The NFL community may have been focused on Monday Night Football, but the NBA had no shortage of thrills to provide its fans. There were multiple overtime affairs, battles of the interior elite and a clash between two of the most promising young point guards in the league.
Here’s everything that you need to know about last night’s action.
1. Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 111-104 victory over the Houston Rockets. Not only was it an excellent performance by Nowitzki, but it marked a significant milestone in his surefire Hall of Fame career.
Nowitzki passed Alex English and moved into 13th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
Looking for Mavericks tickets? Look no further.
2. For the second consecutive game, the Houston Rockets were without James Harden. For the second consecutive game, Dwight Howard took it upon himself to dominate.
Howard finished with 29 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and a steal, and Jeremy Lin tallied 20 in his first game back from injury. This comes after D-12 posted 35 points, 19 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and a steal in Houston’s previous game without Harden.
Despite Howard’s best efforts, Houston lost.
3. Lance Stephenson and Paul George both scored 26 points as the Indiana Pacers defeated the Brooklyn Nets 103-86. Stephenson has scored at least 20 points three times in December after doing it in just three outings during the 2012-13 regular season.
Indiana improves to a league-best 23-5.
4. As is often the case when these two teams meet, the Miami Heat outlasted the Atlanta Hawks by a count of 121-119 in overtime. DeMarre Carroll fouled Ray Allen on a 3-pointer with eight seconds remaining and the legend hit all three free throws to force OT.
From there, it was Michael Beasley and Chris Andersen who took over in overtime to lead Miami to the win. LeBron James finished with 38 points.
5. Carmelo Anthony sprained his ankle, but Beno Udrih scored six points in the final 26 seconds to help the New York Knicks survive a scare against the Orlando Magic 101-98. New York led by 24 points in the third quarter, but squandered that advantage before narrowly holding on.
New York has more road wins (5) than home wins (4).
6. Brandon Knight of the Milwaukee Bucks and Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Bobcats both flirted with triple-doubles as the latter earned a 111-110 overtime victory. Knight finished with 26 points, a career-high 14 assists and eight rebounds, and Walker tallied 25 points, 10 dimes and nine boards.
O.J. Mayo tied the game with a 25-foot jumper with one second remaining in regulation, but Khris Middleton’s 21-foot jumper at the end of overtime was inside the 3-point line and Milwaukee fell 111-110.
7. Gerald Green scored 22 points to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 117-90 decimation of the Los Angeles Lakers. Green scored in double-figures in 12 games in 2012-13 and topped 20 in four. In 2013-14, he already has 20 outings with at least 10 points and six with more than 20.
Phoenix improves to 17-10, which is its best start since opening things up at 18-9 in 2009-10. The Suns reached the Western Conference Finals that season.
8. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined to shoot 11-of-30, but David Lee posted 28 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Golden State Warriors to an 89-81 win over the Denver Nuggets. Golden State shot 55.6 percent from the free throw line and lost the rebounding battle, but Denver was just 3-of-13 from distance.
The Warriors have won two straight games for the first time since December 3.
9. Tyreke Evans posted season-high marks of 25 points and 12 assists, and Jrue Holiday added 17 points and 10 dimes of his own as the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Sacramento Kings 113-100. Evans has two double-doubles in his past three games after registering one in all of 2012-13.
DeMarcus Cousins posted 24 points and 14 rebounds, Isaiah Thomas scored 21 points and Marcus Thornton tallied 19 for the Kings.
10. The original Big Three took over as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Toronto Raptors 112-99. Tony Parker put up 26 points and eight assists, Manu Ginobili scored 18 in 25 minutes, and Tim Duncan tallied nine points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four blocks.
Terrence Ross scored a season-high 23 points during Toronto’s loss.
Bonus Fact: Zach Randolph posted 22 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high seven assists to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 104-94 win over the Utah Jazz. The star of the game, however, was Gordon Hayward, who posted 16 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists, four blocks and a steal.
Bonus Fact: Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe and Josh Smith combined for 50 points, 30 rebounds and three blocks to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 115-92 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Kyrie Irving scored 21 points, but it was Brandon Jennings who shined with 21 and 13 assists in this clash between rising stars at point guard.
Detroit is 14-16 overall and 8-6 on the road.