The 2013-14 NBA regular season continued on Tuesday, Nov. 19 with five games featuring 10 teams. Superstars were in action, returning players made statements and one player had a night he should hope to never duplicate.
Here’s everything you need to know about last night’s action.
1. John Wall’s development as a facilitator continued on Tuesday when he matched a career-high with 16 assists to just one turnover. Bradley Beal added 25 points to lead the Washington Wizards to a 104-100 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Wall has now struck double-digit assist numbers in four of his past six games.
2. Kevin Love continues to tear up opposing defenses. He finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds against the Wizards, and now has a league-best 10 games with at least 20 and 10 during the 2013-14 NBA regular season.
Love is now tied with Chris Paul for the league-lead at 11 double-doubles. Assuming Minnesota can rebound from this loss and continue to win games, he’s going to be a primary candidate for MVP. Looking for Timberwolves tickets? Look no further.
3. The Detroit Pistons defeated the New York Knicks 92-86 behind a well-rounded attack from its star-studded frontcourt. Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond and Josh Smith combined for 48 points and 27 rebounds, while Rodney Stuckey dropped 21 points in 31 minutes off of the bench.
If there’s one negative takeaway from this game, it’s that Drummond was 1-of-5 from the charity stripe and is now shooting 17.6 percent for the season.
4. Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 25 points on 8-of-20 shooting from the field, which shouldn’t be surprising to any fan. Anthony has topped 20 points in eight of his 10 appearances, but has also converted 40.0 percent of his shots or worse in six of those outings.
Efficiency isn’t a word that’s applicable to ‘Melo.
5. Chris Bosh led the Miami Heat to a 104-88 victory over the Atlanta Hawks by scoring 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field in 25 minutes. LeBron James played 31 minutes of basketball, but finished with just 13 points on 6-of-13 shooting.
It’s the first time LeBron has scored less than 15 points in a game since March 10, 2013 and the second time since March 18, 2012.
6. Mike Scott led the Hawks with 15 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor. It was Scott’s third career double-double and his first of the 2013-14 regular season.
If you’re looking for a breakout player, note that all three of Scott’s career double-doubles have come during his past 12 regular season games.
7. On a night in which James Harden committed seven turnovers and Dwight Howard attempted four total field goals, the Houston Rockets blew out the Boston Celtics 109-85. Terrence Jones led the charge with a career-high 24 points, nine rebounds, one assist and two blocks in 27 minutes on 10-of-12 shooting from the field.
Patrick Beverley added 16 points in 23 minutes and Jeremy Lin posted 11 and five assists in 24 minutes to lead the non-star dominance.
8. Avery Bradley was astonishingly bad for the Celtics, putting up 11 points on 5-of-22 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 from three-point range. He’s the seventh player to convert five or less field goals on more than 20 attempts since the beginning of the 2011-12 regular season.
It wasn’t much prettier for the rest of the team, as the Celtics’ players other than Bradley collectively shot 35.1 percent from the field.
9. One game removed from a rare single-digit scoring output, DeMarcus Cousins posted 27 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, four blocks and two steals to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 107-104 win over the Phoenix Suns. Rookie shooting guard Ben McLemore matched his career-high with 19 points, and Isaiah Thomas finished with 19 to help Sacramento move to 3-7 on the year.
10. Gerald Green scored a season-high 23 points during Phoenix’s loss to continue a very strong rebound campaign. After struggling to do much of anything with the Indiana Pacers, Green has now scored in double-digits in seven of his past eight games, topping 15 in six of those outings.
Green scored at least 15 points in eight total games during the 2012-13 season.
Bonus Fact: Channing Frye, who missed the entire 2012-13 regular season due to an enlarged heart, finished with 17 points and a season-high nine rebounds on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range.