It was the Rajon Rondo show, with a triple-double (16 PTS, 14 AST, 11 REB) that left Heat coach Eric Spoelstra fuming on TV at halftime about his team’s defensive effort. Paul Pierce added 23 while Brandon Bass had 16 & 10 in the unexpected rout. Miami got very little from Dwayne Wade (15) and almost nothing from Chris Bosh (4 points on 2-11 shooting) in one of their worst performances of the season. Ray Allen (ankle) missed another game; Avery
No, that horrific shooting night for Kobe Bryant (3-for-21) wasn’t an early April Fool’s joke and he did hit a late, clutch 3-pointer to prevent the Lakers from losing. Jarrett Jack had been solid all afternoon despite a sore ankle (18 PTS, 10 AST) but missed a huge layup near the end. I was bullish on Carl Landry, a surprise — and very late — scratch with a sore ankle. Jason Smith (17 PTS, 10 REB, 2 BLK) held his
Chris Bosh returned to the ACC with a 30-point effort (plus 8 REB and 3 BLK) as the Heat were just a little too good in the fourth quarter. Dwayne Wade also had 30 and LeBron James 26, but the entire Miami team stepped up the defensive pressure when it counted. For Toronto, it was a rare night when both Andrea Bargnani (27) and DeMar DeRozan (28) were scoring, thanks to 16 assists from Jose Calderon. Joe Johnson played 15
It was the Russell Westbrook show in L.A., especially in the third quarter, when he scored 17 of his 36 points. Kevin Durant missed eight of his first nine before heating up; he finished with 21 PTS and 11 REB, plus 5 AST and 2 BLK. The Lakers — except for Andrew Bynum (25 PTS, 13 REB, 4 BLK) — did not shoot well. Kobe Bryant had 23 points on 25 FG attempts. Elsewhere WAS @ IND: Hardly a classic, but a
Blake Griffin was a human highlight film with 27 points, 14 REB, 5 AST and a trio of emphatic dunks in the fourth to seal the deal as the Clippers have now won three straight by double-digit margins. Chris Paul (15 & 15) played Robin to Griffin’s Batman while the Suns were short of superheroes. Marcin Gortat had 23, but elder statesman Steve Nash missed all four of his shots and the venerable Grant Hill (knee) didn’t play. Other Stuff MIN @ CHA: Kevin
All it took was for me to speculate here that something “must be wrong” with Monta Ellis, and he finally had a huge night — 33 points and 8 assists — to lead the Bucks to a much-needed win. Brandon Jennings added 18 and Drew Gooden (16 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST) was solid. Ekpe Udoh played well in place of Ersan Ilyasova, who sat out with back spasms. For Atlanta, Josh Smith stuffed the scoresheet with 30 PTS, 18
Despite the loss of Amare Stoudemire with a back injury, and with Jeremy Lin (knee) unable to go, the Knicks prevailed. Carmelo Anthony (28 PTS, 12 REB) started at PF, but even he was hampered by a sore groin. Amare is getting treatment in Florida, is out “indefinitely” and we will all be reading the injury reports before New York plays again tomorrow. Baron Davis got the start at PG; his 13 PTS, 7 AST and 5 REB would have
Four overtime periods is not how you want to finish your third game in three nights. The exhausted Hawks never quit. Joe Johnson played over 55 minutes en route to 37 points and Zaza Pachulia was terrific, with 15 points and 20 rebounds. For Utah, seven players scored in double figures, led by Al Jefferson (28 & 17) and Paul Millsap (25 & 13) but somebody had to lose this very exciting contest. Elsewhere DEN @ MIN: Kevin Love was tremendous again,