The 2014-15 NBA regular season continued on Saturday, January 24. A star made a surprise return to action, a franchise recorded one of its best performances to date and a rising force suffered what could be a season-ending injury.
Here’s how it all transpired.
1. A surprisingly active LaMarcus Aldridge and the Portland Trail Blazers out-dueled John Wall and the Washington Wizards for a 103-96 win. Aldridge led Portland with 26 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Wall tallied 25 points, nine assists, four rebounds and a steal for Washington.
Aldridge was expected to miss two months with a thumb injury. After passing up surgery, he returned after just two games.
2. Jeff Green scored 18 points and Zach Randolph tallied 17 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 101-83 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Jerami Grant led the 76ers with a career-high 16 points in 26 minutes, while Vince Carter had 13 points for Memphis.
The Grizzlies have won six of seven.
3. O.J. Mayo scored 20 points and Khris Middleton scored 16 on 7-of-9 shooting to help the Milwaukee Bucks get past the Detroit Pistons 101-86. Greg Monroe tallied eight points and 16 rebounds for the Pistons, but Detroit was unable to mount a comeback without its point guard.
Head coach Stan Van Gundy said after the game that Brandon Jennings would miss an extended period of time with a leg-related injury.
4. Gordon Hayward was superb, scoring 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting as the Utah Jazz embarrassed the Brooklyn Nets 108-73. Trey Burke tallied 19 points in 26 minutes off of the bench and Dante Exum scored 13 points in the starting role as Utah pulled away in the third quarter and never looked back.
This was Utah’s most lopsided win since March 31, 2008, when it defeated the Washington Wizards 129-87.
5. Neither team played well, but the Charlotte Hornets scored when it counted to narrowly defeat the New York Knicks 76-71. Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Knicks with 25 points and Al Jefferson anchored Charlotte’s defense with seven blocks in 30 minutes.
Hardaway Jr.’s 25 points set a new season-high and Jefferson’s seven blocks matched his career-best.
Bonus Fact: Home teams went 5-0.