Friday Night
Hornets 110 Rockets 105 (OT): A fun little romp, but also yet another in a seemingly endless case of Houston working hard in a mad scientist’s lab to discover new ways to lose games. This time it was letting David West take over down the stretch, then playing zero defense in the extra frame. CP3 nailed the clinching jumper, then stole the desperation possession for a runaway layup just to be sure. The Hornets have now won four in a row.
Warriors 122 clippers 112: Monta Ellis isn’t an All-Star, but he does a pretty mean impression. The Warriors kept peppering the Clippers with little bursts of offense to keep and spread the gap, and the Clippers just couldn’t find another gear. The Clips got turnover-heavy while Stephen Curry hit five threes. A weird step back for LA in-between solid games on either side.
Saturday Night
Bulls 99 Heat 96: A wild, exciting race to the finish... that never, ever should have been. The Bulls were without Joakim Noah, which is a bummer, but the Heat were without LeBron James, which is considerably worse, and lost Chris Bosh to an ankle sprain in the third. Still, the Heat kept coming. Particularly, Dwyane Wade kept coming. Three consecutive contested threes to end the game for Wade, and only a fortuitously terrible playset from the Heat on the final possession kept the ball out of Wade’s hands with a chance to tie. Derrick Rose was everything you’d dream he’d be, and continues to make his case for MVP. But to assess that this was a signature win for the Bulls without two of the Big 3 to end the game is preposterous. A good win in a season full of them, only.
Grizzlies 89 Mavericks 70: Welcome back, Dirk! You’re ejected, Dirk! Dirk Nowitzki returned from injury, didn’t play well, objected to a call strenuously, and bam, he was gone, just like that. Meanwhile, the Mavericks, without Tyson Chandler, decided that Brian Cardinal would be the one to check Zach Randolph for a while. That didn’t work out well. 23 and 20 for Z-Bo, while Darrel Athur added 17 as the Grizzlies chewed up the Mavericks inside and spit them out.
Sunday
Clippers 99 Lakers 92: If the Lakers lose to the Clippers while the country is watching football, does it count in the standings? The Clips will demand so as they put together a very Lakers-like performance, closing hard on the defending champs as Blake Griffin roused himself from a terrible afternoon. Griffin just started beating the crap out of the Lakers. I have no other word for it. Baby hooks, dunks, inside scoops, more dunks, the works. Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, everybody got annihilated as Griffin went off. Meanwhile, Eric Gordon gave enough to keep a good day from Kobe on the shelf and the rest was your typical day of LA going through the motions. When it came down to it, the Clippers wanted it more. Yes, that felt as weird to write as it did for you to read it.
Spurs 110 Nuggets 97: Its’ entirely possible that this was the game that drove Nuggets management to the brink when we look back on it. Probably not considering the obscenely drawn-out nature of the Melo stuff, but still. The Nuggets had a double digit lead in the first. Then the Spurs woke up and handed them their bus tickets out of town. Ty Lawson had no interest in guarding the corner three, Richard Jefferson kept initiating the offense, and Parker had his step-back going. The Spurs hit another gear in the second quarter, and just like that it was over. Though no one told Melo it began, as he slept his way through a terrible shooting night (5 of 17 from the field). 30 for Parker in the win.