Boston 110, L.A. Lakers 91
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 30 (AP) -- Paul Pierce scored 33 points and Kevin Garnett had 22 points, 12 rebounds and six assists Sunday night to lead the Boston Celtics to a 110-91 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Boston took the lead in the first quarter and never relinquished it. Each time the Lakers threatened, the Celtics would pull away again.
Kobe Bryant scored 22 for Los Angeles, going just 6-of-25 from the floor. Lamar Odom had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The victory in the final of two meetings between the teams this season ran Boston's NBA-best record to 26-3 and extended its winning streak to six straight. It also ended a four-game winning streak by the Lakers, who still have won 10 of their last 13.
The Celtics prevented Lakers coach Phil Jackson from moving ahead of Boston Hall of Fame coach Red Auerbach on the career wins ladder. Jackson remained tied with Auerbach for seventh on the all-time list with 938 victories.
Ray Allen added 19 points for Boston and Tony Allen, filling in for Rajon Rondo, had 16.
There obviously was a lot of emotion during the game -- and a lot of jawing at the referees, who called seven technical fouls over the course of the game: on the Celtics' Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, Ray Allen and coach Doc Rivers; and the Lakers' Bryant, Trevor Ariza and Kwame Brown.
Odom also was called for a flagrant foul late in the game, with Ray Allen drawing his technical on the same play.
Garnett left the game briefly in the second quarter to get two stitches above his right eye.
Los Angeles, which trailed by double digits much of the game, narrowed the gap to 72-66 with 3:17 left in the third quarter, but Pierce scored 10 points in a row to give the Celtics an 82-66 lead at the end of the period.
Boston was up 53-45 at halftime, with Los Angeles narrowing the gap after falling behind by 17, at 45-28, early in the second quarter.
Pierce had 16 points for the Celtics and Bryant 16 for the Lakers at the break. Bryant made just three of his 15 shots from the floor, but 10 of 11 from the free throw line.
Tony Allen scored 13 first-half points on 4-of-5 shooting while playing in place of Rondo, who sat out because of tightness in his right hamstring.
The Lakers wore throwback, short shorts in the first half, particularly odd-looking in contrast to the Celtics' knee-length, today look.
Garnett and Pierce scored eight points apiece to help the Celtics to a 32-23 lead at the end of the first quarter. Bryant scored nine for the Lakers, but went just 2-of-8 from the floor.
source : NBA.com
Friday, January 4, 2008
Pierce Driving Force As Celtics Cruise Past Lakers
Duncan, Spurs Cruise Past Grizzlies
San Antonio 111, Memphis 87 (F)
SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 30 (AP) -- The San Antonio Spurs were outrebounded and outplayed in the first quarter by the Memphis Grizzlies. And for a team that prides itself on defense, that was not a good thing.
Down by as many as 12 points early, the Spurs turned things around when it counted, beating Memphis 111-87 on Sunday and handing the Grizzlies their fifth straight loss.
"Our group did a good job defensively tonight. After the first quarter they really bore down and allowed 55 points in the last three quarters and for us that's always our fuel,'' said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "We're a good basketball team when we play defense and back it up with rebounding. Everything else flows from that.''
San Antonio finished with a 46-32 advantage off the glass after the sluggish Spurs were outrebounded 10-7 in an opening quarter where the Grizzlies also hit 75 percent from the field.
"Our defense besides the first quarter was really good. First quarter was terrible,'' said Tony Parker, who along with Tim Duncan scored 24 points. "When you play good defense, it creates easy offense, you create fast-break transition and wide-open 3s.''
And just as Parker said, the Spurs did OK in the scoring department, too. Michael Finley scored a season-high 22 points, including five 3-pointers, for the Spurs.
"Every shot I take, I hope it goes in,'' Finley said. "Tonight it was just going in a lot more for me and I think I just had a good rhythm offensively.''
Duncan also grabbed 17 rebounds and Parker had nine assists.
Pau Gasol led the Grizzlies with 19 points and Rudy Gay, whose buzzer-beating 3-pointer earlier this month gave Memphis its only win over the Spurs this season, added 16.
The Spurs secured a 3-1 series advantage over the Grizzlies; the teams will not meet again during the regular season.
The Grizzlies have now lost eight of their last 10 games.
"When we have a lead we think things are going to be easy. I think when you're losing you cannot give up,'' said Darko Milicic, who scored 11 points for Memphis. "We have to get together as a team and play much better defense.''
Rookie guard Mike Conley reappeared for the Grizzlies after sitting out 20 games with the injured right shoulder he got in November. Conley logged 20 minutes and scored six points.
"I was pretty much up to speed. I had to be able to guard a quick guard like Tony Parker. I thought I did pretty well,'' Conley said. "I'm not all the way back, you know, with my wind and things like that. But I think I'm getting there.''
Juan Carlos Navarro contributed 10 points for the Grizzlies.
Matt Bonner added 18 points for the Spurs.
The Grizzlies jumped out to a 32-22 lead after the first quarter before the Spurs started chipping away at the margin in the second quarter with the help of 11 points from Bonner.
After drawing within four points with 3:10 left in the half, the Spurs began a 24-6 run that straddled the second and third quarters and gave them the lead for good. Bonner hit the go-ahead basket for San Antonio, a 3-pointer with 15.5 seconds on the clock in the half that gave the Spurs a 48-46 advantage.
"We let them back in the game in the second half with those 3s of Bonner,'' said Gasol. "We cannot afford to have any letdowns like that.''
Finley's fourth 3 of the evening capped the Spurs' burst, making it 62-48 with 7:38 left in the third. The Grizzlies were able to keep pace late in the quarter by trading baskets with San Antonio, but with the Spurs alternately up by either 20 or 22, it didn't make much of a difference.
The Spurs took an 86-64 lead into the final 12 minutes after outscoring Memphis 38-18 in the third.
Mike Miller's fast-break layup brought Memphis within 15 with 8:14 left in the game, but consecutive baskets by Duncan, followed by his block of Conley's layup attempt, quickly put an end to the Grizzlies' modest surge. The Spurs soon went back up by more than 20.
source : NBA.com
Suns Own Best Road Record In West
Phoenix 117, Sacramento 102
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 30 (AP) -- Even with an abundance of road games in the first two months of the season, the Phoenix Suns are right where they expected, on top of the Pacific Division standings.
Amare Stoudemire scored 31 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to help the Suns beat the Sacramento Kings 117-102 on Sunday night.
"We've had a tough schedule and after some of those losses it's been emotional in our locker room after games where we have made it sound like desperate times, but it's really not,'' said Raja Bell, who had nine fourth-quarter points.
The Suns have seemingly recovered from a stretch earlier this month where they lost five of eight games, concluding with a loss to the Lakers on Dec. 25. They beat the Clippers in back-to-back games earlier this week and were in control practically the entire game against the Kings.
It was another successful game away from home for Phoenix, which has the most road victories (13) in the Western Conference. The Suns have played 19 of their first 31 games on the road. Five of their next six games are at home, starting Jan. 3 against Seattle.
"We've been a good road team the past few years and this was a tough month for us,'' Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We had a lot of away games and were 10-5 (overall), but it only means something later if we take care of our home court.''
Shawn Marion made five 3-pointers and had 25 points, Leandro Barbosa scored 22 points, Steve Nash had 12 points and 15 assists, Grant Hill contributed 12 points and Bell added 11.
After the Kings cut the lead to 99-96 on a basket by Dahntay Jones, Stoudemire followed with a dunk, igniting a 12-0 run by the Suns who went ahead 111-96 with 2:12 left.
Prior to the game, the Kings learned Ron Artest could face possible surgery this week to remove chipped bone fragments in his right elbow. The Kings are 2-8 without Artest in the lineup and went winless in their four-game homestand.
"They are thinking it might be two or three weeks (Artest) will be out, but they are not sure yet,'' Kings coach Reggie Theus said. "I didn't know that he wasn't going to go tonight. I actually thought he was planning on trying (to play). I haven't officially talked to him or anybody about what's exactly going to happen.''
The depleted Kings have also been without leading scorer Kevin Martin (strained groin) the last 12 games and injured point guard Mike Bibby has yet to play this season.
Francisco Garcia scored 30 points for the Kings, who have lost five of six at home where they are now 8-8 this season.
"For some reason Francisco Garcia goes off against us and he had another good game tonight,'' said Stoudemire, who made his first six shots and scored 14 first quarter points. "We wanted to get that win, that's what got us going at the end. But we need to do that consistently.''
John Salmons added 23 points and Mikki Moore had 20 points and 12 rebounds. Brad Miller added nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
"We are just going to put this one behind us, we can't get frustrated because we are losing games,'' Garcia said. "We've gotta start making a run.''
Marion hit four 3-pointers and had 16 points in the third quarter when Phoenix led 93-86. He had a quiet opening half with three points.
Barbosa scored 20 points and Stoudemire had 19 to help the Suns build a 64-55 halftime lead.
source : NBA.com
Nuggets’ Seven-Game Win Streak Snapped
Golden State 105, Denver 95
DENVER, Dec. 30 (AP) -- The Golden State Warriors were focused on playing better defense against Denver and it paid off.
Baron Davis scored 28 points and Stephen Jackson added 23 to help Golden State beat the Nuggets 105-95 on Sunday night, ending a seven-game losing streak in Denver.
It was a far cry from the last meeting between the teams which Denver won 124-120 on Friday night.
"We just played better defense,'' Davis said. "We scored fewer points, but we gave up less as well. I'd say that if you do that and it comes with a win, it's more important.''
Carmelo Anthony had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets. Linas Kleiza and J.R. Smith added 15 points each for the Nuggets, who saw their season-high seven-game winning streak snapped.
The Warriors limited Denver to 35 percent shooting. They also made a slight tweak in their defense putting Davis on Allen Iverson after having Jackson assigned to him on Friday.
"Jackson doesn't do as well with smaller guards so we went to Davis,'' Golden State coach Don Nelson said. "It helped that Allen wasn't feeling all that well.''
The result was Iverson had only 13 points on 2-for-12 shooting after having 39 points off Jackson.
"Every time I tried to penetrate they would bring a lot of people to me to make me give up the ball,'' Iverson said. "I just missed a couple of shots and struggled the whole night.''
Golden State last won in Denver on Feb. 24, 2003.
The Warriors took a 75-72 lead into the fourth quarter and extended it to 83-73 with 9:23 left. While the Nuggets managed only a free throw by Nene and 0-for-7 shooting, Jackson had a jumper and Davis and Monta Ellis converted layups off steals.
The Nuggets got within 87-83 with 6:27 remaining, but Matt Barnes hit a 3-pointer to begin a 10-4 spurt to put the game away.
The Warriors led 55-51 at the break on a 3-pointer by Al Harrington and free throws by Davis in the last 45 seconds. Denver had used a 9-0 run midway through the second quarter to erase a six-point deficit.
Jackson's two free throws provided Golden State with a 63-57 cushion early in the third, but Denver tied it at 63 with layup by Anthony Carter off a deep rebound ahead of two jumpers from Anthony with 6:51 left. The lead changed hands twice before Golden State pulled ahead 75-68 when Jackson hit a 3-pointer and two baskets.
Denver reduced the lead to 75-72 with four free throws in the final 1:36.
"We consider ourselves lucky,'' Nelson said. "I don't know if you could say it was all of our defense, but we did mix our zone up pretty good.''
source : NBA.com
Results Of 30th December
Pistons Repeat Over Pacers for Eighth Straight Win
Detroit 98, Indiana 92
INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 29 (AP) -- Tougher game, same result.
Following a comfortable victory over Indiana on Friday, the Pistons had to work harder against the Pacers on Saturday before extending their winning streak to eight with a 98-92 victory
"They came out tough, and we didn't play quite like we did (Friday)," said Pistons guard Richard Hamilton, who scored 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter. "It was a really tough game all around."
Chauncey Billups had 17 points, reserve Jason Maxiell scored 12 and Rasheed Wallace finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds to help Detroit (23-7) complete the home-and-home sweep over the Pacers.
"It's not that odd to play a team back-to-back, you get that every once in a while in this league," Wallace said. "You still have to go out there and hoop."
Jermaine O'Neal, who led the Pacers (15-16) with 20 points and 11 rebounds, said playing Detroit two straight nights is a difficult task. The Pistons won 114-101 on Friday.
"That's probably the most difficult back-to-back you're going to see during the season," he said. "You don't get very many opportunities to take advantage of that team."
Trailing by six points entering the fourth quarter, the Pacers got within 86-85 following Danny Granger's 3-pointer with 5:43 left. After the teams traded baskets over the next few minutes, Detroit used a 6-0 run to open a 96-89 lead on Hamilton's 3-pointer with 45 seconds remaining.
Mike Dunleavy's 3-pointer cut the deficit to 96-92, but the Pacers couldn't get any closer.
"They made a few more plays down the stretch, but we had our opportunities," said Granger, who finished with 15 points. "We put ourselves in position to win the game, which is what you always want to do."
Billups wasn't surprised by his team's ability to hang on at the end.
"We got everything we wanted in terms of plays down the stretch," he said. "We came together when it really counted."
In a first half that featured nine ties and six lead changes, the Pistons took a 44-40 advantage on Maxiell's two free throws. Indiana opened a 50-48 lead late in the second quarter, but Detroit scored the next four points and took a 52-51 edge into the break.
The Pistons began the third quarter with Antonio McDyess' jumper and Wallace's 3-pointer to go ahead by six. Indiana answered with an 11-2 run to take a 62-59 lead.
Detroit took its biggest advantage of the third quarter, 74-67, following Rodney Stuckey's 3-pointer with 1:32 left.
O'Neal didn't take any solace in keeping the game close.
"There's no such thing as having a moral victory," he said. "They just look at wins and losses in this league."
O'Neal had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Dunleavy scored 18 points and Granger chipped in 15 for Indiana.
source : NBA.com
Butler Leads Wizards Past Tired Wade, Heat
Wizards 96, Heat 74 (F)
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 (AP) -- Dwyane Wade was weary, Shaquille O'Neal wasn't around, and the Miami Heat never stood much of a chance against the balanced Washington Wizards.
Andray Blatche scored 18 points, the Wizards led by as many as 30, and they beat the Heat 96-74 Saturday night, Miami's fourth loss in a row.
It was the lowest point total for the Heat - or any Wizards opponent - this season.
Washington is without its share of key players, too - most notably All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas and Antonio Daniels - but has adjusted well.
Caron Butler scored 16 for Washington, and Antawn Jamison added 15 points and nine rebounds.
A night after playing 51 1/2 minutes, Wade looked sluggish at times and finished with 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting, along with seven turnovers, in 27 minutes. He didn't play at all in the fourth quarter and ended his streak of leading the team in scoring in each of the previous eight games.
This time, Ricky Davis put up 22 points for Miami, which is only two seasons removed from an NBA championship yet stands last in the Eastern Conference at 8-23. Reserve Luke Jackson scored 14, meaning Wade was only third on the team in points.
Going into this season, Miami had won 15 of 16 games against Washington, but the Wizards are 2-0 against the Heat this month.
Washington never trailed Saturday, using a 12-0 run bridging the end of the second quarter and start of the third to take control. The Heat went 8 1/2 minutes without making a field goal, and when that drought finally ended on Daequan Cook's running 9-foot bank shot midway through the third quarter, the Wizards were ahead 68-42.
Blatche's layup with 9 1/2 minutes left in the game gave Washington its biggest lead at 86-56. The Heat scored the next 15 points - but they never cut the deficit smaller than 15 the rest of the way.
Both teams were short-handed, both were playing on a second consecutive night and both showed signs of fatigue at times. The Heat, though, looked far more wiped out.
"This is the NBA. It's insane sometimes,'' Miami coach Pat Riley said, "especially when you're going through what we're going through.''
O'Neal missed a second straight game with a hip problem, while another starter, point guard Jason Williams, sat out with left knee tendinitis. Neither traveled to Washington, nor did guards Chris Quinn (left ankle) or Smush Parker, who hasn't played in a month after a confrontation with a female valet parking attendant. Plus, forward Dorell Wright played just under 13 minutes Saturday before departing with an ankle injury.
All the absences put that much more pressure on Wade, who scored 48 points in Friday's overtime loss to Orlando. He looked exhausted Saturday, compiling six turnovers by halftime and putting up an airball late in the second quarter.
Before the game, Riley compared his star to a champion thoroughbred - one that's spent.
"Today he's like Secretariat. He's, like, sore. And that you're going to have to deal with. So we've been rubbing him all day, brushing him down,'' Riley said with a laugh. "He's going to be sore tonight. We've just got to get him loose, and we've got to be conscious of it. I think he's going to go through that for probably most of the year, until his body just totally comes back.''
source : NBA.com
Raptors Drop Fourth Of Last Five
Houston 91, Toronto 79
HOUSTON, Dec. 29 (AP) -- Yao Ming didn't feel his best Saturday night, but wouldn't let that stop him in the fourth quarter.
Yao scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets to a 91-79 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
Yao has been battling flu-like symptoms recently and though it showed much of the game, as he had a season-high eight turnovers.
Seven of those through the first three quarters.
"I had some problems breathing,'' Yao said. "I felt like I had a lot of fluid in my lungs and in my nose.
"But I know in the fourth quarter you can't make mistakes. I had seven turnovers and I didn't want to get any more. I just wanted to put the ball in the hoop and get the lead and go home and sleep.''
Coach Rick Adelman praised his team's perseverance.
"It was a tough game for both teams,'' Adelman said. "But our guys stayed with it defensively and in the fourth quarter we just tried to go through Yao.''
Tracy McGrady missed his second straight game with left knee tendinitis. He is day-to-day.
"We talked about a way to win without one of our key players,'' said Rafer Alston, who had 18 points and five assists. "We haven't done that this year when Tracy or I were out. So we just want to finally show we have some depth.''
Bonzi Wells had 13 points and 11 rebounds as Houston won its second straight and third in four games.
Chris Bosh led the Raptors with 19 points. Jamario Moon and Jose Calderon each scored 11 as Toronto lost for the fourth time in five games. Calderon, who is sixth in the NBA with 7.9 assists per game, had 10.
"We're trying to figure out why we're not scoring,'' coach Sam Mitchell said. "We normally are top five in scoring but we have to try and get some easy baskets. All of our baskets are grind-out baskets and we're working too hard.''
Bosh and Mitchell had a discussion after the game.
"We had to clear some things up and Coach and I came to a middle ground,'' Bosh said. "I hate to lose and he hates to lose and we just talked about it.
"We need to do a better job of taking it at teams. If we start early and play aggressive, Coach and I feel we can do a better job.''
Yao scored eight in the fourth quarter, including four straight free throws to give Houston an 85-75 lead with 2:29 to play.
With Yao scoring nine and Alston eight in the third quarter, the Rockets led by seven with 2:52 left in the period. But Bosh had eight points, and Calderon and Moon five apiece to pull the Raptors to 68-64 after three quarters.
Both teams struggled in the first quarter, with Houston hitting only 33 percent from the field and Toronto going 7-of-24 (29 percent). They were tied at 19 heading to the second.
The game remained back and forth until Toronto went on a 9-1 run to take a 40-34 lead with 1:36 left in the second quarter. But Houston scored five points the final 5 seconds on Alston's 3-pointer, and a steal and layup by Shane Battier to knot it at 40 at halftime.
source : NBA.com
Mavs Start Hot, Hold On To Beat Hawks
Dallas 97, Atlanta 84
DALLAS(AP), Dec. 29 -- Jason Terry and the Dallas Mavericks never changed their philosophy, even with their recent shooting woes.
"We know we're a good shooting team,'' Terry said. "Shooters keep shooting.''
The Mavericks started fast Saturday by making their first five shots and got an inside boost from Erick Dampier to lead throughout a 97-84 victory that snapped Atlanta's longest winning streak in eight years.
Atlanta was trying to win six in a row for the first time since late in the 1998-99 season, the last time the Hawks made the playoffs and finished with a winning record. But they were already down 12-0 less than 2 1/2 minutes into the game.
"They hit us on the mouth from the start and we didn't do anything about it,'' Hawks guard Joe Johnson said.
"They established themselves defensively as well as offensively. On the defensive end, they beat us up,'' coach Mike Woodson said. "If we're going to be a playoff team, we have to play them the same way they played us.''
Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points and Josh Howard and Devin Harris each had 19 for Dallas, which was coming off consecutive losses in which it combined to shoot less than 40 percent.
Dampier set the tone with a dunk on the opening possession. He finished with his first double-double of the season: 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting, all before halftime, and 10 rebounds.
"There's no secret that when Dampier scores inside, catches and finishes strong, he's a big force,'' Terry said. "Lots of times, we're busy shooting jump shots and not feeding him like we need to.''
After Dampier's opening slam, Howard and Nowitzki added 3-pointers in that early spurt. And when Dallas had to hold off a late charge by Atlanta, Howard and Nowitzki kept it from getting too close.
Nowitzki ended a wild sequence in which both teams missed layups by making a baseline jumper to put the Mavs up 89-79 with 3:07 left. After an Atlanta miss, Howard had a breakaway layup, and though he missed the free throw after being fouled, Dallas maintained a double-figure lead the rest of the way.
The Hawks were within six with 4:53 left after Marvin Williams converted a three-point play and then got credited with a basket on a goaltending call against Dampier. Atlanta never got closer after that 12-1 run.
Williams led Atlanta with 18 points and Johnson scored 17. Al Horford had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
"Our defense was really good early on,'' Mavs coach Avery Johnson said. "We got a little choppy and the game became interesting there. ... But overall, I liked the focus of our team today. That team reminded me of a team I coached here before.''
Maybe the one that went to the NBA finals two seasons ago.
Or the squad that set a franchise record with 67 victories last season before being upset as the No. 1 seed in the first round of playoffs by Golden State, the Mavericks' next opponent at home Wednesday night.
Dallas made all five of its 3-pointers in the first quarter, and finished 7-of-13 after making only 13-of-46 (28 percent) the previous two games. While they didn't maintain their sharp shooting throughout, the Mavs were improved over the previous losses to Utah and Cleveland at 44 percent (32-of-73) overall.
Nowitzki scored eight straight points midway through the third quarter, ending that stretch with a nifty 8-foot fadeaway jumper he made despite getting fouled. That even prompted coach Johnson to get off the bench for a celebratory hand-slap before Nowitzki added the free throw to give Dallas its largest lead at 66-45.
Another acrobatic three-point play by Nowitzki midway through the first quarter, that one a turnaround jumper, pushed Dallas ahead 25-8.
"Games like this are big for us,'' Jerry Stackhouse said. "We came out with a focus that allowed us to win this game comfortably.''
source : NBA.com
Results Of 29th December
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Full Time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timberwolves | 30 | 16 | 13 | 31 | 90 | ||||
| Supersonics | 21 | 36 | 27 | 25 | 109 |
source : NBA.com
