NBA Capsules
March 4th, 2010 Posted in NBA basketball newsEAST RUTHERFORD, – LeBron James had 26 points and 14 assists and the Cleveland Cavaliers opened a 20-point first-quarter lead and cruised to a 111-92 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night.
J.J. Hickson added 20 points and 13 rebounds in his second straight start for the injured Shaquille ONeal and Antawn Jamison had 19 points as the Cavaliers won their fifth straight game. Mo Williams added 16.
The win completed a two-game sweep of the Knicks and Nets over the past three days, the two teams that have a ton of money to throw at James should he decide to test the free-agent market this summer. James put on a show for both.
Brook Lopez had 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead New Jersey (6-54), which has now lost eight straight to the King, including all four this year.
Magic 117, Warriors 90
ORLANDO, Fla. – Dwight Howard had 28 points and 12 rebounds, and Orlando cruised to a victory over undermanned Golden State.
Rashard Lewis added 17 points, and Vince Carter finished with 15 points to help the Magic win for the fifth time in six games and keep a tight grip on the Eastern Conferences No. 2 playoff seed. They lead Atlanta by two games.
C.J. Watson had 18 points, and Anthony Morrow had 16 points for an injured Warriors team that dressed the NBA minimum eight players. And that came after they signed Development League player Reggie Williams a day earlier, the fourth former player from the NBAs version of the minors on Golden States active roster.
Celtics 104, Bobcats 80
BOSTON – Paul Pierce scored 27 points to lead Boston to a victory over the Charlotte.
Nate Robinson had 16 points, including three 3-pointers in a 90-second span bridging the first and second quarters to key a 16-0 run, for the Celtics. Kevin Garnett added 12 points as Boston won its second straight and beat up on Charlotte for the third time this season.
Tyrus Thomas had 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bobcats, losers of five of six, and D.J. Augustin scored 12 points. Charlottes leading scorers coming in, Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace, were held to a combined 16 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
Mavericks 112, Timberwolves 109
DALLAS – Dirk Nowitzki overcame a slow shooting start to finish with 22 points, including the go-ahead basket, and Dallas stretched its winning streak to nine games.
With veteran point guard Jason Kidd getting a night off for the Mavericks, who played their 10th game in 16 days since the All-Star break, Jason Terry had 26 points and rookie Rodrigue Beaubois tied his season high with 17.
Nowitzki missed his first five field goals before finally sinking a 17-footer with eight minutes left in third quarter. When he penetrated for a 12-footer with 6:08 left in the game, that gave Dallas the lead for good.
Corey Brewer had 24 points for Minnesota, which has lost 10 of its last 11 games.
Grizzlies 104, Hornets 100
NEW ORLEANS – Mike Conley scored a season-high 26 points and the Memphis Grizzlies won their franchise-record fifth-straight road game.
Conley scored nine in the final quarter as the Grizzlies overcame a nine-point deficit. Conley missed two free throws with 10.7 seconds left that gave the Hornets a chance to tie it, but James Posey turned the ball over and Rudy Gay dunked as time expired.
Zach Randolph had 23 points and 11 rebounds, hitting a 29-foot 3-point bank shot as the shot clock expired to give the Grizzlies a 96-95 lead with 1:20 left. Conley added a running floater with 26.4 seconds left and Randolph four key free throws.
Marcus Thornton scored 24 for New Orleans.
Rockets 84, Kings 81
HOUSTON – Carl Landry had 22 points and 10 rebounds against his former team to lead Sacramento.
The Rockets traded the popular power forward to the Kings in a three-team swap just before the deadline in a deal that sent Tracy McGrady to New York. Houston picked up Kevin Martin in the trade, and Sacramentos leading scorer over the last three seasons struggled against his former team, scoring 14 on 3-for-13 shooting.
Beno Udrih scored 13 points and Spencer Hawes also grabbed 10 rebounds for the Kings, who snapped a four-game road losing streak.
Luis Scola scored 19 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for the Rockets.
Bucks 100, Wizards 87
MILWAUKEE – John Salmons scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half and the Milwaukee continued its post-All-Star break surge.
Salmons is averaging 20.4 points and has scored in double figures in all eight games hes played in since a trade deadline deal with Chicago.
The Bucks are 7-1 in that span after having a six-game winning streak snapped on Sunday in Atlanta, but jumped all over the undermanned Wizards back home at the Bradley Center.
Andrew Bogut added 15 points and five blocks as Milwaukee (31-29) won its 13th in the last 17 to move into a tie for sixth place with the Eastern Conference with Chicago.
Andray Blatche and Randy Foye scored 18 points each for the Wizards.
Hawks 112, 76ers 93
ATLANTA – Marvin Williams scored 21 points and Jamal Crawford added 20 to power the Atlanta past struggling Philadelphia.
Joe Johnson added 18 points, Al Horford had 12 and Mike Bibby 11 for the Hawks, who have won three straight and five of six.
The 76ers, who have lost four in a row and seven of nine, were led by Lou Williams, who had 30 points. He hit his first 10 shots and finished 11 for 15 from the field and 7 of 10 on free throws.
Atlanta, which improved to 24-7 at home, led 87-68 after three quarters on a 3-point basket by Crawford just before the buzzer.
Knicks 128, Pistons 104
NEW YORK – Bill Walker was one of four Knicks with 20-plus points, scoring a career-high 22 in his first career start, and New York handed Detroit its fifth straight loss.
Al Harrington scored 26 for the Knicks, who won for just the second time in 12 games and clinched the season series for the first time since the 2000-01 season. Humiliated while trailing by as much as 49 points in a loss at Cleveland on Monday, New York was the team having fun this time.
David Lee had 21 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists, and Tracy McGrady finished with 21 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
Tayshaun Prince and Rodney Stuckey each scored 16 points for the Pistons.
Nuggets 119, Thunder 90
DENVER – Carmelo Anthony outplayed Kevin Durant, scoring 30 points, and Denver took control with a big third quarter.
Nene added 20 points and J.R. Smith had 18 for the Nuggets, who averted a third consecutive loss.
Durant, the NBAs second-leading scorer, was held to 19 points after averaging 31 points in two previous games against the Nuggets this season, including a 101-84 win over the Nuggets in Oklahoma City on Jan. 29 in the teams most recent meeting.
James Harden also had 19 points and Serge Ibaka 15 for the Thunder, who lost for just the third time in their last 15 games.
Trail Blazers 102, Pacers 79
PORTLAND, Ore. – Brandon Roy scored 22 points, LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 points and seven rebounds, and Portland cruised past Indiana.
Rudy Fernandez had 16 points, including five 3-pointers for Portland. Andre Miller added 12 and Jerryd Bayless had 10. The Blazers, coming off a 4-1 road trip, have scored more than 100 points in six straight games for the first time since Feb. 4-17, 1998.
Danny Granger led the Pacers with 30 points. He got very little help on the offensive end. T.J. Ford added nine and Dahntay Jones had eight. Indiana second-leading scorer Troy Murphy was just 2 of 7 from the field and Brandon Rush made 2 of 9.
Suns 127, Clippers 101
LOS ANGELES – Amare Stoudemire had 30 points and 14 rebounds and Phoenix breezed to its second rout in six days against the Clippers, sweeping the four-game season series for the second straight year.
Channing Frye scored 23 points, making four 3-pointers during a 2:37 span of the fourth quarter to help Phoenix build its margin to 29 points with 6:45 remaining. Jason Richardson added 22 points for the Suns, who shot 56 percent en route to their 13th victory in 16 games.
Chris Kaman had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Clippers, who havent beaten Phoenix since Jan. 15, 2008, and are 3-13 against them since losing Game 7 of the 2006 Western Conference semifinals at Phoenix.
