As we move into the first week of March, nine games were on the NBA schedule for Sunday.
The Heat showed the Knicks who the boss is at Madison Square Garden, Kobe showed that he still has young legs in Los Angeles, the Pacers put a strangle hold on the Central Division and the Thunder hold on to outlast the Clippers.
Impress your friends with our latest version of Five Fast Facts.
- After trailing the Knicks 59-45 through two quarters on Sunday afternoon, the Heat outscored the Knicks 54-34 after halftime in a 99-93 win. LeBron James scored 12 of his 29 points in the 4th quarter to give Miami their 14th straight win. Only one other team in NBA history extended a single-season winning streak at least that long by overcoming a halftime deficit of 14 or more points. The Lakers, in January 2000, carried a 13-game winning streak into Seattle and fell behind by 17 points at the end of the second period, before Kobe, Shaq and company recovered to defeat the Sonics and notch their 14th straight win. Find out why the blame for this Knicks meltdown fell on Mike Woodson.
- The Lakers continued their winning ways with a 99-98 win over the Hawks and in the process got back to .500 for the first time since they were 15-15. Kobe Bryant’s go-ahead basket with 9 seconds remaining was his first make on a potential go-ahead shot this season in the final minute of regulation or overtime (0-of-2 entering the game). Last season, Bryant was 7-of-14 with a chance to take the lead in the final minute of regulation or overtime. Los Angeles had spent 61 days with a sub-.500 record. The Lakers 61-day sub-.500 streak was their longest such streak since Nov. 2002-Feb. 2003 (91 straight days). The Lakers remain 2 ½ games behind the Rockets for the No. 8 spot in the West.
- Kevin Durant scored a game-high 35 points in the Thunder’s 108-104 victory over the Clippers, shooting 10-for-25 from the field and 12-for-15 from the line. There have now been six NBA games this season in which a player attempted at least 25 shots from the field and 15 or more from the line, but it’s only been done by three guys: Durant, Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony, who’ve each done so twice. Russell Westbrook scored 10 of his 29 points in the final five minutes to help the Thunder hold on to their four-point win after leading by as many as 19 in the third quarter.
- David West scored 31 points (tied a season-high) for the Pacers in their 97-92 win over Chicago. The Pacers are now 8-3 against the other top-five teams in the Eastern Conference: Heat (2-0), Knicks (2-1), Hawks (1-2) and Bulls (3-0). Indiana now has a four-game lead on the Bulls in the Central Division.
- Tim Duncan had 16 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and five blocks in the Spurs’ 114-75 win against the Pistons. It was his second 15/10/5/5 (points/rebounds/assists/blocks) game of this season; the first came at Denver in December. The only other NBA player to reach all four of those statistical levels in one game this season is Josh Smith, who did so versus Charlotte on November 28.
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.