Wednesday, December 18 provided the platform for the NBA to put forth some of its best action to date. There was a clash between top title contenders, a buzzer-beater in overtime, the meeting of former No. 1 overall draft choices, and a career performance by a standout rookie.
Here’s everything that you need to know about last night’s games.
1. The Miami Heat overcame a 15-point second-half deficit to storm back and defeat the Indiana Pacers 97-94 at home. Indiana led 92-89, but Chris Bosh hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 1:30 remaining. From there, Ray Allen scored five points in the final 59 seconds to lead the Heat to the comeback win.
Dwyane Wade led Miami with 32 points. LeBron James posted 24 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals to out-duel Paul George, who finished with 25, eight boards, six dimes and two steals.
Who’s ready for the Eastern Conference Finals?
2. Kemba Walker scored 29 points and hit the game-winning buzzer-beater in overtime to lead the Charlotte Bobcats to a 104-102 road win over the Toronto Raptors. Al Jefferson added 24 points and 11 rebounds for Charlotte, and DeMar DeRozan led all scorers with 30 points for Toronto.
Charlotte is 12-14. That’s the fastest it’s reached 12 wins in franchise history.
3. Trey Burke had a career night to lead the Utah Jazz to an 86-82 win over the Orlando Magic. Burke scored a career-high 30 points and flirted with a triple-double with an additional eight assists and seven rebounds.
Fellow rookie Victor Oladipo was held to three points on 1-of-12 shooting.
4. Seven separate Washington Wizards players were in double-figures and four posted at least 15 in a 113-107 escape of the Brooklyn Nets. For Brooklyn, three separate players scored at least 20 points, but the Nets lost the rebound battle by a lopsided margin of 51-31.
That spoiled a stellar night by Paul Pierce, who scored a season-high 27 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field.
5. Kyle Korver extended his NBA record of consecutive games with at least one 3-point field goal made in style. Korver scored 28 points on 8-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 124-107 win over the Sacramento Kings. Korver has made at least one 3-ball in 95 straight games.
Atlanta improves to 14-12, meaning we’ll have at least three Eastern Conference teams above .500 for at least two more Hawks games.
6. Brandon Jennings finished with 28 points, a season-high 14 assists and the game-deciding 3-point field goal with 46 seconds remaining as the Detroit Pistons defeated the Boston Celtics 107-106. Jared Sullinger posted 19 points and eight rebounds, and scored Boston’s final six points, but it wasn’t enough.
Detroit improves to 13-14 overall and 7-6 on the road.
7. Nikola Pekovic scored 30 points and Kevin Love posted 29 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists as the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 120-109. Kevin Martin added 22 for Minnesota, while Damian Lillard posted 36 on seven 3-point field goals made.
Lillard has scored 36 points with at least seven 3-pointers converted in consecutive games.
8. Going up against his former team, Beno Udrih scored a season-high 21 points as the New York Knicks defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 107-101 in double-overtime. The Knicks overcame a horrendous evening from Carmelo Anthony (9-of-29), Andrea Bargnani (5-of-16) and J.R. Smith (7-of-23), who combined to shoot 21-of-68 from the field. Smith also went 5-of-17 on 3-pointers.
In his first game back from injury, Tyson Chandler finished with nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks in 37 minutes.
9. The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 105-91, but it certainly wasn’t Tony Allen’s fault. Allen finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals, and he got the double-double the hard away. The 31-year-old guard grabbed 10 offensive boards.
It was Allen’s first double-double of the year.
10. Former No. 1 overall draft choices Anthony Davis and Blake Griffin clashed as the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 108-95. Griffin finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, while Davis tallied 24 points, 12 rebounds and three steals.
DeAndre Jordan proved to be the difference-maker with 14 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks, and Chris Paul had 12 points, 11 assists and two steals against his former team. Paul has 20 double-doubles and the next leading guard has 10.
Bonus Fact: Manu Ginobili turned back the hands of time by putting up a season-high 24 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals in 27 minutes to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 108-101 win over the Phoenix Suns.
Bonus Fact: Against one of the best defenses in the NBA, the Houston Rockets scored 66 points in the paint en route to a 109-94 win over the Chicago Bulls.