With 14 games on the NBA schedule Wednesday night, there was plenty to look out for and a lot to miss. No worries, SherdianHoops’ nightly feature Five Fast Facts has you covered. The Miami Heat looked to extend their franchise record 15-game win streak and the Los Angeles Lakers looked to get back to .500. Who went for 40 and who couldn’t buy a bucket?
Let’s take a look at the facts:
1. LeBron James’ layup with 3.2 seconds remaining gave the Miami Heat a 97-96 lead over the Orlando Magic, a lead they would not relinquish. The win extended Miami’s franchise-high winning-streak to 16 games. The disparity in record would indicate an easy night for the Heat, but the Magic made it anything but, erasing a 20-point second half Miami lead, forcing LeBron to push his late-game troubles to the side in order to bail the out his team. James finished with 26 points but only three rebounds and two assists. The statline of the night belonged to Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic, who tied a career-high with 25 points to go along with 21 rebounds. It was his second 20-20 game of his career — with both coming this season against the Miami Heat.
2. Speaking of making it hard on themselves, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Orleans Hornets 108-102 after erasing a 25-point second half deficit. Kobe Bryant scored 13 of his 42 points during a 20-0 run in the last 6:22 of the fourth quarter. The Hornets did not score a point in the final 6:30 of the game. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Lakers 25-point comeback was their third largest in the Kobe Bryant era and their largest in more than 10 years. Dwight Howard finished with 20 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks. With Utah losing in Cleveland, the Lakers are now just 1.5 games out of the playoffs.
3. Even after a 20-0 run to close out the game, the Lakers weren’t done for the night. Not when the playoffs are on the line. The Lakers sat in the locker room after the game and watched the Dallas Mavericks fend off the Houston Rockets for a 112-108 victory. Dirk Nowitzki scored 22 points and O.J. Mayo chipped in a career-high 12 assists to help the Mavs avenge a 33-point blowout loss in Houston just days ago. The Rockets remain the 7th seed in the Western Conference, but are now just two games ahead of the Lakers and .5 ahead of the Jazz.
4. The Boston Celtics continue to hum along without Rajon Rondo. They are now 13-4 after defeating the Indiana Pacers 83-81 on the second night of a back-to-back. It wasn’t pretty — Indy and Boston combined to miss 105 field goals in a game that featured just 171 attempts. Indiana shot 6-for-27 (22.2 percent) from behind the arc, almost breaking both rims in the process. Kevin Garnett was one of the few bright spots in the game, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting. He found Jeff Green sitting all alone under the basket for the game-winner, and is now just six rebounds shy of passing Wes Unseld for 10th all-time.
5. Kyrie Irving was a tad bit inefficient per his usual standards, but he once again took over down the stretch, letting everyone know why they call him “Mr. 4th Quarter” in Cleveland. Irving scored 10 of his 20 points in the 4th quarter, leading Cleveland to a 104-101 victory over the Utah Jazz after trailing 98-90 with less than three minutes to play. Irving also added 10 assists and seven rebounds to complete another impressive performance.
Ben Baroff is a sports journalist and marketing professional who blogs and writes columns for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter.