaging 11.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in 27.4 minutes. He spent the 2007 preseason with the Cleveland Cavaliers appearing in three games with averages of 2.0 points in 6.7 minutes.

Tolliver is a native of Springfield, Mo., and was undrafted by an NBA franchise in the 2007 NBA Draft out of Creighton University.

John Paxson thinks he stinks

With 18 wins and 25 losses the Chicago Bulls sit in 10th place in the Eastern conference. They’re probably a bit better than their record indicates, but not by much.

The man who put the roster together is former NBA player John Paxson. He was a good outside shooter. But when asked about the team’s lack of success, he’s firing at himself.

The Chicago Sun-Times (Brian Hanley) reports:

Bulls general manager John Paxson is not happy. Not with his team. Not with himself. “The only person I’ll evaluate right now is myself, and I obviously haven’t done the job of putting the type of team that I want to have on the floor in terms of competitiveness and effort,’’ Paxson said Wednesday when asked about the job coach Vinny Del Negro and his staff have done. The Bulls are 18-25. “That falls on me. That’s the only person I’m going to critique. That’s the way it is.’’ … “We’re not very good right now,’’ Paxson said. “We’re not playing well enough to win those [close] games. I’m obviously not happy with how we’re playing. I don’t think my expectations were such going into the season thinking we were going to be a top, top level team. But what I want to see is the team play together. And right now, through 40-plus games, we’re not that. And that concerns me.”

A bright spot has been the play of Bulls rookie point guard Derrick Rose, who is a top favorite for the NBA Rookie of the Year award.