Post Up: Beast Mode

by Peter Walsh / @goinginsquad

Wolves 105 (8-8), Sixers 88 (10-8)

Minnesota shot 53 percent from the field, made a season-high 13 three-pointers on 52 percent shooting, had seven players score in double-figures and outrebounded the Sixers 47-40 en route to a blowout victory. Minnesota led by as many as 23, took an 18-point lead into the half and Philly never got closer than 14 after that for a bad home loss.

Quick Hitters:

— The 65 first half points by the Wolves was the most they have scored, and the most the Sixers have given up, in a half this sason.

— Alexey Shved led the Wolves with 17 points. Kevin Love scored a season-low 6 points but J.J. Barea picked up the slack with an 11-point, 10-assist double-double.

— Ev Turner scored 19, Thad Young scored 13, Jason Richardson scored 14 and Jrue Holiday scored 13 points and dished out 9 assists.

Wizards 105 (2-13), Heat 101 (12-4)

Yes, you read that score correctly. The Wizards defeated the Heat last night in D.C. despite a 26-point, 13-rebound, 11-assist triple-double from LeBron. The Wizards played great team ball and had a season-high 31 assists on 38 made shots while shooting 48 percent from the field. Surprisingly, the Wizards kinda dominated this game. They led after each quarter and pushed their lead to 12 in the third before the Heat made a comeback and tied the game at 88 with under 7 minutes to play. Kevin Seraphin came up huge from there. The second-year man went on to score eight points over the final six minutes and after Chris Bosh’s tying layup, Seraphin hit a jumper to put the Wiz up for good. D.C. hit four out of six free throws in the final 11 seconds to win their third straight over the Heat.

Quick Hitters:

— Interesting fact: over the course of his career, whenever LeBron has put up a stat line of 26+ points, 13+ rebounds and 11+ assists, his team is 3-5.

— The Heat shot 8-28 from behind the arc and missed 7 of 9 three’s in the fourth.

— Seraphin finished with 16 points and 10 boards. Jordan Crawford scored a team-high 22 and served 6(!) assists. A.J. Price added 14, Shaun Livingston scored 13 and Brad Beal chipped in with 10.

Thunder 117 (15-4), Nets 111 (11-6)

OKC’s first visit to Brooklyn was a successful one as Kevin Durant matched Deron Williams’ game-high 33 points with 32 of his own and propelled the Thunder to a tough road win. The Thunder built a 16-point lead and with Brook Lopez sitting on the bench with a foot injury, it looked like OKC was going to get an easy dub over the Nets. But this is a tough, relentless Nets team and they fought their way back into the game thanks to a big third quarter from Gerald Wallace. Wallace hit four three-pointer’s and finished with 14 points on the night. With just under two minutes left in the game, Kris Humphries was called for goaltending after he pinned KD’s layup. The call was disputed and reviewed but upheld and gave the Thunder a 110-106 lead. For whatever reason, that call seemed to suck all the energy out of the Nets and they didn’t score again until the game was well in hand.

Quick Hitters:

— Durant also went 12-12 from the stripe.

— The Thunder shot a ridiculous 60 percent from the field. Tough to beat a team when they’re shooting that well.

— Russ Westbrook finished with 25 points and 9 assists while Serge Ibaka chipped in with 18 points and 6 boards.

— Andray Blatche notched a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double and Joe Johnson scored 17 on 8-21 shooting.

Pacers 80 (9-9), Bulls 76 (8-8)

In a low-scoring affair, a formerly slumping Paul George went off with 34 points to lead the Pacers to a win at the United Center. The game was ugly all around: neither team shot 40 percent, Indy shot 20 percent from beyond the arc, while the Bulls shot 33.3 percent and the two teams combined for 31 turnovers. The Pacers led by nine late in the third, but Chicago stormed back and took a 74-70 lead with just under four minutes to play. Indiana turned it up defensively and chipped away and eventually regained a 78-76 lead. Trailing by two, Luol Deng drove baseline with six seconds to go and drew contact from Roy Hibbert but no call was made. The Pacers made their free throws on the other end and put this one on ice.

Quick Hitters:

— Nate Robinson led the Bulls with 19 and Luol Deng chipped in with 17.

— David West and Hibbert each scored 10.


Grizzlies 108 (13-3), Suns 98 (7-12) F/OT

Z-Bo was an absolute beast last night, scoring 38 points on 15-22 shooting while grabbing 22 boards to completely dismantle the Suns frontcourt. Z-Bo carried his teammates on a night when the rest of the team was struggling. Phoenix led by as many as 16 during regulation but couldn’t stop Randolph and the Grizz eventually crawled back into the game. With about a minute to go, the Grizzlies took their first lead of the game since early in the first thanks to a free throw from Mike Conley. Phoenix regained the lead but Rudy Gay tied it on a jumper with 15.9 seconds left to send the game into OT. During overtime, Conley connected on a three and from there it was all Z-Bo. The big man made three straight buckets including a tough fadeaway jumper over Marcin Gortat. When it was all said and done, the Memphis faithful were chanting “Z-Bo!” and the big man played the hero role for the best team in basketball.

Quick Hitters:

— Z-Bo now has a league best 14 double-doubles on the season.

— Quincy Pondexter scored a season-high 16 off the bench.

— Phoenix ended their six game road trip 1-5.

— Goran Dragic led the suns with 19 points and 7 assists.

Rockets 107 (9-8), Lakers 105 (8-10)

It keeps getting uglier and uglier out in Hollywood especially after last night’s loss to the Rockets due largely in part to pitiful free throw shooting from Dwight Howard. Down the stretch, the Rockets fouled the hell out of Howard and the big man couldn’t convert. Over the final three and a half minutes of the game, D12 shot 5-10 from the stripe and allowed the Rockets (who trailed by 13 early in the fourth) to storm back and get a win. Tony Douglas had a huge game off the bench, scoring a 22 points, none of which were bigger than his three-pointer with two and a half minutes to go that gave the Rockets their first lead of the game. The two teams continued to trade buckets and free throws and with the Rockets clinging to a four-point lead, Kobe (who finished with a game-high 39) drilled a three with 13 seconds remaining. On the other end, Douglas hit one of two free throws to make the score 107-105.  The Lakers had the rock and a chance with eight seconds left. With the ball in their longtime star’s hands, Kobe said, “fuck it, I’m going for the win”, chucked a three and missed and this one was a wrap.