Post Up: Dubs Hang On

by Leo Sepkowitz | @LSepkowitzSLAM

Warriors 102, Pelicans 101

Golden State led by five with a few minutes left last night, but the lead was trimmed to one after an Anthony Davis put-back with 47 seconds to play. After a Jermaine O’Neal miss, the Pelicans had a shot to pull out a thrilling win at home, but Eric Gordon was juuuusssttt off the mark with a triple in the waning seconds.

Klay Thompson led the Dubs in scoring with 22, and dished out 8 assists, too. He’s taken his game to a new level this season, averaging about 21 points (51 percent) per game. JO dropped 18 and 8 filling in for a suspended Andrew Bogut, and David Lee went for 19 and 7. Steph Curry narrowly missed a triple-double, finishing with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 9 dimes.

NOLA had a balanced scoring attack, but it just wasn’t enough. Ryan Anderson (21 (3/6 from deep) and 12) and Anthony Davis (14 and 11) both double-doubled, and each of Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans and Jason Smith scored at least 12 points.

Nets 102, Raptors 100

The Nets nearly blew a 15-point fourth-quarter lead before pulling out a win at the buzzer. Andray Blatche led the team in scoring with 24 (10/16), and Joe Johnson added 21. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, who have struggled all season, scored 28 points combined, and added 10 boards and 8 assists between them.

Toronto got a team-high 27 points from DeMar DeRozan (9/15). Kyle Lowry added 24 points and 6 assists, but the supporting cast just didn’t deliver. Rudy Gay scored only 9 points on 12 shots, Jonas Valanciunas posted 7 and 7, and nobody else did much of anything. The Raptors shot sub-44 percent on the night, compared to over 50 percent for Brooklyn.

Lakers 111, Wizards 116

This game was close throughout, but Nick Young missed a game-tying three with 15 seconds left in his return to Washington. John Wall led the Wiz with 31 point and 9 assists. He pushed the tempo on seemingly every Washington possession, and the Lakers just had no answer for him. Similarly, Nene scored 30 points, largely thanks to the Lakers horrendous defense against the Wall-Nene pick and roll. Martell Webster sank 4 threes on his way to 20 points.

LA’s leading scorer was Jordan Farmar, with 22 points (9/11). Steve Blake was solid, too, finishing with 15 points and 5 assists, and Pau Gasol posted 17 points with 6 boards and 8 assists.

Magic 109, Hawks 92

Don’t sleep on this Magic squad in a terrible Eastern conference! Last night, they got 26 from Arron Afflalo and pretty much blew out a solid Hawks team. Jameer Nelson handed out 10 assists, Nik Vucevic double-doubled and Andrew Nicholson came off the bench to hit 8/11 shots in 25 minutes, finishing with 18 points and and 8 boards. Victor Oladipo dropped 18 as well, and is starting to put things together after something of a slow start.

The Hawks led early, but allowed Orlando to outscore them 36-20 in the third period. Al Horford and Jeff Teague each scored a team-high 15 points in the home loss.

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. Today, Rookie Shaq gets the honor.