Too much Nemo in this neck of the woods — let’s just leave it at that. As we do every day, we present five interesting items from the previous evening’s NBA games.
Just five games were on the schedule on the final Saturday before the All-Star break. Denver extended their winning streak, the Warriors were unable to end their losing streak and the Pistons rallied to win on the road.
The Cars take us to the bump…”Lets go…I LIKE THE NIGHT LIFE, BABY”
- In Cleveland, the Denver Nuggets won their ninth straight (100+ points in each game); have not had nine-game win streak with 100+ points in each game since 10-game streak in 1987-88 season. Eight Nuggets scored in double figures in their 111-103 win. Kyrie Irving had his seventh game with at least 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists; only players with more such games this season are LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
- Alonzo Gee scored 15 points over the first six minutes of the Cavaliers’ game against the Nuggets on Saturday night, thereby accomplishing something never done by, among others, LeBron James. Gee became the first NBA player this season to score 15 points over the first half of the first quarter. The last NBA player to do that was Carmelo Anthony against the Nets in Newark last April 18, and the last Cavaliers player to do it was Lamond Murray against the Lakers back on Jan. 12, 2001.
- The Golden State Warriors lost their fourth straight game 116-91 at Dallas, completing an 0-4 road trip in which they lost three of the four games by at least 20 points. Shawn Marion collected 26 points and 11 rebounds in the Mavericks’ 116-91 victory over the Warriors – the 83rd game of 25/10 (points/rebounds) in his NBA career, but his first such game in nearly two years. His last came on March 12, 2011, in a loss to the Lakers. Marion produced 76 of those 83 games while with the Suns, one with the Heat, three with the Raptors and now three with the Mavericks.
- Charlie Villanueva’s field goal with 1:13 to play in the fourth quarter in Saturday night’s Pistons-Bucks game tied the score at 98-98, and then his 3-pointer with just under 10 seconds broke a 100-100 tie and boosted Detroit to a 105-100 victory. The last Pistons player to score a pair of field goals in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter or of an overtime period, with one tying the score and the other putting his team ahead to stay, was none other than Allen Iverson, who also did it in a victory at Milwaukee, four years and two days earlier.
- Lavoy Allen collected 22 rebounds, split evenly between the offensive and defensive boards, to lead the 76ers to an 87-76 victory over the Bobcats. Charles Barkley had seven games for the Sixers in which he had 20-plus rebounds including at least 10 at the offensive end; but since Barkley left the team in 1992, only two other Philadelphia players did so: Kenny Thomas (20 rebounds, 12 offensive) in 2003 and Samuel Dalembert (23 and 11) in 2009.
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.