Celtics 108 (13-23), Pelicans 100 (18-19)
The game in Boston last night was a close one. The biggest lead never extended past eight when the New Orleans Pelicans came to town to take on the hometown Celtics. After heading into the locker room tied at 49 and down four at the start of the fourth quarter, the Boston Celtics were ready to take it up a notch. The Cs outscored the Pels 36-24 as Jared Sullinger put up 13 of his team-high 27 points (plus 10 rebounds for the double-double) in the final period. Jae Crowder added a career-high 22, and four other Celtics were in double-figs as well. Marcus Smart dished out a sweet no-look pass to Tyler Zeller:
Anthony Davis’ game-high 34 points weren’t enough to stop Boston from getting a much desired W.
Rockets 113 (27-11), Nets 99 (16-22)
Well, that escalated quickly. Just five minutes into the game last night in Brooklyn between the Nets and Rockets saw a Kevin Garnett ejection for head-butting Dwight Howard after he gave him a little push on the chest. But I don’t need to sit here and describe what happened for two reasons: 1) you saw it already, 2) Vine.
So after Dwight got T’d up and KG thrown out, the Rockets went on to outscore the home team by 9 in the rest of the first quarter. Harden put up 20 of his 30 in the first half as Houston headed into the locker room up by 8. In the third, the Rockets held the Nets to 18 points. Donatas Motiejunas added 19 points and 11 rebounds as the Rockets took care of the KG-less Nets, despite Mason Plumlee’s 24-point and 10-rebound night.
Pistons 114 (14-24), Raptors 111 (25-12)
Brandon Jennings led the Detroit Pistons to yet another win, Motor City’s ninth victory in 10 games. Jennings shot 11-22 from the field for 34 points (including four 3-pointers) to go along with 10 assists.
He was one of three Pistons in double-figures last night—Greg Monroe had 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Andre Drummond added 10 points and 14 boards.
The Toronto Raptors had three players of their own with double-doubles, including Amir Johnson (12 points, 10 rebounds), Jonas Valanciunas (game-high 31 points, 12 rebounds), and Kyle Lowry (10 points, 12 assists) who dished out 9 assists in the first quarter alone—including this:
But as the sound of the final buzzer approached, the Raptors couldn’t make use of the couple opportunities they had, and the Pistons came out with the road win.
Magic 121 (14-27), Bulls 114 (26-13)
You okay, Pau? Because that poster Nikola Vucevic personally delivered to you in Chicago last night looked like it kind of hurt.
Vucevic and Victor Oladipo scored 33 points each in the Orlando Magic’s victory yesterday over the Chicago Bulls. The Magic were in control for much of the game, going up by as many as 17. They finished the match shooting 59.3 percent from the field, their season-high.
Derrick Rose returned for the Bulls to score 18 points and pass out 7 assists. Gasol added 28 points and 14 rebounds—so yeah, he’s fine. Gonna just shake off the poster and the loss to bounce back tomorrow night.
