Once again, the Bulls had to dig deep, requiring overtime to get by the stubborn Raptors. C.J. Watson scored 23, Carlos Boozer 24 and Luol Deng 23 to make up for the ejection of Joakim Noah after just 12 minutes. For the Raptors, DeMar DeRozan (ankle) couldn’t go, so Gary Forbes (12 PTS, 13 REB) made the most of a rare start. Jose Calderon had 20 & 10 in 45 minutes and James Johnson (20 PTS, 8 REB, 4 BLK)
The one game I expected to be a “rout” last night was instead a classic. What an effort by Kevin Love, who scored 51 points in the double-overtime loss, including seven 3-pointers. J.J. Barea had his first career triple-double for Minnesota (25 PTS, 14 AST, 10 REB) while playing 47 minutes — off the bench! Russell Westbrook (45) and Kevin Durant (40 PTS, 17 REB, 5 AST. 3 STL) were terrific for the Thunder, and although Derek Fisher missed nine
There’s another Freeroll tonight on DraftStreet. Even if you haven’t been following my daily adventures there (scroll to the bottom of this page) you should give it a try. Just click the link to enter. Bragging rights against Chris Sheridan are valuable enough, but there’s also $350 in cash prizes and it’s completely free to enter. You just have to pick eight players who fit under a $100,000 salary cap. The rules are easy; winning is a challenge. Thursday Recap LAC @
The new-look Nuggets had their hands full because Ben Gordon couldn’t miss. Starting for Rodney Stuckey, Gordon was 13-22 from the floor — including a perfect 9-9 from deep — and hit 10 of 11 free throws for a 45-point outburst. However, Ty Lawson (25) and Arron Afflalo (23) played well, Wilson Chandler double-doubled in his first start since last April and JaVale McGee came off the bench for 15 PTS, 7 REB, 3 BLK and the winning putback dunk
Chris Bosh is on a roll. His 29 points on 12-16 shooting, plus 8 REB and a couple of STL, led the Heat to an exciting, come-from-behind win over the inspired Suns. LeBron James was shaken up twice but stayed in the game and finished with 20. Though Dexter Pittman got his first start because Joel Anthony has a sore ankle, he played less than 14 minutes while Udonis Haslem (15 & 9) got most of the work. Grant Hill led
Rookie Tristan Thompson had his best game as a pro with 27 points and 12 boards in 37+ minutes and solidified his new role as the undersized C for the Cavaliers. Kyrie Irving added 26 in his return to Jersey, where he was a high school legend just two years ago. Deron Williams scored 28 for the Nets and Gerald Williams exploded for 27, plus 12 REB, in an entertaining (if meaningless) contest. Deep leaguer alert: Donald Sloan, formerly of
The kids are alright. We could have guessed Enes Kanter (17 & 8 in 23 min.) would play well off the bench as Derrick Favors (12 & 10) got the tough start vs. Andrew Bynum (33 & 11 with 2 BLK). Another Jazz rookie to watch is Alec Burks (17 PTS in 19 min.) but the story of this shocker was a miserable 3-20 shooting night by Kobe Bryant, with seven turnovers. Starting PG Steve Blake went scoreless; backup Ramon
Derrick Favors, tipped here yesterday because Al Jefferson is away this weekend, scored 23 points and grabbed 17 boards in a spot start. Get Favors in your lineups again today, and file away the knowledge of how good he will be in the future. I never expected Richard Jefferson to get 38 minutes in his Warriors debut. RJ was ice-cold (2-14) but this doesn’t bode well for Brandon Rush, who can safely be cut. HOU @ LAC: We expected Goran Dragic would