Engulfed in Flames: The Miami Heat haven’t lost a game since February 1st, as they improve to a franchise record breaking 14 straight wins, in the victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday morning. LeBron James led the charge with 29 points on 12 of 23 shooting, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and a breakaway dunk to ice the game. Dwyane Wade added 20 points (8 of 16), 8 boards and 8 assists. After trailing by 14 points in the first half, the Heat came out of the break to outscore the Knicks 54 (46 of which belonged to the Big 3) to 34 in the second to defeat New York. Carmelo Anthony had 32 points (9 of 19), while Jason Kidd came off the bench to hit 4 of his 5 three point attempts for 14 points.
Storm The House: Up by as much as 19 points on the Los Angeles Clippers, the Oklahoma City Thunder that once looked likely to blowout their conference rival, would let up in the final two quarters to allow the Clippers to creep within reach for a scare. Kevin Durant had 35 points (10 of 25), and 9 rebounds. Russell Westbrook went off for 29 points (11 of 20), 6 rebounds and 10 dimes. With less than 2 minutes to play, Clippers would get their first lead of the game, but the Thunder would prove to be too much, as they pile on the lead, which they topped off with a Russell Westbrook jumper to ice the game. Chris Paul finished with 26 points on 21 shots, 6 boards, 8 assists and 4 steals. Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford scored 20 points each in the Clipper’s third straight loss to the Thunder of the season.
Power Surge: The Indiana Pacers moved to second place in the East with the win against the shorthanded Chicago Bulls. The Bulls, who were without Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson, could not execute late in the game, as they watch Indiana’s David West go off for 31 points (11 of 18) and 7 rebounds. George Hill got 21 points on a perfect 6 of 6 from the field, 6 boards and 5 dimes. Jimmy Butler of the Bulls came off the bench for a career high 20 points, to score a three pointer to cut the Indiana lead to 3 in the last 26 seconds. The Bulls would get two more chances to tie the game, but would fail on both, resulting in this reaction from their Coach.
I think Thibs maybe a little mad.
Young Guns: Chandler Parsons of the Houston Rockets exploded for a career-high 32 points on 12 of 13 shooting, and 6 of 7 from downtown, to become the first player since Larry Bird in 1986 to shoot 92 percent from the field and score at least 30 points (with a minimum of 6 three pointers attempted). This was his shot chart.
James Harden and Jeremy Lin chipped in for 21 points each in victory against the Dallas Mavericks.
On The Tracks: The Los Angeles Lakers finally reached the .500 mark with the win over the Atlanta Hawks. Despite turning the ball over 21 times, the Lakers were able fight off their opponents for the win in the closing seconds. Down 1 with 26 seconds remaining, Kobe Bryant, who led all scorers with 34 points on 13 of 27 shooting, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, drove to the rim to hit the game winning lay up. Al Horford of the Hawks, scored a team-high 24 points and snagged 5 boards.
A Few Notes: Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies played pretty well in the 26 point win against the Orlando Magic, he finished with 12 points (5 of 6), 5 boards and 11 dimes to become the first center since 2008 to dish out 11 assists.
It was all John Wall in the last minute of the contest between the Philadelphia 76ers and Washington Wizards. After hitting two free throws to put his team on top, Wall would make a huge defensive play down the stretch, blocking Evan Turner’s jumper, and then following it with a 20 foot dagger to seal the win for the Wizards. Rookie Bradley Beal suffered a sprain ankle late in the fourth quarter, he is listed as day-to-day.
The Charlotte Bobcats are still a depressing bunch, falling into their 6th straight lost, after a 39 point ass-whooping from the Sacramento Kings.
A Tony Parker-less San Antonio Spurs demolished the Detroit Pistons by 39 points. Tim Duncan had 16 points (7 of 14), 11 boards, 6 assists and 5 blocks to make up for his All-Star point guard’s absence, who is out for 4 weeks to recover from a grade 2 ankle sprain.
Highlights
Erased: Blake, admissions officer of Gryffindor rejects Nick Collison’s application letter.
Routine: Booooooooring.
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