Consecutive win number 18 was anything but a typical game for LeBron James (13 PTS, 7 AST, 6 REB) but the Heat went to Rio. That’s what they call Mario Chalmers, who scored 26 points on fantastic shooting (5-of-6 from deep, 7-for-9 overall and 7-for-7 on free throws) while adding seven rebounds. Chris Bosh (24 PTS, 4 REB, 3 BLK) hit mostly jumpers over Roy Hibbert (16 PTS, 4 REB) and Dwyane Wade had six steals to go with 23 points. David West (24 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST, 4 STL) led the Pacers, but Paul George (10 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST) had a rough night, committing five turnovers and missing 9 of 11 shots.
Other Sunday Results
BOS @ OKC: For three quarters, this was just what the Celtics wanted — a close, low-scoring contest. Then the Thunder went on an 11-2 run and it was over. Kevin Durant (23 PTS, 11 REB, 4 AST) led all scorers and Russell Westbrook (15 PTS, 2 AST, 2 STL) has now been relatively quiet for two games. Paul Pierce (20 PTS, 6 AST, 4 REB) was the best Boston player; the return of Jeff Green (8 PTS in 28 minutes on 2-for-11 shooting) to Oklahoma City was not what he or his owners wanted. Kevin Garnett had a double-double (10 PTS, 11 REB) but missed 14 of 19 FG attempts as his team shot a horrendous 18% in the fourth.
CHI @ LAL: Another valiant effort by the shorthanded Bulls wasn’t good enough. Dwight Howard (16 PTS, 21 REB, 4 BLK) was terrific, cancelling out Joakim Noah (18 PTS, 17 REB, 3 AST, 3 BLK) and giving Kobe Bryant (19 PTS, 9 AST, 7 REB, 2 STL) room to operate. The Lakers held Chicago to 37% shooting, with Carlos Boozer (12 PTS, 10 REB) going 4-16 and Luol Deng (11 PTS, 8 REB) 5-16 from the floor. L.A. is now in sole possession of eighth place and looking to climb as high as sixth in the West.
PHI @ ORL: This boiled down to Jameer Nelson (24 PTS, 10 AST, 5 REB) having one of his better games, while Jrue Holiday (8 PTS, 8 AST, 5 REB, 3 STL, 2 BLK) missed 12 of 16 shots. Thaddeus Young (26 PTS, 12 REB, 5 STL) kept the Sixers in the game and Damien Wilkins (16 PTS, 6 AST, 3 BLK) made the most of his start, but the Magic won the fourth quarter and the game. Nikola Vucevic (14 PTS, 17 REB, 2 BLK) double-doubled against his former team and Tobias Harris (15 PTS, 7 REB, 2 BLK) seems locked in as the starting PF for quite a while. Al Harrington (8 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST) could be an asset down the stretch in deep leagues. He got 17 minutes and Andrew Nicholson didn’t get off the bench.