Searching the Web for the most interesting facts, SheridanHoops.com’s newest daily feature presents five items from last night’s slim slate of NBA games. A current Cavs player broke a former Cavs record, the Clippers and Thunder squared off in a battle to see who rules the West, and the Magic continued their disappearing act.
Read this … and then enjoy your day.
- After his team completed a lopsided trade earlier in the day with Memphis, Kyrie Irving scored 40 points to lead the Cavaliers to a 95-90 victory over the Celtics on Tuesday night. At the age of 20 years, 305 days old, Irving became the youngest player to ever score 40 points in a game against the Celtics. The previous youngest was former Cav LeBron James, who scored 43 points against Boston on February 15, 2006 at 21 years, 47 days old.
- Playing without MVP candidate Chris Paul for the fourth time in six games, the Clippers fell to the Thunder at the Staples Center, 109-97. Kevin Durant scored 24 of his 32 points in the second half as the Thunder extended their lead over the Clippers in the Western Conference to 1½ games while remaining the only team in the league with single digits in losses. It is the 10th time in his career that Durant has scored 30 or more points in a game at the Staples Center during the regular season, the most such games for any visiting player in that arena. Durant entered the night tied with Kobe Bryant, who has scored 30+ points nine times when the Lakers are the visiting team against the Clippers.
- Tuesday marked the 45th anniversary of the league’s 1968 announcement that Milwaukee would be awarded an NBA franchise, as the Bucks played in their 3,600th game and defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 110-102, inproving to 6-2 under coach Jim Boylan. Boylan’s 6-2 start matches Mike Dunleavy Sr. (1992) and Del Harris (1987) for the best eight-game starts for a Bucks coach.
- Staying in Milwaukee, which as Alice Cooper reminded us in “Wayne’s World” is named after an Algonquin term meaning “the good land,”” Ersan Ilyasova netted 27 points for the second straight game and is shooting 20-for-31 from the field over those two games.
- Despite 26 points from J.J. Redick, the Magic lost for the 14th time in their last 16 games. The Pistons committed a season-low eight turnovers in defeating the Magic for the first time in three tries this season, 105-90. After sitting at 7-21, which included eight straight losses to start the season, the Pistons have won nine of their last 13 games to move within four games of Boston for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Stat Mann is the nom de guerre of our research statistician, who spends a lot of time watching basketball in central Connecticut. Someone would be angry if they discovered he was moonlighting here.