The AP reports: New Jersey refused to let its skid continue for one more day. One night after falling 94-91 at San Antonio, Vince Carter scored 23 points and Devin Harris added 17 points and eight assists as the Nets snapped a five-game skid with a 99-88 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night… For Memphis, their woes continued. O.J. Mayo scored 23 points to lead the Grizzlies, playing their second game under interim coach Johnny Davis, who took over when Marc Iavaroni was fired Thursday… Memphis didn’t get a player in double figures until Mayo’s 3-pointer with 7:21 to go in the third period. A short time later, Brook Lopez scored on a dunk, extending the Nets’ lead to double-digits again.
Heat end slide against Magic, 103-97
The AP reports: Mario Chalmers stripped the ball from Nelson with 8 seconds remaining, ensuring that the Miami Heat—after 10 straight losses to their Sunshine State rivals— would beat the Magic 103-97 on Saturday night. The Heat wasted every bit of the 15-point lead they carried into the final period, yet still found a way to beat Orlando for the first time since Feb. 15, 2006… Dwyane Wade scored 27 points, Chalmers added 20 and Udonis Haslem added 12 points—including two huge baskets down the stretch—for Miami, which finished with four turnovers, an all-time franchise low, to deal Orlando its second straight loss… Dwight Howard had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Orlando before getting ejected with 1.1 seconds remaining. Rashard Lewis scored 21, Hedo Turkoglu scored 18 and Nelson added 16 for the Magic, including the 3-pointer that tied it with a shade under 3 minutes remaining.
Brand returns, Iguodala scores 24 as 76ers beat Knicks
The AP reports: Elton Brand eased back into the Philadelphia 76ers’ lineup and the result was familiar: another victory. Andre Iguodala scored 24 points and Andre Miller added 21 as the Sixers welcomed the return of Brand with a 116-110 win—their eighth in nine games— over the New York Knicks on Saturday night. Brand, who missed 16 games after dislocating his right shoulder on Dec. 17, had six points in 13 minutes off the bench. He entered the game for the first time with 1:26 left in the first quarter… Thaddeus Young added 17 points, Willie Green had 14 and Samuel Dalembert had 10 points and 17 rebounds for the Sixers, who moved back to .500 at 21-21. Philadelphia beat New York for the third straight time, and has won 12 of 14 against the Knicks… Nate Robinson scored 26 points, Tim Thomas added 24 and David Lee had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, whose three-game winning streak ended. New York has not had a winning streak longer than three games this season.
Nate Robinson plays COD5 on XBox Live
New York Knicks point guard Nate Robinson apparently enjoys playing the video game Call of Duty 5 on XBox Live.
According to Al Trautwig of the MSG television station, Robinson was playing COD5 against some random other player via the internet, and told the guy who he was.
Naturally, the guy doubted he was playing with a real NBA player.
So, according to Trautwig, Robinson told the guy that to prove it’s really him, he’d do a COD5 salute during his next free throws.
And Saturday evening, as the Knicks were in Philadelphia playing against the 76ers, Robinson did just that, in the second quarter.
Hopefully, that gamer was watching.
James buzzer-beater lifts Cavs over Warriors
The AP reports: LeBron James tossed up a rare airball from the top of the 3-point arc that showed he’s human. Then he quickly returned to his typical self. James stepped back under pressure from Ronny Turiaf and knocked down a 19-footer to barely beat the final buzzer, lifting the Cleveland Cavaliers to a wild 106-105 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday night… James finished with 32 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, three steals and two blocked shots, but also missed three second-half free throws and went 10-for-16 from the line… Stephen Jackson hit a go-ahead 22-foot jumper over James with 6.4 seconds left and finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for Golden State. The Warriors also lost at the buzzer Wednesday night against Oklahoma City. Golden State’s Monta Ellis scored 20 points in his season debut and return from an ankle injury. He did his best to upstage LeBron, but to no avail.
Gordon scores 41 points in Clippers win over Thunder
The AP reports: Eric Gordon scored a career-high 41 points in 43 1/2 minutes on the court, and Al Thornton had a season-high 34 points, leading the Clippers to a 107-104 victory over Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night… Kevin Durant had a career night, too, with 46 points and 15 rebounds. Last season’s rookie of the year made a franchise-record 24 free throws in his 26 attempts, while the Clippers were 20-for-24 from the line… Also missing were the usual suspects, Zach Randolph (left knee), Baron Davis (bruised tailbone) Marcus Camby (left ankle), Chris Kaman (left arch) and Mike Taylor (broken right thumb).
Duncan’s 30 leads Spurs over Nets
The AP reports: The slumping Nets scraped and matched San Antonio nearly shot-for-shot throughout a tense fourth quarter, but Duncan scored six of his 30 points down the stretch and Michael Finley sank a backbreaking 3-pointer with 22.6 seconds left to lift the Spurs to a 94-91 win on Friday night. Duncan also grabbed 15 boards—his 28th double-double this season—in carrying San Antonio to its fourth straight win heading into a three-game road swing out West that will be its toughest so far… Devin Harris scored 27 and Vince Carter had 26 for the Nets, who left the court flustered with how their fifth straight loss ended.
Calderon returns as Raptors beat Bulls
The AP reports: Jose Calderon made it clear just how important he is to the Toronto Raptors in his return from a hamstring injury. Calderon had 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting and added 10 assists to help the Raptors snap a seven-game losing streak with a 114-94 victory over Chicago on Friday night… Andrea Bargnani finished with 22 points, and Bosh had 17 points and six rebounds. Ben Gordon scored 19 points for Chicago. The Bulls have lost four straight.
Wolves rally to beat Hornets
The AP reports: Al Jefferson had 24 points and 14 rebounds and Minnesota controlled the paint in a 116-108 victory over the Hornets… Randy Foye had 24 points and eight assists and Rodney Carney scored 12 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter for Minnesota. The Timberwolves scored 52 points in the paint against the league’s best post defense and held a 42-26 rebounding advantage to improve to 8-2 this month, tied with Orlando for best in the NBA. James Posey had 24 points and tied a career high with seven 3-pointers for New Orleans. Chris Paul added 23 points and 12 assists. New Orleans was able to overcome the absences of Chandler (left ankle) and West (back) down low against New Jersey on Wednesday, but not on this night.
New coach, another loss: Grizz fall 108-88 at NY
The AP reports: The Memphis Grizzlies looked like a team energized by a coaching change a day after their coach was fired. For about five minutes, at least. After that, the Grizzlies and Knicks resumed their streaks in opposite directions: Memphis lost its season-high eighth straight game, while New York matched its best run of the season with its third consecutive victory, a 108-88 win Friday… David Lee had 19 points and 14 rebounds as the Knicks won three in a row for the first time since early November… Rudy Gay led Memphis with 20 points. High-scoring rookie O.J. Mayo was held to 12 points, more than seven below his average, on 4-for-14 shooting.