Welcome to PBT’s roundup of yesterday’s games in NBA action. Or, what you missed while ringing in the New Year with an 80-pound Moon Pie ...
Heat 112, Magic 110 (OT): Orlando was without Glen Davis and Jameer Nelson in this one due to injury, but Miami played down to the level of its competition just as it has many times this season, and after the first quarter we had a game that was perhaps more competitive than it should have been the rest of the way.
LeBron James finished with what’s becoming a common statistical performance for the league’s best player -- a near triple-double line of 36 points, eight rebounds, and 11 assists. Nikola Vucevic was the likely reason James finished two rebounds shy of the feat, considering the franchise record 29 rebounds he hauled in during Orlando’s loss.
Dwyane Wade’s steal in the waning seconds of overtime sealed it for the Heat, who went on to notch their conference-best 21st win of the regular season.
Bobcats 91, Bulls 81: The streak that had reached 18 consecutive losses is finally over.
Kurt Helin broke this one down for us.
Pacers 88, Grizzlies 83: Memphis led this one by seven after three, but was outscored 28-16 in the final period by a Pacers team that’s now won eight of its last 10 games. Indiana is rolling, and finds itself sitting at fourth place in the East without Danny granger having played a single game for them yet this season.
The Grizzlies, meanwhile, shot just 37.8 percent from the field in this one, and is going to have a tough time winning any game that sees its leading scorer in Rudy Gay knock down just 3 of his 17 shots.
Rockets 123, Hawks 104: James Harden scored 28 points, Omer Asik grabbed 17 rebounds, and Carlos Delfino hit 6-of-8 from three-point distance for Houston off the bench. All that, combined with just nine turnovers spelled doom for the Hawks, facing a Rockets team eager to bounce back after suffering two straight disappointing losses at the hands of the Thunder and the Spurs.
Spurs 104, Nets 73: Even Phil Jackson can’t save a team that only manages to score five points in the third quarter of an NBA contest, which is what happened to the Nets after trailing by just eight at the half in San Antonio.
It was a franchise record for the Spurs for fewest points allowed in a quarter, one in which the Nets shot just 2-of-20 from the field. It was the third-lowest third-quarter scoring output by a team in NBA history, according to ESPN Stats & Info. All of which is to say, the problems in Brooklyn go much deeper than Avery Johnson.
Thunder 114, Suns 96: This game was much closer than the score would indicate, with the Suns being down just two at 87-85 with a little over nine minutes to play. But then the Thunder turned it on, and the result was essentially what you’d expect.
The Suns have competed in plenty of their games this season, including this one. But ultimately, they’re overmatched from a talent and cohesiveness (to use a word that Steve Nash did a lot in his last couple of seasons in Phoenix) standpoint, and the current six-game losing streak is indicative of that.
Michael Beasley, who started the season in Phoenix with hopes that he’d become “the Man” for this team offensively, received a DNP-CD in this one.
Russell Westbrook caught an elbow to the face that caused a cut that required eight stitches to seal, but he returned to action after ward and finished with 24 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists.
