The 2013-14 NBA regular season continued on Sunday, February 9, and it was a stunning day. A team re-defined the art of the blowout, a superstar demolished his perceived-to-be even competition and two of the best point guards in the game reminded the world of why they’re so distinguished.
Here’s everything that you need to know about last night’s action.
1. Chris Paul returned in style as the Los Angeles Clippers destroyed the Philadelphia 76ers by a score of 123-78. CP3 finished with seven points, eight assists and four steals in 23 minutes, and Blake Griffin put up 26 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a steal on 11-of-14 shooting.
L.A.’s 45-point margin of victory was the largest of any game this season.
2. Kevin Durant further distanced himself from the rest of the pack in the race for MVP with a monster performance during the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 112-100 win over the New York Knicks. Durant finished with 41 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, two blocks and a steal, all the while holding Carmelo Anthony to 15 points on 5-of-19 shooting.
Durant has more 40-point games in his past 13 outings, four, than any other player has in all of 2013-14.
3. Kendrick Perkins led OKC’s charge on the glass with 11 rebounds in 24 minutes. After recording double-digit assists just twice in his first 47 appearances, Perkins has done it twice in his past three games played.
4. Joakim Noah stuffed the stat sheet as the Chicago Bulls defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in a defensive battle. Noah finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two assists, and Taj Gibson scored 18 to help the Bulls move back to .500 at 25-25.
In the loss, Chris Kaman posted a double-double with a season-high 27 points and 10 rebounds.
5. It was the second time this season that the Lakers’ starting five has failed to produce a single double-digit scorer. L.A. hadn’t done that a single time from 1970-71 to 2012-13.
6. Rajon Rondo’s rapid return to the ranks of the elite continued, but the Boston Celtics fell 102-91 to the Dallas Mavericks. Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points and Shawn Marion posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds as Dallas improved to 31-21.
As for Rondo, he finished with 15 points, a season-high 12 assists, eight rebounds and one steal. He has double-digit assists in three straight games.
7. The Brooklyn Nets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 93-81 in a bizarre game. No Nets starter scored in double-figures, but Brooklyn still found a way to win.
Rookie power forward Mason Plumlee led the charge with career-high marks of 22 points and 13 rebounds.
8. Nene Hilario and Marcin Gortat stepped up to lead the Washington Wizards past the Sacramento Kings, 93-84. Hilario had 18 points, five rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals, and Gortat finished with 17 points and eight boards.
At 25-25, this is the quickest Washington has reached 25 wins since 2006-07.
9. Kyrie Irving scored 28 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers took down the Memphis Grizzlies 91-83 in overtime. Nick Calathes countered with 17 points and six assists, but Memphis managed to score just 83 points despite the extra period.
Memphis has failed to score at least 100 points in 14 straight games.
10. Victor Oladipo scored 23 points and Nikola Vucevic posted 19 and 13 rebounds as the Orlando Magic downed the Indiana Pacers 93-92. Orlando has won three straight games and five consecutive outings at home.
Orlando, 16-37, has defeated the Pacers and Thunder—the teams with the top two records in the NBA—in consecutive games.
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