Our nightly roundup of all the action in the NBA. Or, what you missed while being scared by the idea of a Hillary Clinton decorating show….
Jazz 140, Raptors 133 (3OT): Utah got its first road win but the Raptors made them really work for it — they needed the second three of Al Jefferson’s career just to get it to the first overtime. This was easily the best game of the night and our own D.J. Foster broke it down.
Suns 110, Nuggets 100: We have a Markieff Morris sighting — he had a great game (13 points and was +24) and made some key plays at the end to help the Suns hang on for a quality win. Brett Pollakoff broke this one down for us.
Celtics 101, Bulls 95: In case you were worried about the Boston offense, they just dropped 101 points and shot 50.6 percent on the Bulls, the second best defense in the league coming into the game (granted, it’s early).
Rondo was on fire — 20 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds and 5 steals — and he had 8 points in the first quarter as Boston put up 33 and held a lead it would never give up. Boston never really pulled away because their bench still is not the spark many expected. Boston led by 13 in the fourth quarter but the Bulls clawed back into this one and got it down to two at 95-93 with: 49 seconds left. But Rondo’s 10th assist set up Bass for a dunk that ended the threat. Luol Deng had 26 points, Joakim Noah 17 points and 11 boards. All five Celtics starters were in double digits.
Thunder 92, Pistons 90: Ever see a team win a game they didn’t deserve to? That’s how Oklahoma City should feel with this win — Detroit got more out of their talent and led most of this game. But a 17-2 fourth quarter run (because they have more talent and because they started switching picks and using their athleticism on defense) gave the Thunder the lead. The Pistons could taste it and made their own push but the Thunder held on and the Pistons are 0-8. Credit Russell Westbrook for the comeback, he had 14 in the fourth quarter (33 for the game). Kevin Durant had 11 in the fourth and 26 for the game.
Bucks 105, Sixers 96: Did anyone else get the feeling Brandon Jennings looked at Jrue Holiday this game and said “he got a contract extension and I didn’t?” then turned it on as he dropped 33 points and 8 assists (with just one turnover) to carry the Bucks to the win? He had 11 of those in the fourth quarter, this was a close game until a 9-0 Bucks run gave them a lead they would not surrender. Holiday had 25 and played well, except for the 8 turnovers, and Jason Richardson was back from his ankle injury and added 20. But this was Jenning’s show.
Heat 113, Rockets 110: It took a 7-0 run at the end for the Heat to come from behind and beat the Rockets. Which is a surprise because when LeBron James is really on his game — 38 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists — the Heat normally steamroll their opponent. And it looked like that early when the Heat jumped out to a 22-5 lead. Chris Bosh had 10 of his 24 in the first quarter as Omer Asik dared him to hit midrange jumpers — Bosh can do that all night long.
But credit the Rockets for putting up a fight. Chandler Parsons had 25, James Harden an efficient 22 and Ask had a career high 19 points plus 14 boards. But they couldn’t hold off the Heat at the end and a LeBron dunk gave the Heat the lead and the win. Jeremy Lin had a good look at a 3 with 9.9 seconds left but air balled it.
Timberwolves 90, Mavericks 82: If you love small ball, this was your game. Especially after the Wolves lost Nikola Pekovic to a sprained his ankle in the third quarter (because Pekovic outrebounded Vince Carter than landed on him). Credit Rick Adelman, who has the Wolves scrapping and playing smart despite the rash of injuries, they are no 5-2 on the season. Dallas just sloppy all night, shot 36.2 percent and have now lost three straight. The Russians came through for Minnesota with Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved each scoring 16.
Hawks 95, Trailblazers 87: It started with an Al Horford dunk, then a little Horford hook shot in the lane — four points that sparked a 10-0 Hawks run to close out the game and pick up the win on the road. Credit the Blazers for getting back into this after falling back by 13 in the game’s opening minutes. Portland was inconsistent but they had their moments in the second half, plus we had a J.J. Hickson sighting (19 points, 18 rebounds). Josh Smith had 19 points and 10 boards for the Hawks.