NBA
November 23, 2017

Post Up: Russ Holds Court

Thunder 108 (8-9), Warriors 91 (13-5)

This one lived up to the hype as much as any 17-point game could. First, KD got booed during starting lineups. Then Russell Westbrook threw down this dunk and stomped his feet:

Then Russ and KD got into it:

>What more could you ask for? Westbrook, true to his form, finished with a near triple-double, with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. Steph Curry led the Warriors with 26 points.

Heat 104 (8-9), Celtics 98 (16-3)

The Streak is over. The Boston Celtics’ run of 16 consecutive victories came to an end in Miami Wednesday night behind a strong start from the Heat and 27 points from Goran Dragic and 26 from Dion Waiters. Miami led by 11 after the first quarter and later extended its lead to 18. But, like great teams are prone to do, the Celtics stormed back with a furious fourth-quarter run to put a scare into the Miami crowd. Kyrie Irving had 23 to lead the Celtics.

Cavaliers 119 (11-7), Nets 109 (6-11)

The Nets hung with the Cavs almost the entire way, but when LeBron James decides to take over a game, there’s not much you can do. LeBron scored 23 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter and 17 of them in the final five minutes, helping the Cavs turn a tie game into a double-digit victory. Kevin Love helped out LeBron with 18-and-10, while Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 18 to lead the Nets. With the win, Cleveland has now won six straight games, making that slow start to the season seem so long ago.

Hornets 129 (8-9), Wizards 124 (10-8) OT

The Hornets improved to 7-2 at home behind a thrilling win over the Wizards. Washington had a shot to win it at the end of regulation, but Dwight Howard blocked a Bradley Beal jumper, allowing time to expire. The Wizards led by nine with 3:32 to play, until Kemba Walker scored eight points to key the run that forced overtime. In the extra session, the Hornets used a 9-2 run to take control and held on from there. Howard had 26 points and 13 rebounds, while former college teammates Walker and Jeremy Lamb each added 24. John Wall led all scorers with 31 points.

76ers 101 (10-7), Trail Blazers 81 (8-1)

The 76ers scored the first 16 points of the game and kept Portland off the board until almost the 5:00 mark of the first quarter on a night in which they never trailed. Joel Embiid‘s 28 points led five Sixers in double-figures as Philly won for the fourth time in the last five games. The highlight for Embiid, however, wasn’t a made basket. It was this volleyball-like block:

The guy on the other end of that, Damian Lillard, had 30 to lead Portland on 11-27 shooting.

Clippers 116 (6-11), Hawks 103 (3-15)

One way to snap a nine-game losing streak: Do it behind a Blake Griffin triple-double (26 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) and against a team that has won just three out of 18 games. The Hawks actually led by seven a few minutes into the second half, but the Clippers outscored them by 20 over the final 19 minutes. Wesley Johnson helped out Griffin with 24 points as the Clippers shot 58 percent from the field for the game. Marco Belinelli had 20 to lead the Hawks.

Knicks 108 (10-7), Raptors 100 (11-6)

Tim Hardaway Jr.‘s career-high 38 points to go with 22 from Kristaps Porzingis was all the firepower the Knicks needed to hold serve at home.The Raptors led by 11 at the half, but the Knicks won the third quarter by a remarkable 41-10 count to put the game out of reach. Kyle Lowry led the Raptors with 25 points.

 

Rockets 125 (14-4), Nuggets 95 (10-8)

Chris Paul had 23 points and 12 assists, while James Harden neared a triple-double with 21 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds. It all added up to a blowout win for Houston, despite being without the services of Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson. The Rockets led 75-40 at the half in a game that was never really close. Will Barton had 20 to lead the Nuggets.

Mavericks 95 (4-15), Grizzlies 94 (7-10)

The back-and-forth game was decided in half a second, as Harrison Barnes caught an inbounds pass and hoisted a three to win the game as time expired.

The loss was the sixth in a row for Memphis, which led by 18 in the first half. Barnes had 22 points and nine boards to lead the Mavericks, while Tyreke Evans had 18 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists for the Grizzlies.

Timberwolves 124 (11-7), Magic 118 (8-10)

The second half was a tale of two quarters as the Timberwolves had just enough to escape with a win. Minnesota led by three at the half before outscoring Orlando 41-18 in the third quarter. It looked like the Timberwolves would coast from there, but the Magic scored the first 15 points of the fourth quarter to get back into it. That was part of a 19-1 run that cut their deficit to single-digits as the continued to chip away down the stretch before running out of time. Jimmy Butler and Aaron Gordon each had 26 to lead their teams in scoring.

Pelicans 107 (10-8), Spurs 90 (11-7)

The Pelicans out-scored the Spurs 68-40 in the middle two quarters to earn their 10th victory of the year. Anthony Davis had 29-and-11 to lead the way and made a little bit of history while he was at it.

Rudy Gay had 19 for the Spurs, who shot under 40 percent as a team and went just 6-24 from deep.

Jazz 110 (8-11), Bulls 80 (3-13)

Derrick Favors had 23 points and went 8-11 from the field as the Jazz pulled away from the Bulls in the second half. Chicago committed 16 turnovers in the game and shot 37 percent from the field. Robin Lopez led the Bulls with 15 points and was the only player to shoot better than 50 percent. Lauri Markkanen went 1-9.

Bucks 113 (9-8), Suns 107 (7-12) OT

Devin Booker hit an improbable three as time expired in regulation to tie the game, but the Suns scored just two points in overtime. Those points came on a TJ Warren shot with 2:12 to play, then the Bucks scored the final six of the game. Khris Middleton had 40 points and Eric Bledsoe had 30 to lead the Bucks, who played without Giannis Antetokounmpo. Booker led the Suns with 23.

Kings 113 (5-13), Lakers 102 (8-11)

The Kings came into the game having lost five out of six, but 26 points from Willie Cauley-Stein and 22 from Zach Randolph was enough to snap their skid. Sacramento took a 31-19 lead into the second quarter and didn’t look back, sending the Lakers to their sixth road loss of the year. Lonzo Ball had 11 points and 11 assists for the Lakers. Two of those points came via this lob from Corey Brewer:

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the Lakers in scoring with 20 points.

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