Last night was proof positive that the early season Knicks woes are behind them and they are ready to vault back into contention for the division lead. Dwayne Wade/MIA played but had an off night from the charity stripe and the Heat faded away in the second half. In the back end of the doubleheader, the Nuggets’ depth overcame a sputtering Oklahama City squad and rolled to a relatively easy home win. Most of the NBA returns to action on
The Pistons continue to scuffle, falling to a solid Raptors squad last night. Watching the game, you saw the frustration building up for Josh Smith/DET, as he and Brandon Jennings/DET had to take on increased responsibility when the Pistons’ interior game collapsed in the second half. James Harden/HOU led the Rockets to a comfortable win over the Lakers, while the Spurs beat the Mavs despite carrying the fatigue disadvantage. In the late games, the Celtics stayed close but lost to
A one man show for Oklahoma City wasn’t enough to overcome great play by Gordon Hayward/UTA and solid team support as the Utah Jazz held off the Thunder. The Pistons came close to coming all the way back against the Knicks. The Pelicans led at half but were completely dismantled by the Heat in the second half. The Cavaliers were without their new star Luol Deng/CLE but dominated the Sixers from the start. The undermanned Bulls got solid games from
The Philadelphia 76ers fell back to earth upon their return home. The Timberwolves blasted the Sixers on the strength of solid games from Kevin Love/MIN and Nikola Pekovic/MIN. In the nightcap, Darren Collison/LAC provided further evidence that he deserves to be a solid point guard as he and DeAndre Jordan/LAC led the Clippers to an easy win over the Orlando Magic. Most of the Magic starters had poor games, in particular Nikola Vucevic/ORL, who had to leave with an injury
Aided by the absence of Kyrie Irving/CLE, the Pacers narrowly beat the Cavaliers . The Heat held off the Raptors at home to end Toronto’s winning streak. In the nightcap, Pau Gasol/LAL and Kendall Marshall/LAL posted excellent stat lines, but the Lakers’ defense was non-existent and the Nuggets blasted them 137-115. The Thunder didn’t need Kevin Durant/OKC for much of the fourth quarter as they handled the visiting Celtics easily. Overall, the road teams won five out of the seven
I have been captivated by the roller coaster season of the Philadelphia 76ers. As most of you recall, the Sixers were tabbed by some the worst NBA team in decades entering the season and some expected a single digit win tally by season’s end. So it was a shock when they handed the Heat a loss on the strength of a remarkable debut from an intriguing rookie, Michael Carter-Williams/PHI. They continued their solid play until getting hammered by the Warriors
The Raptors continued their surge with a road win over the Wizards. Kyle Lowry/TOR and DeMar DeRozan/TOR have emerged as one of the top guard duos in the league; last night they were supported by 18 points off the bench from Patrick Patterson/TOR. The Warriors shrugged off fatigue and beat the Hawks by a point. Continuing the theme of close games, James Harden/HOU poured in 37 points leading the Rockets to a 102-100 win over the Knicks. The Clippers beat
Stephen Curry/GSW was unstoppable and led the Warriors to a win over a full-strength Heat squad in Miami. The Philadelphia 76ers continued to impress with another road win on the strength of great games from Thaddeus Young/PHI and Evan Turner/PHI. Carmelo Anthony/NYK returned and to everyone’s surprise the Knicks bested the Spurs. In the nightcap, Portland blasted the Bobcats by 30 points. Tonight the action begins at 7 PM EST with the Raptors visiting the Wizards and continues through to