Post Up: Home Court Advantage

by Leo Sepkowitz | @LSepkowitzSLAM

Timberwolves 100, Wizards 104

Minnesota carried a 12-point lead into halftime before letting the Wiz back into it. Minnesota regained the lead on a Kevin Martin trey with 1:10 remaining, but Washington closed the game on a 7-2 run to seal the win.

John Wall posted 14 points with 16 dimes and just one turnover against Ricky Rubio. He also hit a go-ahead bucket right before Martin’s three. Meanwhile, Bradley Beal dropped 25, Nene scored 20 and Martell Webster knocked down 5 triples in the impressive offensive showing. Washington hit 7/15 threes and 15/15 free throws on the night.

Kevin Love led the TWolves with 25 points and added 11 rebounds. That’s once again become the standard for arguably the League’s best big man following an 18-game, injury-plagued season. Five more players scored in double figures for Minnesota, including Corey Brewer, who dropped 16 with 4 boards and 4 steals.

Knicks 86, Pistons 92

Detroit controlled this one for most of the second half, leading by about six throughout. Their Big Three delivered big time. Greg Monroe (16 and 11) and Andre Drummond (13 and 11, 3 blocks) each double-doubled, and Josh Smith dropped 19 (and launched 6 more treys, hitting 2 of them). Brandon Jennings (2 points, 7 assists) left early with an illness, so Rodney Stuckey saw a boost in minutes and came through with 21 points and 5 dimes.

Carmelo Anthony led New York in scoring with 25. He hit 8/20 shots and 8/11 free throws, but just isn’t getting enough help from the supporting cast. JR Smith scored 18 points but was 2/9 from deep, while Andrea Bargnani scored 13 in 38 minutes and Iman Shumpert scored 11.

Shump hasn’t cleared 15 points since the season opener, and the other two guys are inconsistent to say the least. Amar’e Stoudemire played 15 pretty good minutes (6 points, 5 boards), though he did have one embarrassing defensive lapse (below). It’s not totally clear how the 3-7 Knicks can turn things around with this roster.

Hawks 88, Heat 104

Atlanta played Miami about even for the first 30 minutes of Tuesday night’s game before the Heat ran away with the win.

LeBron had a pretty quiet night in 31 minutes, finishing with 13 points, 6 boards and 5 assists. Chris Bosh led the game in scoring with 19, while Ray Allen knocked down 3 threes off the bench on his way to 17 points. Miami hit more than half their shots from the floor.

The Hawks never really got in a groove offensively. Mike Scott led the team in scoring and rebounding with 15 and 10, while Al Horford was the only starter in double-figures.

Celtics 85, Rockets 109

Total blowout in Houston last night. The Rockets led 18-1 early on and 40-18 after one quarter. Terrence Jones led the way with 24 points (10/12) and 9 boards, and has really stepped up with Omer Asik out of the rotation. James Harden went for 15, 5 and 5 in 31 minutes and Dwight Howard double-doubled with a trio of rejections.

Boston’s only starter with more than 9 points was Avery Bradley, who needed twenty-two shots to score 11 points. Courtney Lee scored 17 and Jared Sullinger went for 10 and 9 in 22 minutes, both coming off the bench.

Suns 104, Kings 107

The Suns led 104-97 with 3:34 left and never scored again last night. Sacto tied the game up on a Travis Outlaw bucket with 39 seconds left (Outlaw in crunch time?) and Isaiah Thomas put the Kings up for good at the line on the following possession.

Sacramento got a huge double-double from DeMarcus Cousins: 27 points (9/18, 9/15 free throws) and 12 boards to go along with 3 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Ben McLemore and Thomas both kicked in 19.

Gerald Green led the Suns’ attack with 23 points (4 threes). Rookie Archie Goodwin saw some bonus minutes with Eric Bledsoe out of the lineup, and responded with 16 points off the bench. Marcus Morris added 19 and Channing Frye knocked down 3 treys on his way to 17 points and 9 rebounds.

Bonus: Vintage Show Of The Day

This season, I’ll be posting a semi-random highlight video of a former baller at the bottom of my Post Ups. Yesterday, Scottie Pippen got the spotlight. Today, it’s a combo of three of the elite power forwards from the ’90s. Enjoy this LJ, Shawn Kemp and Karl Malone mashup.