Post Up: Straight Stuntin’

by Peter Walsh

Wizards 107 (26-44), Grizzlies 94 (47-23)

John Wall: Slow down, you’re killin ’em. The rising point guard played the best game of his young career, going for 47 points (13-22 shooting), 8 dimes, 7 boards and 2 turnovers to lead the Wizards to a surprising win over the Grizz. Wall scored 17 of his points in the fourth quarter and led a 13-3 run that put the Wizards up 96-83 with 3:48 left. The Grizz went on a 11-2 run of their own to cut the deficit to four but Wall hit a dagger three to end hopes of a comeback and seal the win for D.C. Emeka Okafor finished with 21 points and 9 boards. Mike Conley led the Grizz with 23 points and 7 dimes, but also had 6 turnovers.

Heat 108 (56-14), Magic 94 (18-53)

Another night, another victory for the Miami Heat. Miami was led by LeBron’s 24 points, 11 dimes and 9 boards and the best player in the world came up big down the stretch. Orlando tied it up at 68 late in the third quarter when the King threw down a dunk then hit a layup and drew a foul to give the Heat control. Miami then cruised to the finish line. With Dwyane Wade out again with a sore knee, Mario Chalmers picked up the slack. ‘Rio scored 17 points on 4-5 shooting from three, dropped 5 dimes and had 3 steals. Miami has now won 27 straight. Jameer Nelson led the Magic with 27 points and 12 dimes.

Pacers 100 (44-27), Hawks 94 (39-32)

The Pacers led by as many as 28, but the Hawks stormed back in the fourth quarter thanks to an Indiana collapse. Over a six-minute span, Nap Town committed five turnovers and missed five straight shots allowing the Hawks to go on a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to ten. The Pacers eventually pushed the lead back to 13 with three minutes left, but the Hawks ripped off a 9-0 run to make it a four point game with one minute to go. The Hawks got a stop on the next possession but D.J. Augustin stole the ball from John Jenkins and found Gerald Green. The prolific dunker immediately fired up a 3-pointer and what would have been a terrible shot otherwise fell through and the Pacers held on for the dub. Green led the way with 19 points and 6 boards and Roy Hibbert finished with 17 points and 13 boards.

Hornets 110 (25-46), Nuggets 86 (49-23)

The Nuggets’ 15-game winning streak came to an end last night in New Orleans. The Hornets led by double-digits much of the way and absolutely blew out Denver, who may have got caught looking ahead to their game against San Antonio tomorrow night. Ryan Anderson led the way with 23 points and 9 boards while Brian Roberts–who started in place of Greivis Vasquez–finished with 13 points and 18 dimes. Eric Gordon also sat with an injury. Danilo Gallinari scored a game-high 24 points and Ty Lawson sat for the third straight game with a heel injury.

Jazz 107 (35-36), Sixers 91 (27-43)

The Jazz led wire-to-wire and bounced back after a losing streak with a blowout win over the Sixers. Utah trails the Lakers for the eighth seed in the West but play seven of their last 11 games at home, giving them a great chance to sneak into the postseason. Seven different Jazz players scored in double-figures and Gordon Hayward and Randy Foye led the way with 15 and 17, respectively. Dorrell Wright scored 19 off the bench for Philly.

Warriors 109 (41-31), Lakers 103 (36-35)

The final deficit was six but the game wasn’t really that close. Golden State led by as many as 25 and ran circles around a Laker team that looked out of sync for much of the game. Steph Curry led the way with 25 points and 10 dimes, Klay Thompson scored 22 and David Lee had a 23-point, 12-rebound double-double. Kobe finished with 36 on 11-17 shooting, Dwight Howard grabbed 15 boards and Steve Nash had 21 points, 9 boards and 7 dimes.