Post Up: The King’s Court

Blazers 112 (24-33), Magic 103 (21-38)

Damian Lillard scored 17 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Blazers back from a 11-point fourth quarter deficit. The Blazers outscored the Magic 35-18 in the final frame. CJ McCollum had 22 points and 6 assists and Jusuf Nurkic had 12 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks. Terrence Ross scored 13 in his Magic debut.

Pistons 114 (28-30), Hornets 108 (24-33)

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored the Pistons’ final 11 points in overtime to lead his squad back from being down 18 points. KCP would finish with 33 points and 9 rebounds, outdueling Kemba Walker’s 34 points. The Pistons had 10 more assists than the Hornets and behind five quick points from Marcus Morris to start overtime, they never looked back.

Rockets 129 (41-18), Pelicans 99 (23-35)

The Smoothie King Center was hype for DeMarcus Cousins’ debut as a Pelican. Luckily, Boogie didn’t disappoint, stuffing the stat sheet for 27 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals and 4 blocks. Anthony Davis also had 29 points. But the Rockets came in and destroyed, raining in 20 three-pointers.

In his Rockets debut, Lou Williams came off the bench to nail 7 three-balls and score 27 points. James Harden had his fingerprints all over the game, putting up 13 points and 14 assists in just 29 minutes. Houston built at 35-point lead and held the Pels to 6-31 shooting from distance.

Cavs 119 (40-16), Knicks 104 (23-35)

LeBron James controlled this whole game. The King threw 15 assists, grabbed 13 rebounds and shot 7-11 for his 18 points. He delivered several highlight plays, toying with the Knicks. New York shot 42% and made just 8 of their 26 three-point attempts. The Cavs shot 15-38 from beyond the arc and 53% for the game.  Kyrie Irving scored 23 and Kyle Korver nailed 6 three-pointers for his 20 points. The Cavs have now beaten the Knicks ten times in a row and own an NBA-best 8-1 record in February.

Kings 116 (25-33), Nuggets 100 (25-32)

Willie Cauley-Stein scored a career-best 29 points to lead Sac-Town to a convincing win over the Nuggets. The post-Boogie era is officially underway, with Buddy Hield scoring 16 off the bench. Six Nuggets scored in double-figures, led by Gary Harris’ 23 points.

Warriors 123 (48-9), Clippers 113 (35-22)

The Clippers jumped out to a 16-point lead, forcing turnovers and getting fastbreak buckets. In the second quarter, they outscored the Warriors 37-18 and had a 12-point lead at the half. Then Draymond Green got a tech, Kevin Durant got a dunk and the route was on.

The Dubs scored 50 in the third, the League’s first 50-point quarter since 2014 when the Lakers dropped 51 on the Knicks. In that quarter, Durant had 15 points, 5 rebounds and shot 6-7 from the floor. Stephen Curry became a flamethrower, scoring 20 points, dishing 4 assists and shooting 5-8 from distance. It was over after Curry said it was over, making a buzzer-beating shot with two defenders in his face. Steph finished with 35 points and KD had 25, 15 rebounds and 7 dimes.