Another day, another near triple-double for LeBron James (24 PTS, 11 AST, 9 REB) and another win — their 27th in a row — for the apparently unstoppable Heat. Dwyane Wade (knee) would be playing if there was anything more at stake than the streak and should return on Wednesday. In his absence, Mario Chalmers (17 PTS, 5 AST, 4 REB) stepped up, hitting four 3-pointers, and several bench players got more exercise than usual. There’s no way for Orlando to overcome the losses of Nikola Vucevic (concussion) and Arron Afflalo (hamstring), though Jameer Nelson (27 PTS, 12 AST, 5 REB, 2 STL) did all he could, including five triples. E’Twaun Moore (13 PTS, 9 REB, 7 AST, 3 STL) could be a stealth pickup for the stretch run; he started at SG and played 39 minutes. Tobias Harris (20 PTS, 5 REB, 2 BLK) is the free agent gift who keeps on giving, if you pounced when he was traded to the Magic a month ago.
Other Monday Results
MEM @ WAS: What can you say about John Wall? The box score shows a career-high 47 points, 17 of them in the fourth quarter, plus seven rebounds, and eight assists to only two turnovers. He shot 13-22 from the floor, 19-24 from the line and did it all against Mike Conley (23 PTS, 7 AST, 4 REB, 3 STL), one of the best PG defenders in the league. Emeka Okafor (21 PTS, 9 REB) took advantage of Marc Gasol (abdominal tear) being out, and the Wizards didn’t need much else. Zach Randolph (10 PTS, 7 REB) was a bit disappointing for Memphis, starting C Darrell Arthur (6 PTS in 19 minutes) fouled out and Ed Davis (9 PTS, 7 REB in 23 minutes) was also in foul trouble. Trevor Ariza (flu) missed another game, so Cartier Martin (9 PTS, 6 REB) saw extra run for Washington.
ATL @ IND: Despite it being an important game for playoff seedings, both teams used odd lineups. George Hill (groin) and Lance Stephenson (hip) joined David West (back) in street clothes for the Pacers, and Gerald Green (19 PTS, 6 REB, 2 STL) made the most of an extrememly rare start. Roy Hibbert (17 PTS, 13 REB, 3 BLK) and Tyler Hansbrough (12 PTS, 11 REB) played well up front. For Atlanta, oft-injured Devin Harris (foot) was a no-go, his replacement Dahntay Jones (3 PTS in 11:45) did very little and Johan Petro, who started at C, went scoreless in 17 minutes. Josh Smith (20 PTS, 3 REB, 4 AST, 4 STL, 2 BLK) was a one-man team, as Jeff Teague (10 PTS, 1 AST) failed to take advantage of D.J. Augustin (6 PTS, 5 AST, 2 REB, 2 STL) and Al Horford (13 PTS, 8 REB) was strangely quiet. Oddly enough, the Hawks’ second unit had a huge fourth quarter to make the final score more respectable.
DEN @ NOH: Yesterday in this space, I stopped just short of picking the future Pelicans to win. When the news came that Greivis Vasquez (ankle) wouldn’t play, that idea seemed to vanish. Then Eric Gordon (ankle) was a late scratch, so the Nuggets “should have” won a 16th straight game, even with Ty Lawson (heel) taking one more night off. Instead, backup PG Brian Roberts had the game of his life (13 PTS, 18 AST, 5 REB) and emergency starting SG Darius Miller (16 PTS, 3 REB) hit four 3-pointers as New Orleans led wire-to-wire. Ryan Anderson (23 PTS, 9 REB) hit five triples off the bench to lead seven Hornets in double figures. Danilo Gallinari (24 PTS, 2 REB) was respectable for Denver and Wilson Chandler (11 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST) returned from his shoulder injury but the rest of the team didn’t seem to care about the win streak, or this game.