A Morning Run Around The NBA
PHI vs. NO: Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets will be out four to six weeks due to arthroscopic knee surgery. Paul will miss the 2010 All-Star game being held in Dallas February 14th and will start rehabilitation as soon as possible. The Hornets are currently in 11th place in the Western Conference and struggling without Paul in the lineup. A 101-94 loss to the Iverson-less 76ers doesn’t help matters. Philly had six in double figures while Stojakovic couldn’t carry the Hornets with a team high 23 points.
DET vs. IND: The Indiana Pacers shot 53% from the field while beating the Detroit Pistons 107-83 Friday night. Ben Gordon led the Pistons with 26 points while the team only shot 39.5% from the field. Danny Granger led the Pacers with 25 points. Detroit is 16-32 on the year while being 3-7 in their last ten and fighting for their spot at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The Pacers are putting up the points as of late. They just need to start coming out on top at the end of the game.
WAS vs. ORL: The Washington Wizards came out on top 92-91 against the Orland Magic Friday night. Despite Dwight Howard having a game-high 18 rebounds, the Wizards out rebounded the Magic 52-39 while Caron Butler shot 50% from the field and perfect from the line with 31 points. Butler’s shot with 0.5 seconds left on the clock sealed Washington’s come from behind win while at one point being down by 21. Randy Foye added 22 points for the Wizards while Dwight Howard and Vince Carter added 20 and 21 for the Magic.
NJ vs. BOS: New Jersey and Boston both had five players in double digits Friday night while Ray Allen lead all scorers with 26. The Nets kept it close most of the game, putting pressure on the Celtics to keep them from winning their 5th game of the season. The Celtics came on in the second half while the Nets fell apart and Boston took the game 96-87. The Celtics had 26 assists compared to 15 by the Nets who lead the category with the lowest amount of assists per game. Boston has now won three straight while moving into second place in the Eastern Conference with a 32-16 record. Paul Pierce missed the game with a strained foot and is still day-to-day.
MIL vs. NY: The Milwaukee Bucks beat the New York Knicks Friday night 114-107 while outscoring the Knicks by 14 in the third quarter 36-22. David Lee continued his great play for the Knicks scoring 32 and rebounding 15. Both were game-highs. Ersan Ilyasova led the Bucks with 25 points while rookie Brandon Jennings added 22. Jennings scored 19 in the second half. The Knicks had the chance to draft Jennings in last year’s draft, but passed allowing him to drop to the 10th spot and go to the Milwaukee Bucks.
CHI vs. ATL: The Atlanta Hawks beat the Chicago Bulls Friday night 91-81 topped off with Josh Smith achieving his second career triple-double scoring 18, rebounding 14 and finishing it off with 10 assists. Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford added 18 and 17 points while Luol Deng and Derrick Rose led the Bulls with 20 and 19 respectively. The Bulls signed forward Chis Richard to a 10-day contract while American Idol newcomer “General” Larry Platt performed his “Pants on the Ground” song during a timeout.
HOU vs. MEM: The Houston Rockets topped the Memphis Grizzlies 101-83 Friday night. The Rockets outscored the Grizzlies by 18 while outrebounding Memphis by 15. Aaron Brooks led the Rockets with 19 points while Trevor Ariza and Carl Landry both put up 17. Marc Gasol led the Grizzlies with 17 with OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay both putting up 11 while the team shot an abysmal 17% from the 3-point line. Memphis takes their 8-16 road record and head to Minnesota Saturday night to take on the Timberwolves who just came off a big win.
MIN vs. DAL: Mavericks fans are still scratching their heads on this one. The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Dallas Mavericks Friday night 117-108 ending a 13-game losing streak. Dirk Nowitzki came off the bench in the game due to being tardy to a pregame shootaround and still had a game-high 21 points. Johnny Flynn led the Wolves with 19 points. Both teams had six players in double figures, but the Timberwolves outshot the Mavericks at all the lines shooting 53% from the field, 54.5% from the 3-point line and 85% from the free-throw line. Dallas only shot 43% from the field for the game. Dampier returned to the lineup Friday night after missing the game Wednesday night due to a knee injury.
PHO vs. SAC: This one was never really a game from the start. The Phoenix Suns beat the Sacramento Kings 114-102 Friday night in a game that was never close with the Suns going in at halftime with a 15 point lead. Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with 30 points and 9 rebounds with Steve Nash following closely with 23 points, 10 assist and 8 rebounds in 32 minutes of play. Six Suns were in double figures. Kings forward Donte Green led all scorers with 31 with three other Kings scoring in double figures. A struggling Kevin Martin scored 5 points shooting 2-9 from the field. Jason Thompson is expected to return to the lineup on Sunday when Sacramento faces the Toronto Raptors. Phoenix next matchup is next Wednesday vs. the Portland Trailblazers.
DEN vs. LAL: Chauncey Billups scored a career high 39 points Friday night helping the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 126-113. An injured Carmelo Anthony watched on while J.R. Smith dropped 27 along with Billups nine 3-pointers to beat the Lakers six players in double figures. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 33 points while the team shot 45% from the field and just 31% from the 3-point line. While that might be good on some nights, the Nuggets were making shot after shot Friday night shooting 57% from the field and a ludacris 68% from the 3-point line. Chris Andersen led the Nuggets with 15 rebounds while Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 17. Derek Fisher finished his 24 minutes with four points and none assists. The Lakers travel to Portland for their next game where they have lost eight straight.
