Post Up: Curry Silences Dallas

by Alex Shultz 

Golden State Warriors 122 (46-28), Dallas Mavericks 120 (44-31)—Overtime

Stephen Curry had a chance to beat the Mavs in regulation but couldn’t knock down a last-second jumper. He made sure that didn’t happen again in overtime, burying the game winner as time expired to give the Warriors a significant road victory against a Western Conference playoff contender.

Curry had 23 points and 10 rebounds, backcourt mate Klay Thompson added 27, and Jermaine O’Neal filled in admirably for the injured David Lee and Andrew Bogut, finishing with 20 points and 8 rebounds.

In the loss, Dirk Nowitzki showed that he’s as good as ever, scoring 33 points to go with 11 rebounds. Monta Ellis had 27 points, but his layup attempt at the end of overtime was blocked by O’Neal – a controversial call that set up the Curry dagger.

Dallas is in ninth place in the Western Conference, a half game back of the Grizzlies and Suns. Golden State, meanwhile, has a two-game cushion on Memphis and Phoenix.

Brooklyn Nets 105 (40-33), Houston Rockets 96 (49-24)

The Rockets were without Dwight Howard, Terrence Jones and Patrick Beverley on Tuesday night, but the Nets hardly cared—they officially clinched a playoff spot after a hard-fought victory.

Joe Johnson was on fire with 32 points and he got some help from Shaun Livingston (17 points, 6 rebounds). Mirza Teletovic and Andray Blatche combined for 23 points and 11 boards off the bench, giving Brooklyn an extra boost of offense.

James Harden had 26 points on just 10 shot attempts and was a whopping 16-16 from the free throw line. Omer Asik pulled down 23 rebounds to go with his 12 points, but the Rockets couldn’t make up an early fourth quarter deficit.

The Nets are currently the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and are 2.5 games up on the Wizards. They’re also only 1.5 games back of the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors. The Rockets, meanwhile, remain in fourth place in the Western Conference, but are now just a game ahead of the Trail Blazers.

Portland Trail Blazers 124 (49-27), Los Angeles Lakers 112 (25-49)

Nick Young brought some entertainment to the Staples Center, but his 40 points weren’t enough to keep the Lakers within striking distance of the Trail Blazers. Swaggy P was 15-26 from the field and 6-13 from beyond the arc, and fellow backup guard Steve Nash was surprisingly efficient with 10 points and 10 assists. They were the only positives for Los Angeles though.

LaMarcus Aldridge put together a monster statline—31 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists—and he manhandled Pau Gasol from start to finish. Damian Lillard was arguably more impressive with 34 points and 8 assists, and four Portland starters had at least 6 assists. Portland has a few days off before a home matchup against the Phoenix Suns on Friday with serious playoff implications.