The AP reports: With orange and blue streamers falling from the rafters and the crowd standing to cheer, it could’ve easily been mistaken for a much more significant victory. For the Oklahoma City Thunder, every win has become something to savor… Kevin Durant had a tiebreaking 3-pointer among his 24 points, rookie Russell Westbrook scored 19 and the Thunder snapped an 11-game home losing streak with a 91-83 win against the Toronto Raptors on Friday night. It was the team’s first win at the Ford Center in 47 days… Bosh led the Raptors with 22 points and 16 rebounds for his 13th double-double, but he didn’t have enough help after Jermaine O’Neal missed the second half with a sore left shoulder. Andrea Bargnani took the place of the injured six-time All-Star, who said he expected to play Saturday night at San Antonio, and finished with 16 points off the bench.
Dec 19: Nets 121, Mavs 97
The AP reports: The New Jersey fans who showed up to thank Jason Kidd at the beginning were thanking Mark Cuban by the end. Cuban signed off on the trade that sent Devin Harris to New Jersey—a deal that looks better for the Nets all the time. Harris dominated his former team with 41 points, helping the Nets ruin Kidd’s return with a 121-97 victory over the Mavericks on Friday night. Harris added a season-high 13 assists in thoroughly outplaying Kidd, who spent 6 1/2 years in New Jersey before the Nets dealt him to Dallas last February for a package highlighted by Harris, who had his second 40-point game during a breakout season… Vince Carter added 34 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Nets, who improved to just 5-8 at home. Yi Jianlian had 16 points and 10 rebounds. The Nets were 14-of-26 from 3-point range, with Harris hitting five and Carter making four… Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points and Jason Terry added 23 for the Mavs.
Dec 19: Hawks 115, Warriors 99
The AP reports: Expectations are changing for the Atlanta Hawks, who won a game by 16 points and then said it wasn’t good enough. Flip Murray scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to help the Hawks beat the Golden State Warriors 115-99 on Friday night. The Warriors fell to 3-13 on the road with their fifth straight loss overall, but they held slim leads at halftime and after three quarters. The Hawks finally pulled away with a 13-2 run early in the fourth quarter… Marvin Williams led Atlanta with 22 points… Missing injured top scorers Corey Maggette and Stephen Jackson, the Warriors were led by Marco Belinelli’s career-high 27 points. Brandan Wright added a career-high 19 points but Jamal Crawford scored only six points on 3-for-15 shooting from the field.
Dec 19: Celtics 126, Bulls 108
The AP reports: The world’s fastest man stopped by the new Boston Garden to see the NBA’s best team streak to its 17th consecutive victory. Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt watched from courtside Friday night as the Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls 126-108 and improved their record to 25-2. Speedy point guard Rajon Rondo dished out 15 of Boston’s 40 assists as the Celtics jumped to an 11-point lead in the first five minutes and nursed it while the starters sat out the fourth quarter… Ray Allen scored 27 points and Kendrick Perkins scored a career-high 25 on 12-for-15 shooting for the Celtics, who could tie the longest winning streak in franchise history with a win on Sunday night against the New York Knicks. The 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers won an NBA-record 33 in a row… Luol Deng scored 19 points with seven rebounds for Chicago, and Andres Nocioni came off the bench after Drew Gooden sprained his right ankle in the first quarter and scored 16.
Dec 19: Bucks 105, Knicks 81
The AP reports: The Milwaukee Bucks have made the most of a rough road schedule — every time they’ve come to New York, they’ve left with a win. Michael Redd scored 21 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to their third win this season over the New York Knicks, 105-81 Friday night… Redd scored 12 points in a decisive 25-7 run that spanned the two halves. Richard Jefferson and Luc Mbah a Moute each had 16 points for the Bucks. Nate Robinson, inserted into the Knicks’ lineup to replace Al Harrington after he got caught in traffic, had 21 points… Harrington arrived midway through the first quarter and finished with 16 points, and David Lee had 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Dec 19: Sixers 109, Wizards 103
The AP reports: The battle of interim coaches went to the Philadelphia 76ers for the second time in less than a week, with Tony DiLeo’s team persevering through the loss of leading scorer Elton Brand to pull out a 109-103 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night. Lou Williams scored 26 points—including 16 straight Philadelphia points during one stretch in the first half—to post his second career-high game in a row. Thaddeus Young, starting in place of Brand in a smaller lineup, and Andre Iguodala added 18 points apiece, and rookie Marreese Speights had a career-high 17 for the 76ers, who improved to 3-0 under DiLeo… Jamison scored 23 points despite playing with a strained left thumb, and Mike James had 16 in his second consecutive Wizards start.
Dec 19: Clippers 117, Pacers 109, 2OT
The AP reports: The Los Angeles Clippers felt it was a matter of time before their talent translated into wins. Zach Randolph had 34 points and 16 rebounds to help the Clippers beat the short-handed Indiana Pacers 117-109 in double overtime on Friday night… Al Thornton scored 25 points, Camby had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Davis had 18 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who got off to a 4-17 start this season. Jarrett Jack scored a season-high 27 points, T.J. Ford scored 17 and Rasho Nesterovic and Roy Hibbert each scored 16 for the Pacers.
Jason Kidd visits the Nets tonight
Tonight in New Jersey the Nets host Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks. It’s Kidd’s first game in New Jersey since the team traded him to the Mavericks.
Kidd will be up against the point guard he was traded for, Devin Harris.
With 12 wins and 12 losses, the Nets are doing better than expected this season. And with averages of 23.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists, the super-quick Harris is turning out to be a better player than many thought.
Harris isn’t a pure point guard, though. He’s a combo guard. Or a scoring point guard. Whatever term you like, that’s him. But his playmaking ability is improving and he’s more comfortable running the show than he was when first coming to the team last year.
Kidd is still a do-it-all, true point guard who this season is averaging just 9.3 points but he continues to fill the rest of the stat-sheet, putting up a fantastic 6.4 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 2.42 steals per game.
Jason is also having his best season ever from three-point range, hitting 40.6% of his threes. His career average is 33.8%. And his best season ever was with Phoenix in 1996-07 when he nailed 40.0% from outside the arc.
Despite Kidd’s success, the Mavericks have 14 wins and 10 losses, and haven’t been as good as hoped. But, it’s still early. The Mavericks are under a new coach, using a new system, and relying on Kidd’s playmaking ability more this year than they did when first acquiring him. While early indications are that Dallas is good, sometimes very good, but not great, I’m going to reserve full judgment until probably early or mid January.
I was going to go cover the Nets-Mavericks game tonight but the massive snowstorm hitting the area right now may prevent me from making it. But if not, I’ll definitely catch it on TV tonight. Seeing Kidd and Harris go at it should be a treat.
–Jeff
Dec 18: Blazers 124, Suns 119
The AP reports: Brandon Roy kept scoring until the Portland Trail Blazers had finally finished off the Phoenix Suns. Roy scored a career-high 52 points, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:01 left, in Portland’s 124-119 comeback victory over Thursday night… Roy was 14-of-27 from the field and 19-of-21 at the line. He topped his career high of 38 set last Friday night in a double-overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, and ended up two points short of the franchise record of 54 set by Damon Stoudamire against New Orleans on Jan. 14, 2005… Blazers guard Steve Blake matched his season high with 22 points and added 10 assists, and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 10 of his 16 points in the first quarter to help Portland improve to 17-10. With the victory, Portland ended an 11-game losing streak to Phoenix dating to March 12, 2006. Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with 23 points, Matt Barnes added 22, Shaquille O’Neal had 19, and Steve Nash finished with 15 points and 11 assists.
Dec 18: Magic 90, Spurs 78
The AP reports: Dwight Howard came back Thursday night to help the Orlando Magic take yet another step in their bid to join the NBA’s elite teams. Howard had 14 points and 13 rebounds after missing two games because of a sore knee, and Jameer Nelson scored 24 points in the Magic’s 90-78 victory over perennial Western Conference contender San Antonio… Rashard Lewis added 15 points, and Hedo Turkoglu had 11. Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 19 points. The Spurs, down by 23 in the third quarter, used a 13-4 run to draw within six in the fourth quarter, but Nelson hit back-to-back baskets to give the Magic a cushion. Nelson scored 21 of his points in the second half… The Spurs shot poorly in the first half. San Antonio made only 28 percent of its shots. Guard Tony Parker made only one of 10 shots, and Duncan was 2-of-7.