What you missed while watching the Australian Open and thinking “I need to go to vacation there”….
Wizards 105, Thunder 102: Yes, you are reading that right. The worst team in the NBA (1-12 entering the game) just beat a title contender (12-2 before this started). It gets weirder — Oklahoma City shot 48.1 percent to Washington’s 38.4 percent. And the Thunder led the majority of the second half and midway through the fourth seemed in complete control as Russell Westbrook was on his way to 36 points and Kevin Durant 33.
What happened? To start with, 21 Thunder turnovers, seven by Kevin Durant. That will always get you in trouble. So will giving up the offensive rebound on 33.9 percent of your opponents missed shot (19 offensive boards) — that is a lot of extra chances for Washington to score. Finally, Washington got to the free throw line 43 times (they attacked for a night). But mostly it was Nick Young (10 fourth quarter points) and John Wall (nine in the final quarter) who just refused to let the Thunder take the game back like everyone expected.
Even Wizards fans expected their team to fold and find a way to lose. They did not. That alone is a sign of growth.
Clippers 91, Mavericks 89: The most dramatic game of the night, on a night filled with dramatic games. This was close the entire fourth quarter but felt like a game the Clippers would win, mostly thanks to Mo Williams hot hand (he finished with 26 points). Then it wasn’t. Then suddenly it was again.
First came Jason Terry’s three to put the Mavericks ahead one with 5.2 seconds left. There are two Mavs players you want to cut off on a last second shot, Terry and Dirk Nowitzki. D’Andre Jordan showed out on Terry off a pick only to slide back over to Ian Mahinmi near the arc. Boom goes the dynamite. Looks like a Mavs win by one.
But the Clippers have 4.8 seconds left, and Chauncey Billups inbounds the ball to Blake Griffin out by the arc. There is at this point one Clipper that should be feared — Billups. Mr. Big Shot. But Jason Kidd retreats toward the hoops and off Billups, who runs behind Griffin and uses him as a screen. Game. Set. Match.
Spurs 85, Magic 83 (OT): The Spurs have their first road win of the season, but only because a J.J. Redick game-winning three left his hands just a fraction of a second too late. Well, he’s not the only reason. Tim Duncan had a good game and finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Tony Parker carried the Spurs in the fourth quarter with 14 points — they needed it because late in games is when this team really misses Manu Ginobili’s creativeness. Also, the Spurs held the Magic to 33 percent shooting on the night — take out Dwight Howard (24 points on 9-of-15) and Orlando shot 27.8 percent. And they were 4-21 from three (19.1 percent for a team shooting 41.1 percent coming in).
Nets 107, Warriors 100: The Nets are the last NBA team to pick up a home win — celebrate New Jersey, you guys have a winner. Well, until they leave next season. The Nets took charge of this game on an 18-4 run in the fourth quarter, sparked by Deron Williams (24 points on the night) and Anthony Morrow. MarShon Brooks finished with 22 and Kris Humphries had 18 points and 15 boards. Monta Ellis had 30, but they miss Stephen Curry.
Nuggets 108, Sixers 104 (OT): The Sixers get their first home loss of the season, in large part due to a former Sixer. Andre Miller was clearly motivated and finished with 28 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds. Both teams went small for long stretches and this led to an up-tempo game (103 possessions). Denver’s small lineup did a good job defensively, they switched every screen, and that took away a lot of good looks the Sixers got early and helped key the Denver win.
Celtics 96, Raptors 83: This was an unconventional Celtics win. Rajon Rondo had 21 points and 2 assists. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were a combined 5-for-17 shooting. So how did Boston win this after five straight losses? They were playing the Raptors.
Timberwolves 93, Pistons 85: The Pistons seemed in control of this one in the second quarter and early part of the third, then they decided to see if they could still do that turning the ball over a lot. Turns out they couldn’t. For the Wolves, rookie Nikola Pekovic started the third quarter over Darko Milicic, and that trend may continue for a while.
Suns 91, Knicks 88: Man, the Knicks need someone like Steve Nash to organize their offense. Next season they may have him. In the mean time they have Carmelo Anthony going 5-for-22 and Amare Stoudemire going 7-for-22. The Knicks shot 37.3 percent but still were in this late after an Iman Shumpert three. The difference was the Suns point guard was in classic form — and at 37 did not look the least like he was on a back-to-back. Nash had 26 points and 11 assists. Also, he is the perfect guy to exploit all the switching the Knicks do on defense, which creates some ugly mismatches.
Hawks 92, Trail Blazers 89: Credit goes to Josh Smith for playing good defense on LaMarcus Aldridge all night. The Hawks were just the more efficient shooting team all night long, particularly in the fourth quarter when former Hawk Jamal Crawford took over shooting everything for Portland and going 4-of-10, while the Hawks spread the ball around more and got the win.
Grizzlies 93, Hornets 87: Marc Gasol had 22 points on 14 shots. When the Grizzlies work the offense inside-out, they are hard to beat. Memphis was just a little bit better at everything than the Hornets in this one.
Kings 92, Pacers 88: The Pacers were up 16 late in the third and in control of this one, then the Kings went zone and Indiana fell apart — 8 fourth quarter points on 19 percent shooting with 9 turnovers. Francisco Garcia had 10 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t so much the Kings were good as the Pacers were just terrible for 12 minutes.
