Desperately in need of some sleep … always, SheridanHoops.com nonetheless is up bright and early with our new daily feature presenting five interesting items from the previous night in the NBA.
The DVR is no doubt full as there were 12 games on the schedule Wednesday.The Suns rallied as the Lakers set a franchise record for road losses, the Spurs continued their win streak while LeBron James continued his domination over the Nets.
“Badges? We don’t need no stinkin’ badges!!”
- The Phoenix Suns overcame a 13-point 4th quarter deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers, 92-86. The Lakers finished January with a record of 0-7 on the road (1st time in franchise history they finished a calendar month with a record of 0-7 or worse in road games). With his sixth assist on Wednesday night, Bryant increased his career total to 5,661 to supplant Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (5,660) for the most assists among the NBA’s five 30,000-point scorers. Michael Jordan finished his career with 5,633 career assists, Karl Malone had 5,248 assists and Wilt Chamberlain recorded 4,643 helpers. Dwight Howard exited the game with 6:56 left in the 4th quarter with a right shoulder injury. Kobe Bryant took seven of the Lakers 10 shots after Howard left the game and the Lakers were outscored 19-8.
- Carmelo Anthony scored exactly 20 points as the New York Knicks downed the Orlando Magic, 113-97. It was Anthony’s 30th straight game with 20 or more points, which broke the single-season franchise record that he shared with Richie Guerin. Guerin, who scored at least 20 points in each of his last 29 games of the 1961-1962 season, extended his streak to 33 games by beginning the following season with four straight 20-point games. Guerin’s 33-game streak, which was snapped in a loss to Bill Russell and the Celtics, still stands as the longest in Knicks history.
- Tony Parker made nine of his 10 field-goal attempts, and San Antonio’s starting five combined to make 30 of 44 shots from the floor (68.2 percent) as the Spurs downed the Bobcats, 102-78 It was the second game this season in which San Antonio’s starters combined for a field-goal percentage of 68 percent or higher; they made 26 of 38 shots from the floor (68.4%) against Brooklyn on December 31. All other NBA teams have combined for only one such game this season. Boston’s starting five made 68.9% (31-for-45) of their field-goal attempts against Cleveland on December 19.
- The Miami Heat won their 13th straight game against the Nets (Miami’s longest active win streak against any single opponent) and LeBron James won his 17th straight game against them going back to his days in Cleveland. With 24 points, James became the second player to score at least 20 points in each of 20 consecutive games against the Nets. James is slightly more than halfway to the longest such streak; Michael Jordan scored 20 or more points in 39 straight games against New Jersey from December 1984 through April 1995. The Heat outscored the Nets 36-14 in the 3rd quarter.
- After trailing at the end of the first period, the Celtics outscored the Kings 37-14 in the second stanza before cruising to a 99-81 win at Boston. It was the first time that Boston outscored its opponents by such a large margin (23 or more points) in the second period of a game that it trailed at the end of the first quarter in more than 12 years (since November 28, 2000 at Cleveland) and it was only the second time in the last 52 seasons that the Celtics did that in a home game. Boston’s only other home game of that kind from 1961-1962 to date was against the Mavericks on January 6, 1991.
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.