Warriors (8-2) 136, Lakers (1-9) 115
If a dude drops 44 but his team gets steamrolled at home, is it still impressive?
Last night, Kobe hit 15/34 shots for 44 in 31 minutes, but his Lakers were down 11 after the first period and never got back in the game. Carlos Boozer (3/13), Wes Johnson (3/11) and Jeremy Lin (0/2, 1 assist) all played poorly. Jordan Hill double-doubled with 15 and 11 and Ed Davis scored 10 points with 6 rebounds off the bench.
The Warriors tallied 115 points through three quarters before taking their foot off the gas. Steph Curry led the way with 30 and 15. Andrew Bogut hit 7/9 shots for 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Marreesse Speights was incredible off the bench, scoring 24 points (8/11, 8/8 FT) with 9 rebounds in 20 minutes. Golden State was just on fire, sinking 14/28 threes and 30/34 free throws.
Knicks (3-8) 109, Nuggets (2-7) 93
The Knicks have been pretty bad this season, but Nuggets have been worse.
Yesterday afternoon, Denver shot just 39 percent from the floor, committed 17 turnovers and got held to 8 points in the second quarter.
New York got a strong effort from Carmelo Anthony (10/14, 28 points) in the win. JR Smith (10/16) dropped 28, too, and Samuel Dalembert and Quincy Acy each grabbed 8 rebounds.
Lawson scored 17 for Denver, and Arron Afflalo was the high-man with 18. The Nuggets have dropped 7/8.
Bucks (5-5) 91, Heat (5-5) 84
The Heat never settled into a groove last night, and the surprisingly solid Bucks took advantage. Milwaukee pulled ahead in the third quarter and protected their lead in the fourth.
Brandon Knight led the way with a game-high 20, and is averaging roughly 18 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds per game so far this year. Jabari Parker added 13 and 6.
Dwyane Wade sat with a bad hamstring, and Chris Bosh hit just 2 of 17 shots on the night. Mario Chalmers (18 and 5) and Shawne Williams (13 and 11) both stepped up, but it wasn’t enough.
Rockets (9-1) 69, Thunder (3-8) 65
The Thunder are obviously minus their two best players, but they still usually hover around 90 points nightly. Houston owns one of the most potent offenses in the League, though their scoring is down from last year.
Put ’em together, mix in some James Harden Revenge Game blowup potential and you get… 43/148 shooting from the floor?
Both teams were horrible offensively last night. Houston scored just 9 third-quarter points in the least prolific effort by a winner in nearly a decade.
Harden’s 19 led all scorers. He hit just 5/17 shots, but made 7/8 free throws and collected 9 rebounds. Dwight Howard was brutal from the floor and at the line (4/14 and 4/13), but finished with 12 and 9. Houston’s bench shot 3/19 overall.
OKC got 15 from both Lance Thomas and Reggie Jackson (11 boards). They made only 20/68 shots, though, and allowed Houston to grab 22 offensive rebounds. Steven Adams and Serge Ibaka combined for 11 rejections, but shot just 5/15 for 11 points.
