The NBA pulled out all the stops on Wednesday, February 26 with 10 games featuring 20 teams. The action had its ups and downs, with one contender re-defining balance, another experiencing unfamiliar failure and a star suffering an injury.
Here’s everything that you need to know about last night’s action.
1. Blake Griffin dropped 23 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Clippers past the Houston Rockets 101-93. Dwight Howard countered with 23 points and 11 rebounds on 9-of-12 shooting, but the Rockets committed 20 costly turnovers.
Houston is 35-6 when it scores at least 100 points and 4-12 when it doesn’t.
2. Kyrie Irving scored 31 points and Jarrett Jack posted a season-high 21 as the Cleveland Cavaliers upset the Oklahoma City Thunder 114-104 at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Kevin Durant posted 28 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and a steal, and Russell Westbrook scored 24 on 8-of-17 shooting for OKC, but it wasn’t enough.
The Thunder have lost three straight home games for the first time since April 7, 2009.
3. The Chicago Bulls put on a defensive clinic en route to a 103-83 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Not a single member of the Warriors’ starting lineup scored in double-figures. In turn, the Bulls’ starters outscored the Warriors’ 63-25.
Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson combined for 18 points on 6-of-26 shooting from the field.
LOOKING FOR BULLS TICKETS? LOOK NO FURTHER.
4. Eight separate players scored in double-figures for the San Antonio Spurs as Gregg Popovich led his crew to a 120-110 win over the Detroit Pistons. On top of those eight players scoring in double-figures, Danny Green tallied eight points to round out what was an unbelievably well-rounded performance.
San Antonio becomes the third team in the NBA to win at least 19 games at home and on the road. The Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder are the others.
5. Will Barton recorded his second career double-double and his first of the season to guide the Portland Trail Blazers past the Brooklyn Nets 124-80. Barton finished with season-high marks of 20 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, and Mo Williams added a season-high 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
This was the Nets’ worst loss since December 13, 2003.
6. Jerryd Bayless and Rajon Rondo put on an outstanding backcourt performance as the Boston Celtics downed the Atlanta Hawks 115-104. Bayless scored a season-high 29 points, while Rondo tallied a season-high 22 points and 11 assists.
Atlanta has lost 10 of 11 since starting the season at 25-21.
7. The Gasol brothers clashed as the Memphis Grizzlies took down the Los Angeles Lakers 108-103. Marc Gasol tallied 14 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal for Memphis, while Pau Gasol posted 17 points, 10 boards, three dimes and a swat.
The key was down low, where Memphis won the battle on the boards 45-34 and scored more points in the paint by a count of 56-34.
8. Gordon Hayward ripped off 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists as the Utah Jazz defeated the Phoenix Suns 109-86. Suns rookie Archie Goodwin matched his career-high with 16 points, but Phoenix shot just 38.8 percent from the floor, 31.6 percent from beyond the arc and 62.1 percent from the charity stripe.
After ending 2013 at 10-24, Utah is 11-12 in 2014.
9. Behind double-doubles from three separate starters, the Orlando Magic defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 101-90. First-year shooting guard Victor Oladipo shined with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while fellow Rookie of the Year candidate Michael Carter-Williams scored just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting.
The Sixers have lost an NBA-worst 12 straight games.
10. Monta Ellis scored 23 points to help the Dallas Mavericks earn a 108-89 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. It was an extremely efficient game for the Mavericks, which shot 51.9 percent from the floor, 45.5 percent from beyond the arc, committed just nine turnovers and shot 16-of-17 from the free throw line.
Unfortunately, the story of the game was Pelicans star Anthony Davis leaving with a sprained left shoulder.
Bonus Facts
- Chris Paul posted 14 points and nine assists to one turnover. In his past four games, CP3 has 48 assists to three turnovers.
- The Lakers have been out-rebounded in a franchise record 18 consecutive games.