Pistons (7-23) 103, Cavs (18-12) 80
The Cavs led 28-17 after one quarter last night before getting smoked the rest of the way.
Brandon Jennings paced the Pistons with 25 in the surprise W, and Andre Drummond posted 16 and 13. Detroit hit 17/31 threes.
LeBron struggled for Cleveland. He hit just 5/19 shots and committed 7 turnovers, though he did finish with 17, 10 and 7. Matthew Dellavedova got nothing going in a spot-start at PG, as he hit just 1/5 shots. On the bright side, Kevin Love dropped 20 and 10.
Spurs (19-13) 110, Rockets (21-8) 106
San Antonio led by double-figures with just a few minutes left last night, and a furious late rally by Houston fell a little short in the end.
Danny Green led the team with 24 points, including four clutch free throws in the closing minute. Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Cory Joseph each scored 14 or more.
Houston got big efforts from James Harden (28), Dwight Howard (24 & 17) and Corey Brewer (25), but it wasn’t enough. Josh Smith (2/7), Trevor Ariza (2/9) and Patrick Beverley (2/10) all struggled.
Mavericks (22-10) 112, Thunder (15-17) 107
OKC held a 98-96 edge with 5 minutes to play last night before Dirk Nowitzki caught fire and put the game away for Dallas. He scored 10 points in that span, and finished with 30 in the comeback win.
Chandler Parsons was big, too, hitting 5/9 threes on his way to 26 points. Monta Ellis chipped in 18, and Rajon Rondo scored 15 while handing out 7 assists.
Russell Westbrook wasn’t at his best. He connected on 6/23 shots with 5 turnovers and 5 fouls in 36 minutes. He still managed 18 points, 9 boards, 9 assists and 5 steals. Serge Ibaka double-doubled with 26 and 10, and Reggie Jackson added 21 off the bench.
Blazers (25-7) 101, Knicks (5-28) 79
Portland grabbed an early lead last night and easily blew past the Knicks from there.
Wesley Matthews was hot, hitting 10/21 shots (6/11 threes) on his way to a game-high 28. Four others were in double-figures, and in all 11 Blazers scored.
The big story for the Knicks was Carmelo Anthony checking out after 19 minutes with a sore knee and never returning. As a 30-year-old in the first season of a five-year deal on a 5-28 team, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Melo get shut down for a while. But…
Anthony still plans to play on New Year’s Eve vs. Clippers. Says three days rest usually gets him back to feeling decent.
— Marc Berman (@NYPost_Berman) December 29, 2014
Raptors (24-7) 116, Nuggets (13-18) 102
The Nuggets actually led early in the fourth quarter last night, but Toronto delivered a late 9-0 run that sparked a nice win.
Kyle Lowry was dynamite with 30 points, 11 assists and 7 boards, but it was Lou Williams who led the team with 31 points. He’s had some major nights filling in for DeMar DeRozan.
Denver got big performances from Ty Lawson (28), Wilson Chandler (20 & 10) and Kenneth Faried (17 & 19) in the loss.
Suns (18-14) 116, Lakers (9-22) 107
The Lakers cut a huge deficit down to just one with 2:20 left, but went scoreless for two minutes afterward and let the game slip away.
Phoenix’s backcourt was huge, as Goran Dragic (24), Eric Bledsoe (22, 8 and 8) and Isaiah Thomas (15) led the charge.
Swaggy P led the Lakers in scoring with 21, and Jeremy Lin was added 19. Props to the Lakers for continuing to show up with Kobe on the shelf.
