Around The League WAS @ CHA: Jordan Crawford scored 20 and the Wizards’ bench had fun, especially James Singleton (18 PTS, 12 REB) and Cartier Martin (19) as the Bobcats made very little effort to defend their home court. Corey Maggette played just 19 minutes off the bench, but did score 23 points. TOR @ IND: Without Andrea Bargnani (calf) the Raptors started Amir Johnson, who had 16 points. James Johnson (4) is still coming off the bench behind Alan Anderson (17)
Derrick Rose was impressive in his long-awaited return, with 29 points, but he did miss 19 shots and turned the ball over eight times, showing a bit of rust. Carmelo Anthony was even better, scoring 43 including the clinching 3-pointer in overtime. Tyson Chandler (8 PTS, 16 REB, 3 BLK) was a huge factor and Iman Shumpert (15 PTS. 6 AST, 9 REB, 3 STL) made up for a quiet day from the hobbling Baron Davis. Luol Deng played almost
That’s what we should be expecting from Ray Allen as the sixth man. Five 3-pointers, four steals and 19 points in 33 minutes. Avery Bradley (4 PTS in 29 minutes) is starting mostly for defensive purposes, and Paul Pierce (24) is the main scoring option. Kevin Garnett (15 PTS, 7 REB) got a lot of support from Greg Stiemsma (10 PTS, 9 REB, 5 BLK) up front. Many of the Pacers played just as well as they had in upsetting
Kevin Durant scored 44 points but his team lost their third straight game. Russell Westbrook was close to a triple-double (21 PTS, 11 REB, 9 AST) but missed 16 FG attempts, which doesn’t help fantasy owners. Serge Ibaka played less than 20 minutes; only his coach knows why. The Pacers are in a groove — Danny Granger led the way with 26 and Paul George had 16 rebounds from the backcourt. Roy Hibbert (21 PTS, 12 REB, 4 BLK) played
Dwight Howard played, without much enthusiasm: 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 5 turnovers and a swirling controversy about his relationship with Stan Van Gundy. Jameer Nelson also played, without much success (10 PTS on 3-14 shooting) and Glen Davis (15 & 7) got another start in place of Ryan Anderson (ankle). Carmelo Anthony led the visitors to a convincing win with 19, Tyson Chandler (12 PTS, 12 REB) was strong and J.R. Smith (15 PTS, 9 AST) continued to
For the second straight game, LeBron James carried his team, with 34 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, four steals and a refusal to lose. Dwayne Wade did play, but had “only” 19 with 5 TO, while Chris Bosh (12) was quiet again. The Heat overcame 30 from Kevin Durant and 28 from Russell Westbrook by effectively shutting down everyone else. This game was rough and intense; if it really was a Finals preview, I can’t wait. In Other Games IND @ WAS:
NYK @ IND: It took a tremendous fourth-quarter comeback led by Danny Granger (27) and Paul George (18) but the Pacers pulled this one out. Carmelo Anthony was heroic in defeat with 39 PTS and 10 REB; the Knicks need much better guard play than they got from Iman Shumpert (2-6, 5 PTS) and Baron Davis (2-8, 6 PTS) although J.R. Smith had 11 PTS, 9 REB and 4 AST before being ejected. Elsewhere SAS @ CLE: A ridiculously easy win as
You have to admire the Rockets. They came out fast, then had a horrible second quarter and could easily have given up. Instead, they won the second half by 17 points behind the unlikely Big Three of Goran Dragic (21), Luis Scola (18) and Marcus Camby (12 PTS, 11 REB.) Chicago, which hadn’t lost two in a row all season, got 24 from Luol Deng and 16 from Carlos Boozer, but their guards were disappointing. Richard Hamilton played 20 minutes