Post Up: Lakers Swag

Lakers 114 (2-9), Hawks 109 (5-5)

Swaggy P is back on the floor, and the Lakers won their second game of the season. According to the man himself…

Nick Young (17 points and 5 rebounds) returned to his team last night after recovering from a thumb injury suffered during training camp. While he definitey contributed to the Lakers’ win, he had a lot of help. Kobe Bryant (28 points) became the fourth player in NBA history to hit the 32,000-point milestone last night. Three more Lakers recorded double-doubles—Jeremy Lin (15 points and 10 assists), Jordan Hill (18 points and 10 rebounds), and Carlos Boozer (20 points and 10 rebounds)—to hand the Hawks their first home loss.

Even with the multiple solid performances and a 17-point lead, the game in Atlanta went down to the wire. After heading into the locker room trailing by 15 at the half, the Hawks made sure to go on a run (13-0) in the third quarter. They were down three points with a little over seven seconds remaining in the fourth, but Pero Antic’s shot from the arc missed as the clock expired. Paul Millsap (29 points) had the game-high to lead the Hawks, and Jeff Teague (23 points) completed this awesome slam:

Bucks 117 (6-5), Knicks 113 (3-9)

Another double-digit lead last night was almost thrown away. This time, a 26-point advantage by the Milwaukee Bucks, who hosted the New York Knicks. In the second quarter, Ersan Ilyasova (20 points), Zaza Pachulia (14 points and 13 rebounds) and the rest of the Bucks held the Knicks to just 19 points—and put up a mighty 36 themselves. The Young Bucks continued their fun in the third quarter, opening up with a 27-8 run and headed into the final 12 minutes with what you’d think was a comfortable 15-point lead.

Then the Knicks finally showed up again, going on a run to cut Milwaukee’s lead to a mere two points with 12.9 seconds left on the clock. This reverse dunk courtesy of Iman Shumpert (21 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals) was the highlight of that run:

The run wasn’t enough for the Knicks though, who dropped to 3-9. To make things worse, Carmelo Anthony’s (26 points) sore left knee that acted up as early as the Knicks win in Cleveland on October 30 isn’t doing much better after he hit the floor trying to get a loose ball. The Bucks, however, gained a welcome W to get over the .500 mark.

Jazz 98 (5-7), Thunder 81 (3-9)

Talk about a massive point-turnaround! After trailing by 17 halfway through the second quarter, the Jazz took the lead by as many as 20 near the end of the game. After his team was outscored 23-14 in first quarter by a visiting squad with a losing record, Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder went off at his players in the second.

He got a technical. Usually a T doesn’t help anyone on the team that received it, but in this case—it did. The Jazz did wake up and held the Thunder to just 19 and 17 points in the second and third quarters respectively. All five of the Jazz starters ended up scoring double-figures. Alec Burks (20 points and 14 rebounds) and Enes Kanter (16 points and 15 rebounds) in particular had standout games with their strong double-doubles. Jeremy Lamb (19 points) was the high-scorer for OKC, but Utah owned in the paint 42-26 to send the Thunder away with a third consecutive loss.

Pelicans 106 (6-4), Kings 100 (6-5)

In a battle between two big men, who’d be the one to lead his team to victory?

Anthony Davis (28 points and 9 rebounds), that’s who. While DeMarcus Cousins (24 points and 17 rebounds) had a huge game at home for the Kings, another #3rdQofDoom reared its ugly head. Ryan Anderson’s (22 points) shot started out cold, but he hit three 3-pointers off the bench in the third period to help New Orleans outscore Sacramento 31-15. The Pelicans continued their solid play in the fourth, but the home team wouldn’t go away easily. Sac went on a run to trim the deficit to three points with just over a minute left in the game. Tyreke Evans responded with a pretty turnaround jumper. The Kings then turned the ball over and missed shots, while the Pels hit free-throws to finish the game for good.