Pistons 106 (21-32), Hornets 78 (22-30)
The Detroit Pistons traveled to Charlotte last night with a mission: snap this ugly five-game losing streak. Upon entering the Time Warner Cable Arena, the Hornets’ home floor, that’s exactly what the Pistons did. Greg Monroe posted up a double-double with 23 points and 12 boards, and four more Pistons scored double-figs to win the road game. They kept Charlotte under 20 points in each of the last three quarters. Heading into the fourth, the Pistons already had a 23-point lead. They never parted with it, and Buzz City was forced to cope with their third loss in a row.
Rockets 127 (36-16), Suns 118 (29-25)
James Harden. That man scored 85 points in his last two games. After racking up 45 on Sunday, Harden scored another 40 in Phoenix last night. Twenty of those points came in the fourth quarter alone.
Twelve rebounds and 9 assists complemented Harden’s 40, as did double-figures from five of his teammates. The Rockets ended the first quarter 41-23, their highest-scoring quarter this season. By halftime, Houston held an 11-point lead over Phoenix. In the third, the Suns came out on a 20-3 run to take an 81-73 lead. When it was time for the fourth, the home team was up by a single point. Then as we know, Harden exploded for 20 in the quarter, responsible for more than half of Houston’s 39 points to end the game.
Eric Bledsoe led the Suns with 32 points and 4 assists. One of those assists set up Markieff Morris for this slam in the second quarter:
Bulls 104 (33-20), Kings 86 (18-33)
Hey, Tony Snell. We see you.
In the Chicago Bulls’ home game last night versus the Sacramento Kings, Snell scored a career-high 24 points on 9-11 shooting from the field. Derrick Rose added 23 points and 7 assists, and Pau Gasol finished with 26 points and 16 rebounds—his 13th consecutive double-double and his 34th of the season to lead the League.
Rudy Gay led the Kings with 24, and DeMarcus Cousins added 15 points, 8 baords, and 8 assists but the Bulls held their ground to win their third straight.
Grizzlies 95 (39-13), Nets 86 (21-31)
The Grizzlies opened up their home game versus the Nets last night with dominance, as they took a 32-15 lead. By halftime, Memphis was up by 12. Their lead fluctuated here and there, but it was never relinquished to Brooklyn thanks to solid performances from Zach Randolph (19 points and 8 rebounds), Courtney Lee (15 points and 3 assists), and Marc Gasol (14 points and 11 boards)—who also had 2 assists, one of which he delivered to Jeff Green (11 points) in the third quarter:
Mason Plumlee led Brooklyn with 15 points and 14 rebounds, and five other Nets scored in double-figures, but the six Grizz who scored in double-figs were the ones who came out on top.
Nuggets 106 (20-33), Lakers 96 (13-39)
Both the Nuggets and Lakers lost 13 of their last 14 games coming into the Staples Center yesterday night. Only one team would be able to improve their subpar records—the advantage went to the Nuggets, thanks to Ty Lawson who finished with 32 points and 16 assists.
Nick Young (12 points) tried to keep the Lakers in the game, scoring a couple of timely 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Carlos Boozer added 21 points and 10 boards, but that wasn’t enough to stop Lawson and the Nuggets from snapping their six-game losing streak.
