First thing’s first: all the best to rookie Jabari Parker, who’ll need to have a season-ending knee surgery. You were a joy to watch, and we’re all waiting for you to come back even stronger in your return.
Wizards 109 (18-6), Timberwolves 95 (5-19)
The Great Wall only gets greater with every game. John Wall (21 points and 17 assists) led his Washington Wizards to a home victory last night against the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Wiz took the lead early on, holding the Wolves to only 16 points in the first quarter. At the half, D.C. had a 10-point advantage. After the break, Thaddeus Young and the Wolves attempted a comeback. Young scored 19 of his game-high 29 points in the third quarter to cut the lead to as little as 3. But the Wiz pulled away in the final period behind Rasual Butler’s 18 fourth-quarter points off the bench to earn their fifth straight win.
Heat 95 (12-13), Nets 91 (10-13)
Dwyane Wade. Good ol’ Flash (no one here’s about to call you “Three”). With Chris Bosh missing another game due to a strained calf, Wade stepped up to lead the Miami Heat to a road win in Brooklyn. The rain might’ve caused a half-hour game delay last night due to a leak in the Barclays, but it didn’t stop Wade. With 17 first-half points and 28 for the game on an even 50 percent shooting, the thought that Wade felt under the weather wouldn’t even cross your mind. The Heat had a 15-point lead during the match-up last night, but the Nets cut the gap to just 2 with 35.1 seconds left in the game. An unfortunate foul call led to two made Heat free throws to extend Miami’s lead 95-91. A final chance for the Nets ended up being a sad missed layup.
Grizzlies 105 (20-4), Warriors 98 (21-3)
The Golden State Warriors’ 16-game winning streak ended last night in no other than the FedEx Forum. The Memphis Grizzlies continue to dominate at home, with a League-best 12-1. Down 6 at the start of the second quarter, the Grizz reserves scored 20 straight points to give the home team a 14-point lead. Vince Carter (16 points) had 11 of Memphis’ 33 points in the quarter, and Zach Randolph (17 points and 10 rebounds) recorded a double-double on the night. Marc Gasol led all scorers with 24, and he had this block on Steph Curry (19 points and 6 assists):
Marc Gasol says no! #NBAGIF pic.twitter.com/w1OMVKTqTw
— NBA (@NBA) December 17, 2014
The Warriors tried to hang on in the fourth by cutting the lead to 2 on a couple occasions, but Mike Conley (17 points and 5 assists) and the rest of the Grizz would pull away victorious in a battle between the top two teams in the NBA.
And now, enjoy Andre Iguodala mocking what he thought should’ve been called a travel on Conley instead of a finger roll layup for 2 points. (He got hit with a T, but this is still funny.)
Pelicans 119 (12-12), Jazz 111 (6-19)
After missing the previous game, Anthony Davis returned last night for the Pelicans and boy, was his presence sure felt. He had the game-high 31 points plus 9 rebounds and 3 blocks to lift New Orleans over the visiting Utah Jazz. Enes Kanter hit a new career-high 29 points as the Jazz played a fine game for most of the quarters last night. The fourth and final period was when the Jazz began to crumble and the Pelicans picked away at every crumb. New Orleans scored 41 points in the final quarter compared to the Jazz’s 22 to seal the win at home behind the play of Tyreke Evans (19 points and 6 assists) and Davis—check out his sick reverse dunk:
Mavericks 107 (18-8), Knicks 87 (5-22)
Tysin yu nevur tryed dis hard 4 mi…
— Mic Wudsen (@MikeWoodsonPls) December 17, 2014
Gonna start off with the above tweet because a little laugh is probably healthy for the frustrated Knicks fans out there…
Tyson Chandler’s old-new team destroyed the Knicks in his return to Madison Square Garden last night. He scored a helpful 8 points and 14 rebounds in the game, as five other Mavs contributed double-figures. Here’s a Chandler Parsons’ (13 points and 6 assists) pass to Tyson for the dunk:
For the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony had the usual proper scoring night with 26 points in a loss. When the Knicks’ starters allowed the Mavs to score on 10 of their 11 attempts in the first, Coach Fisher replaced all of them with reserves. But the Mavs kept doing their thing to get a solid win on the road.
Thunder 104 (12-13), Kings 92 (11-14)
Congratulations are in order for Mr. Kevin Durant, who with the shot below became the second youngest player in NBA history to hit the 15,000-point milestone.
Congratulations to the OKC Thunder too, now with the longest current winning streak in the League. KD (26 points) and Russell Westbrook (32 points and 7 assists) combined for 58 in the Thunder’s road win in Sacramento. After being sidelined for the opening games of the season, the two stars put OKC back on the map in the West, further adding to the competitiveness of the Conference.
For the Kings, Rudy Gay led with his 22 points on the night, including this mighty poster on Serge Ibaka:
Although a great highlight, Rudy’s performance wasn’t enough for the W, as the Kings lost their fourth straight game.
