Thursday night has become known in the NBA community as one in which extraordinary action is set to transpire. While not every game lived up to the hype, lopsided games were balanced out by a triple-overtime affair, a duel between stars and stunning feats for teams heading in opposite directions.
Here’s everything that you need to know about last night’s action.
1. LeBron James scored 31 points and Dwyane Wade tallied 23 in 27 minutes as the Miami Heat blew out the New York Knicks 108-82. Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points on 11-of-20 shooting for New York, but it was yet another display of his pure-and-utter lack of help.
‘Melo’s Knicks teammates combined to shoot 31.7 percent from the floor and made 1-of-15 3-point field goals. By comparison, the Heat shot 60.8 percent as a team.
2. Marcin Gortat posted a season-high 31 points and 12 rebounds, and John Wall finished with 31 points and nine assists as the Washington Wizards defeated the Toronto Raptors 134-129 in triple overtime. DeMar DeRozan countered with 34 points and Greivis Vasquez scored a season-high 26, but fatigue set in and Washington emerged with the victory.
Washington improves to 30-28. The Wizards were 29-53 in 2012-13.
3. The Wizards have won five straight games. That’s Washington’s longest winning streak since April 26, 2012.
4. Roy Hibbert took over and provided 24 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks on 10-of-16 shooting as the Indiana Pacers survived a scare against the Milwaukee Bucks 101-96. Paul George and Lance Stephenson both scored 18 points to help Indiana improve to a league-best 44-13 overall and 28-3 at home.
As for Hibbert, this is his first game with at least 20 and 10 since November 23, 2013. Indiana will need to see more of his dominance come the playoffs.
5. The Brooklyn Nets responded to a blowout loss with a similar win, going on the road and dominating the Denver Nuggets 112-89. Paul Pierce led the charge with 18 points, and Brooklyn forced Denver into committing 24 turnovers.
Denver has lost four straight home games. It lost three total home games in 2012-13.
Bonus Fact: This is the first time Washington has won at least 30 games since 2007-08.