by Jake Fischer / @JakeLFischer
Nuggets (24-26) 80, Pacers (40-11) 119
Depleted by injuries to Ty Lawson and Nate Robinson, the Nuggets had to play Jordan Hamilton and Wilson Chandler at point guard while Randy Foye played off the ball in the second quarter. After the Nuggets trailed by only following one quarter, the Pacers took advantage of the ailing Nugs and blew the game open in the second quarter. Indy kept bringing players off its bench to the point it didn’t look fair. David West led the Pacers attack, hitting on 11 of 13 field goal attempts and pacing the squad with 25 points.
Pelicans (22-29) 101, Raptors (27-24) 108
The Raptors were ready to make a statement from the get go when they hosted the Pelicans on Monday. Check what the message Jonas Valanciunas sent The Brow in the beginning of the first quarter:
The Raps surged to an 11-point lead at the end of the first quarter. But the Pelicans, behind Anthony Davis’ 8 second-quarter points, tied the game up at 49 heading into intermission. The Raptors regained control in the second half with Kyle Lowry finishing the night by posting 19 points and 12 rebounds. The Drakes don’t want to give up on that No. 3 seed anytime soon.
Spurs (37-15) 100, Pistons (22-29) 109
In Detroit’s first game since firing Mo Cheeks, the Pistons handled the reigning Western Conference champs pretty easily. The final score isn’t indicative of how interim head coach Jon Loyer’s team played on Monday. The Pistons at one point led San Antonio by 23 points in the third quarter. Brandon Jennings really did a solid job running the Pistons offense and pushing the tempo while Detroit as a whole used their length and athleticism to force 19 Spurs turnovers. Don’t look now, but Moless-Town Pistons are now on a three-game winning steak and tied with the Bobcats for the eight seed in the East.
Celtics (19-34) 102, Bucks (9-42) 86
When the eight-worst team and the worst team in the NBA meet, it’s definitely going to be a snoozefest. That’s what Bucks fans bought tickets to witness in Milwaukee. After the two teams combined for a relatively boring 71-68 score through three quarters, Boston finally showed some signs of NBA competency as Jeff Green went off for 29 points. The Cs also had four other players in double figures and all nine of the players that saw action had a positive +/-. Sad times in Brew Town.
Rockets (35-17) 107, Timberwolves (24-28) 89
The Rockets continued their blast off over the last few games. Houston has now won six-straight and eight of its last ten. Houston’s offense is just clicking and the team was lights out from three-point land Monday, shooting 40.7 percent from deep as a team. Patrick Beverley was an especially filthy 4-8 and didn’t even show a hint of emotion. Dwight Howard was also a monster in this one, finishing with 18 points and 15 rebounds while swatting 3 blocks. Oh, and Kevin Love had 31 and 10 in the loss.
Sixers (15-38) 80, Warriors (31-21) 123
One night after being bulldozed by the Clippers by 45 points, the Sixers lost to the Warriors by… 43. Not much to say about this one, except Mo Speights had a career-high 32 points on 12-15 shooting in just 26 minutes against the team that drafted him back in 2008.
