Hornets (22-27) 94, Wizards (31-20) 87
Five Hornets scored in double figures as Charlotte handed Washington its fifth straight loss on Thursday night.
Gerald Henderson (10-15 from the field, 27 points, 2 blocks), Brian Roberts (12 points, 5 assists) and Jason Maxiell (11 points, 8 rebounds, 7 blocks) led the way for the home team. Bradley Beal injured his big toe in the first half and would not return. Paul Pierce (19 points) and John Wall (15 points, 13 assists) were bright spots for the Wiz. The Hornets have now won three consecutive games. They’ve also beaten Washington five straight times.
Henderson threw down the vicious alley-oop on Marcin Gortat:
Cavaliers (31-20) 105, Clippers (33-17) 94
Cleveland extended its streak to 12 games thanks to big games from Kevin Love (24 points, 9 rebounds) and LeBron James (23 points, 9 assists). JR Smith chipped in with 16 points including four three-pointers to go along with 5 steals.
The final score doesn’t fully depict what went down. The Cavs completely annihilated the Clippers. They had a 32-point lead in the third quarter; Love and James sat out the entire fourth. Blake Griffin (16 points, 8 rebounds), Chris Paul (10 points, 9 assists) and DeAndre Jordan (8 points, 14 rebounds) were bright spots for the Clips. Los Angeles was whistled for four technical fouls in the third quarter and five on the game; Matt Barnes was ejected. So … have the Cavs finally figured it out? Is Cleveland ready to make a post-season run under David Blatt’s tutelage?
LeBron was looking especially spry:
Trail Blazers (34-16) 108, Suns (28-23) 87
LaMarcus Aldridge put 19 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks, and the Blazers took care of the the struggling Suns at home.
Aldridge’s 220 career double-doubles mark a Portland franchise record. Nicolas Batum dropped 20 points and 7 assists, Wes Matthews finished with 14 points and 8 boards and Robin Lopez chipped in with 11 points and 12 boards in his second game back from missing time with a broken hand. The Blazers were hot to start the fourth quarter — opening the period with a 9-2 run — and they cruised from there on out. Markieff Morris (18 points, 8 rebounds) and Eric Bledsoe (17 points, 7 rebounds, 6 turnovers) did the most damage for the losing side.
Mavericks (34-18) 101, Kings (17-31) 78
Dallas bounced back from a crushing loss against Golden State to beat the Kings handily in Sacramento.
Monta Ellis scored 21 points, dished out 6 dimes and nabbed 3 steals to lead the Nowitzki-less, Rondo-less Mavericks. Dallas made 9 straight shots over a second quarter stretch and led 60-43 at halftime. The Mavs continued to apply pressure in the second half, forcing Sacramento to commit costly turnovers. The Kings gave up the rock 17 times on the night. JJ Barea shot 7-12 from the floor for 15 points, Tyson Chandler dropped 16 and 16 and Devin Harris provided 15 off the bench. For Sac-town, Boogie Cousins had his way down low with 23 points, 11 boards and 2 blocks. However, he did have 6 turnovers.
Omri Casspi made this WTF shot:
And Boogie drove for the monster slam:
