Welcome to PBT’s roundup of yesterday’s NBA games. Or, what you missed while being jealous of the guy with the best job in journalism….
Heat 108, Magic 94: This felt like a lot of the Heat’s recent wins — start slow, crank up defensive pressure, follow LeBron James to a win. That formula worked again against Orlando (but may not against Chicago, New Orleans or San Antonio later this week). We’ve got the details on this game for you, if you like reading about patterns.
Hornets 110, Nuggets 86: It was just an off night for the Nuggets. No energy, not great defense, shots were not falling (Denver shot just 42 percent in the paint) and they didn’t have Ty Lawson healthy to lift them out of the rut. Credit New Orleans for playing their game — they controlled the boards, the tempo and knocked down threes. We broke this game down in more detail as well.
Wizards 107, Grizzlies 94: John Wall went off for a career-high 47 points to go with eight assists and seven rebounds. Washington hasn’t always backed up its franchise player’s better games – the Wizards were 0-3 in Wall’s three highest scoring games before Tuesday – but Emeka Okafor (21 points and nine rebounds) and crew came through to help beat a quality team.
The Grizzlies, 3-4 in their last seven games, have returned to earth after winning 14 of 15. (Remember when a run like that seemed like a big deal?) But there’s little shame in losing to the Wizards, who’ve beaten five of the six teams – Heat, Thunder, Clippers and Nuggets – with a better record than Memphis.
—Dan Feldman
Warriors 109, Lakers 103: This game was nowhere near as close as the score would indicate. Golden State pounced on a Lakers team that seemed multiple steps slow all night long, and had them doubled up at 28-14 in the game’s first 11 minutes. The Warriors used hot shooting and exploited a lack of team defense from L.A. to score seemingly at will for most of the contest.
The lead was 23 by halftime, and reached 25 in the third quarter before a late fourth quarter Lakers rally fell short. L.A. never threatened despite the reasonable final margin.
There were too many shots from Kobe Bryant, who finished with 36 points on 11-27 shooting (and 2-10 from three-point distance). Pau Gasol was ineffective in just 23 minutes of action with seven points and eight rebounds, and Metta World Peace sat out the second half with a strained left knee.
That’s three straight losses for the Lakers, who remain a game ahead of the Utah Jazz for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. The Mavericks are just a game and a half back, and have been playing much better as of late, so the playoff position that the Lakers first found themselves in a couple of weeks back is anything but guaranteed at this point.
—Brett Pollakoff
Pacers 100, Hawks 94: No five-man lineup has outscored opponents by more this season than Indiana’s George Hill, Lance Stephenson, Paul George, David West and Roy Hibbert. But the Pacers were out of luck, out of luck, out of luck with Hill (groin), Stephenson (hip) and West (back) injured. Indiana had been outscored by 44 points without any of those three in 555 minutes entering Tuesday.
Somehow, a lineup of D.J. Augustin, Orlando Johnson, Sam Young, Jeff Pendergraph and Hibbert – the Pacers’ version of March madness – outscored the Hawks 16-5 during a six-minute stretch of the second quarter, and Indiana never trailed again.
Led by Josh Smith (20 points, four assists, four steals and two blocks), the Hawks cut the Pacers’ lead to 94-90 with less than a minute left. But Gerald Green answered with a 3-pointer on his way to 17 second-half points.
—Dan Feldman
Jazz 107, Sixers 91: Utah snapped a four-game losing streak by jumping on Philadelphia early and not letting up all night long. It was 10-0 to start the game thanks to a run that included a couple of threes from Gordon Hayward, and the Jazz closed the half on a 13-2 run that saw them lead by 16 at the break. The Sixers were unable to get closer than 12 the rest of the way.<
Philadelphia shot just 38.6 percent from the field for the game, while Utah’s offensive attack was balanced with seven players finishing in double figures scoring.
With this win, the Jazz remain just a game back of the Lakers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, despite winning just four of their last 16 games.
—Brett Pollakoff