WAS @ BOS: Thanks to a big effort by three bench players, the Wizards forced overtime. Kevin Seraphin (16 PTS, 9 REB) is playing much better than starter Emeka Okafor (2 PTS in 11 minutes) and Martell Webster (16 PTS, 6 REB) deserves to play twice as much as the slumping (1-6 for 2 PTS) Trevor Ariza. Also chipping in was Chris Singleton (14 PTS, 5 REB, 3 STL) as the best Wizards starter was rookie Bradley Beal, with 16 points.
On a night that Courtney Lee vanished ( 2 PTS in 18:36) it was good that Jason Terry (16 PTS) stepped up. The big three carried the Celtics; Kevin Garnett (20 PTS, 13 REB, 2 BLK) and Rajon Rondo (18 PTS, 14 AST, 3 STL) were great and Paul Pierce (15 PTS, 10 REB, 4 STL) also double-doubled. Jared Sullinger started at PF, but Brandon Bass (11 PTS, 7 REB) finished and played the OT. Jeff Green (6 PTS) was the eighth man.
ORL@ MIN: I called the result, an easy T-Wolves win, just not the right players. Luke Ridnour (19 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST) had his best game yet and Derrick Williams (14 PTS, 6 REB, 2 STL) looked good at PF. This was more about the tired Magic giving up early; coach Jacques Vaughn benched Glen Davis (4 PTS in 19:18) and Nikola Vucecic (2 PTS in 17:58) to have a long look at rookies Andrew Nicholson (11 PTS) and Maurice Harkless. In his career debut, Mo had 7 PTS, 5 REB, 3 STL and 2 BLK in 22 minutes and should be on your radar in deep leagues.
DEN @ HOU: Using only eight players, the Nuggets made it two in a row behind Ty Lawson (21 PTS, 8 AST, 3 STL) and Kenneth Faried. The Manimal (16 PTS, 16 REB) missed 5 of 7 FT attempts but was otherwise great. Denver held James Harden to 15 points, and left Patrick Patterson (18) open. It hasn’t been a great start for sophomore Chandler Parsons, so Carlos Delfino (19 PTS, 5 REB, 4 3PTM) is becoming more important every game.
TOR @ DAL: The Raptors never gave up, with Andrea Bargnani (25 PTS, 9 REB) and DeMar DeRozan (24 PTS, 6 REB, 7 AST) keeping them close. Rookie Jonas Valanciunas picked up five fouls in 10:29 trying to guard Chris Kaman (22 PTS, 8 REB) so Amir Johnson played 29 minutes at C, with an energetic 18 points and 11 boards.
With Shawn Marion (knee) out for a while, rookie Jae Crowder started at SF for Dallas, but it was Vince Carter with 17 off the bench who really stepped up. Brandan Wright (12 PTS, 7 REB, 2 BLK) moved over to PF with Kaman back in the starting five, and O.J. Mayo stayed hot with 22 points.
PHI @ NOH: Man, was this ugly. Until Al-Farouq Aminu scored his tenth point with less than three minutes to go in the game, the Hornets had nobody in double figures. Aminu also grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds, but everyone else in New Orleans should be ashamed. The Sixers did more than enough to win despite scoring only 77 points themselves; the sooner everyone forgets this horrible contest, the better.