There was a scary knee-on-knee collision between LeBron James and Josh Smith just before halftime, but both were able to return. LBJ was tantalizingly close to a triple-double (21 PTS, 11 REB, 9 AST) as the Heat won a close one in Atlanta. Dwyane Wade (illness) didn’t play, but Chris Bosh picked up the slack, leading all scorers with 24, and Ray Allen (17) had another solid night. Jeff Teague was impressive in defeat with 20 points and 11 assists, while Anthony Morrow scored 17 in less than 16 minutes. As expected, the Hawks went back to small-ball, barely using Zaza Pachulia or Ivan Johnson. One disappointment was sixth man Louis Williams, who had been hot, missing all six of his shots.
Other November 9 Games
MIL @ WAS: The Bucks are getting very little from Samuel Dalembert (2 PTS in 13:56) but Larry Sanders has been great, adding another 13 PTS, 9 REB and 3 BLK to his totals in 31 minutes off the bench. Tobias Harris got the hook early (5 PTS in 15:13) in favor of Mike Dunleavy (13 PTS, 9 REB in 32:47) and Ersan Ilyasova scored all 11 of his points in the first half. They won anyway, as the Wizards aren’t very good. Bradley Beal (22 was their top scorer) and while Trevor Ariza (15) and Emeka Okafor (11) showed some improvement, their backups barely played.
DAL @ NYK: Another 31 points for Carmelo Anthony, another 22 from J.R. Smith and the Knicks remain unbeaten. I was surprised to see Brandan Wright start at C for Dallas, but Chris Kaman got the majority of minutes anyway. Elton Brand returned from personal leave with 8 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks, and Rodrigue Beaubois (ankle) saw 14 minutes off the bench. O.J. Mayo scored 22 points, but his 8 TO were a buzzkill.
BRK @ ORL: Not having seen the game, I don’t have much to say. The Magic got destroyed by 39 on their home court and didn’t score 20 in any quarter. With garbage time coming so early, the Nets spread the scoring among 13 players (Andray Blatche had 15 PTS and 9 REB) so we can safely ignore everyone’s stats.
PHI @ BOS: Certainly the best game of the year for the Sixers and Evan Turner, who had 25 points and grabbed 11 boards. Jrue Holiday (21 PTS, 14 AST, 4 REB, 2 STL, 2 BLK) more than held his own against Rajon Rondo, who had 20 assists to go with his 14 points. The SG pattern continues for Boston; Courtney Lee starts, plays some D, then sits for Jason Terry (13 PTS) who plays far more minutes.