Making the most of waking hours, whenever they may be for wherever you may be, SheridanHoops.com’s newest daily feature presents five factual and fun items from the previous night in the NBA.
While Saturday night’s NBA schedule may have been bereft of marquee matchups, it did not disappoint. Between two game-winners in Toronto and Charlotte, overtime in Utah and nail- biters in Milwaukee and Portland (as always), there was plenty to be excited about. To keep the pre-facts all-caps ritual going …
CHEERS!
- Unfortunately when you play for the Bobcats, you usually aren’t setting impressive records. In most cases, you’re trying to avoid the bad ones. Gerald Henderson made a 3-pointer with 4.6 seconds left to lift the Bobcats to a 102-101 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night, snapping a 16-game home losing streak – two short of the NBA record held by the 1993-94 Dallas Mavericks.
- Two Milwaukee Bucks streaks were on the line Saturday night against Golden State. Ersan Ilyasova scored 18 points in Milwaukee’s 109-102 win over the Warriors, snapping his streak of three consecutive games with 27 points or more. Let’s just say that Ilyasova’s low point total may be attributed to being spooked by the bat at the Bradley Center, which had disrupted the Marquette-Providence men’s basketball game earlier in the day. On a more positive and less bizarre note, Bucks forward Larry Sanders extended his streak with at least one blocked shot to 29 consecutive games, tying San Antonio’s Tim Duncan. Pretty nice company for the rookie.
- Speaking of the future Hall of Famer, the Spurs’ 108-99 victory over the Phoenix Suns marked their 16th consecutive home victory, and eighth straight overall. Duncan, fresh off passing Jerry Lucas for 15th on the all-time rebounds list, sat out with a sore knee.
- On Thursday, Jrue Holiday became the youngest Sixers player selected to an All-Star team. On Saturday, Holiday showed two of his All-Star teammates – Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler – that he belongs. Holiday scored a career-high 35 points on 16-of-25 shooting to help the 76ers cruise to a 97-80 victory over the Knicks. “Holiday is an All-Star for a reason. He kept it rolling,” Anthony said, who also extended his streak of 20-point games to 28 straight. Jason Kidd, Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith combined to go 0 for 17. Kidd had zero assists in 15 minutes.
- Kyrie Irving’s game-winning 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds to play gave him 32 points on the night and his seventh 30-point game in January, which is tied for the league lead with Kevin Durant. Irving’s game-winner lifted Cleveland over Toronto 99-98, which had won four of its last five.
Ben Baroff is an aspiring sports journalist and marketing professional who blogs and writes columns for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter.
Larry Sanders isn’t a rookie though. 3rd year pro.