Post Up: Welcome Back

by Peter Walsh / @goinginsquad

Magic 102 (11-13), T’Wolves 93 (12-10)

After a strong first half that saw the frontcourt combo of Kevin Love, Andrei Kirilenko and Nikola Pekovic combine for 43 points on 17-29 shooting, the Timberwolves completely fell apart in the second half. The T’Wolves only scored 32 points over the third and fourth quarters and shot a woeful 7-21 in the fourth. The Magic, on the other hand, erupted in the second half. Down 15, the Magic rallied back and after Josh McRoberts’ huge dunk in the third quarter brought the crowd back into it, the Magic had all momentum and were able to pull away. Glen Davis, who scored a game-high 28 points, was on fire in the third. Over a five-minute stretch, Big Baby shot 6-6, including three dunks, and owned Love and Pekovic inside.  In the fourth, J.J. Redick scored seven of his 18 and dropped 4 dimes to lead Orlando to their third straight win.

Quick Hitters:

— Nikola Pekovic is averagine 23.2 points and 9.3 boards over the last 4 games.

— Ricky Rubio will sit tonight against the Heat.

— Can we please get JJ Redick traded to the T’Wolves?

— Nikola Vucevic had 14 points and 11 boards.

— Kevin Love finished with 23 points and 15 boards.

 

Rockets 109 (12-12), Knicks 96 (18-6)

Jeremy Lin and the Rockets handed the Knicks their first home loss of the season, which is one of the biggest examples of poetic justice that I have ever heard. Lin scored 22 points and dished out 8 assists while backcourt mate James Harden added 28 and grabbed 10 boards. The Rockets led by as many as 27 and absolutely destroyed the Knicks on the break, outscoring them 25-10 in fast break points. The Rockets led by two after the first but pulled away in the second quarter, outscoring the Knicks 27-11 to take a 56-42 lead into the half. In the third, the Rockets continued their onslaught and outscored their opponent 27-18 to take an 80-63 lead into the final 12 minutes of play. The Knicks scored 36 points in the fourth but at that point, it was too little, too late.

Quick Hitters:

— Rookie Chris Copeland scored a career-high 29 points in the loss.

— The Rockets are 8-1 at the Garden since ’03-’04.

— Tyson Chandler scored 8 points and grabbed 18 boards.

— Can someone please throw an alley-oop to James White?

 

Clippers 88 (18-6), Pistons 76 (7-20)

The Clippers won their tenth straight thanks to another strong defensive effort in Detroit. Over the last ten games, LA has been holding their opponents to an average of 91 points and 42 percent shooting per game and were even better against the Pistons. Detroit shot 40.8 percent from the field, turned the ball over 17 times and were outrebounded 42-34. The Clippers were led by Jamal Crawford (15), Blake Griffin (15), and Chris Paul who had 14 points and 7 assists. After going on an early 12-2 run, the Clippers took a 58-46 advantage but the Pistons clawed back with a 14-5 run of their own to cut the deficit to three heading into the fourth. The Pistons had a meltdown in the fourth, turning the ball over three times in four possessions and the Clippers took advantage to take an insurmountable 11-point lead with under seven minutes to go.

Quick Hitters:

— Tayshaun Prince scored 15 points and grabbed 7 boards. Brandon Knight had 16.

— The Clippers have a chance to tie a franchise-best 11-game win streak with a win over the Hornets on Wednesday.

 

Grizzlies 80 (16-6), Bulls 71 (13-10)

This game was ugly, which should come as no surprise considering the respective teams’ personnel. Neither team shot 40 percent from the field and the Bulls were absolutely shut down by the Grizzlies’ defense. After scoring 20 in the first quarter, the Bulls scored 14 in the second, 19 in the third and 18 in the fourth. The three-ball proved to be the difference-maker in this one. The Bulls shot a pitiful 18.2 percent from three while the Grizzlies, led by Wayne Ellington’s three long-balls, shot 6-11 from beyond the arc. After shooting 4-22 in the first quarter, Memphis coach Lionel Hollins turned to his bench who responded with five three-pointers to swing momentum and give the Grizzlies a lead. The Bulls cut the deficit to five after a Jimmy Butler dunk with five minutes left in the game but the Bulls couldn’t generate enough offense and the Grizz hung on for the win.

Quick Hitters:

— Memphis outrebounded Chicago 51-39, 18-10 on the offensive glass.

— Chicago’s 71 points were a season-low.

— Mike Conley led Memphis with 17 points, 4 boards and 4 assists.

— Carlos Boozer scored 16 and grabbed 13 boards.

 

Thunder 107 (20-4), Spurs 93 (19-7)

Serge Ibaka was a monster last night, tying his career-high with 25 points while grabbing 17 boards to lead OKC to a surprisingly easy victory over the Spurs. The game was decided in the third quarter after the Thunder went on an 11-0 run and outscored the Spurs 29-16 to take an 82-64 lead into the fourth quarter. Playing the first game of a back-to-back, Pop decided he had had enough and benched his starters for the entire fourth quarter. The San Antonio reserves were able to cut the lead down to nine but the Thunder had already built to big of a lead for them to make any type of serious threat.

Quick Hitters:

— Russ Westbrook scored 22 points, handed out 9 assists and turned the ball over just once.

— Kevin Martin contributed with 20 and Kevin Durant finished with 19 and 6 boards.

— Tony Parker led the Spurs with 14 points and 7 assists.

 

Suns 101 (11-15), Kings 90 (7-17)

The Suns dug themselves quite a hole by falling behind by 19 in the first half but it was no problem as the Suns got hot in the second half and stormed back to win by 11. Behind Shannon Brown’s 14 third-quarter points, Phoenix outscored the fading Kings 31-14 in the quarter to take a six-point lead into the fourth. In the fourth, the Suns continued their comeback and eventually extended the lead to twelve halfway through the quarter after a Mike Beasely three. The Kings eventually cut the deficit to three but the Suns responded with back-to-back three’s from Brown and Jared Dudley to go up by nine and put Sacramento away for good.

Quick Hitters:

— Brown finished with 22 and Dudley scored 20.

— Jimmer Fredette scored a career-high 22 points.

— The Suns have won three-straight games, their first three-game win streak of the season.