Tuesday, February 11, 2014 was all about elevating success to new levels. The NBA came through with a number of different feats worth marveling, including a team re-defining quality ball movement and a star sophomore coming through with his best performance yet.
Here’s everything that you need to know about last night’s games.
1. Al Jefferson scored 30 points and Anthony Tolliver added a season-high 22 as the Charlotte Bobcats took down the Dallas Mavericks 114-89. Charlotte made 12 3-point field goals and committed just eight turnovers, but neither of those marks are the most impressive of the day.
42 of Charlotte’s 45 field goals were assisted. That assist percentage of 93.3 percent is the highest of any team since the Indiana Pacers hit 45.1 percent on January 11, 2003. It was quite a win for those who gambled on the Bobcats, as they were a 3 1/2-point underdog entering the game.
2. Leading the facilitating charge was power forward Josh McRoberts, who dished out a career-high 13 dimes. He’d never previously hit double-digit assists in his seven seasons.
3. As a team, Charlotte’s 42 assists were the most of any team this season.
4. Nick Calathes continued his out-of-nowhere success as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Washington Wizards 92-89. Calathes finished with 18 points, a career-high seven rebounds, six assists and two steals on 8-of-12 shooting.
Calathes, a second round draft pick in 2009 who is seeing his first NBA action in 2013-14, has scored in double-figures in five of six appearances in February. He did it twice in his previous 33 games played.
5. As great as Calathes was, the star of this game was second-year Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal. Beal scored a career-high 37 points on 15-of-24 shooting from the field, 5-of-7 from 3-point range and a perfect 2-for-2 on his free throw attempts.
That’s what you call red-hot.
6. The Chicago Bulls dominated the glass en route to a 100-85 win over the Atlanta Hawks. Chicago won the rebounding battle by a count of 57-28, with Taj Gibson posting 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Jimmy Butler tallying 12 points and 13 boards for Chicago.
The star of the game was Joakim Noah, who finished with 19 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists and three blocks for his first triple-double of the season and the fourth of his career.
7. First overall draft choice Anthony Bennett posted his first career double-double as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Sacramento Kings 109-99. Bennett finished with career-high marks of 19 points and 10 rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, 3-of-3 from beyond the arc and 4-of-9 from the free throw line.
Take this as you will: Cleveland is 3-0 since firing general manager Chris Grant.
8. LeBron James stuffed the stat sheet with 37 points, nine rebounds, three assists and five assists as the Miami Heat took down the Phoenix Suns 103-97. Gerald Green scored 26 points and Goran Dragic dished out nine assists, that wasn’t enough to counter LeBron’s monster night and Chris Bosh’s 21 on 8-of-11 shooting.
Over the past 25 seasons, only Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan have more 35-point and 5-steal games than LeBron.
9. Kevin Durant scored 36 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Oklahoma City Thunder went on the road to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 98-95. It was a defensive masterpiece by OKC, as Serge Ibaka held LaMarcus Aldridge to 5-of-22 shooting and Reggie Jackson smothered Damian Lillard for a 5-of-15 performance.
Since starting at 31-9, the Trail Blazers are 5-7.
10. Alec Burks scored 24 points and Derrick Favors tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Utah Jazz took down the Los Angeles Lakers, 96-79. Gordon Hayward added 15 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals, which helped Utah overcome 25 points and a season-high 14 rebounds from Chris Kaman.
This was Los Angeles’ sixth straight home loss—tied for the franchise record that was originally set in 1992-93.
Bonus Fact
- Dirk Nowitzki sprained his left ankle during the second quarter, but came back and finished with 16 points in 24 minutes.
- Utah has held opponents below 90 points in consecutive games for the first time since January 2.