Top Dogs: In the battle for the best record in the west, the San Antonio Spurs trumps the Oklahoma City Thunder for the second time this season. After being down 10 in the first quarter, the Spurs would surge back to outscore the Thunder 83 to 61 in the rest of the game. In the absence of Tony Parker, Tiago Splitter stepped up for 21 points (9 of 11) and 10 boards. Danny Green added 16 points and 5 assists, including the corner three to ice the game. OKC made 19 costly turnovers that led to 25 of their opponents points to remove this game from their reach early. Kevin Durant led his team with 26 points (7 of 13), 6 rebounds and 5 dimes, while Russell Westbrook went for one of “those nights,” shooting 11 of 27 for 25 points, to go with his 6 boards and 6 assists.
MoTownPhilly: On the night, where Deron Williams scores his 10,000th point, his team would fall to the Philadelphia 76ers due to a lack of bench help. Deron Williams is looking more like his former All-Star self in the month of March, going off for 27 points on 10 of 19 shooting, 6 boards and 13 assists. His back court mate, Joe Johnson got 20 points (8 of 11) and 6 dimes. Spencer Hawes, the unlikely hero of the Sixers, surprised everyone with 24 points (10 of 15), 10 rebounds, 7 assists and a really thick beard that hides his entire neck. Philly had one of their best shooting nights of the season, hitting over 52 percent of their shots from the field and beyond it.
Playoff Race: With the win over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night, the Utah Jazz reinserts themselves into the eighth spot, once again booting the Lakers off the playoff picture. In his fourth game back from a thumb injury, Mo Williams scored a game-high 20 points and dished out 6 assists. Bad news for the Pistons, who were already without Andre Drummond (back), they will lose Brandon Knight to a sprained ankle, as the sophomore’s season woes continue.
Chilled: The Denver Nuggets dominated the Phoenix Suns inside for their 9th straight victory. The Nuggets led by Kosta Koufos 22 points (10 of 11) and 10 boards, went off for 74 points in the painted area, exactly 42 more than their opponents. Ty Lawson chipped in for 19 points on 8 of 13 shooting and 6 assists. The Suns remain horrible and will have a lot of work to do in the summer, if they want to move on from this embarrassment of a season.
Cookin’: The injury depleted and ancient New York Knicks had no answer for the Golden State Warriors last night, as their opponent outscored them in every quarter, while shooting 55 percent from downtown. Melo, who returned for the first time since his knee injury, looked horrible, going for 14 points on 15 shots. Without Amare in the lineup due to another knee surgery, the New York bench came up rather empty. Stephen Curry followed his 54 points against the Knicks in February, with only 26 points (9 of 18), 6 of 10 from three and 6 rebounds. David Lee held down the front court with 21 points, 10 boards and 8 assists to hold the Knicks to their lowest scoring game since 2007.
This picture by @JADubin5 summed up the night perfectly:
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