Heat 112 (38-40), Hornets 99 (36-43)
Miami has come back down to Earth without Dion Waiters, but the Heat turned things on in the third quarter, outscoring Charlotte by 12 in the period.
Goran Dragic (33 points, 5 treys), Hassan Whiteside (13 points, 20 boards) and James Johnson (26 points, 10-12 shooting) all came up huge in the win.
Raptors 105 (48-31), Pistons 102 (35-43)
Welcome back Kyle Lowry.
After missing 21 games with a wrist injury, Lowry was phenomenal in his return to action, scoring a game-high 27 points (9-16 FGs) with 10 assists.
Toronto outscored the Pistons by 15 in the fourth quarter to take their first lead of the game and hold on for the win.
Thunder 103 (45-33), Grizzlies 100 (42-37)
Russell Westbrook came up 1 board shy of a triple-double (45 points, 9 rebounds, 10 assists), snapping a 7-game streak, but got the win in dramatic fashion.
The Brodie hit a dagger trey with 14 seconds left in OKC’s 103-100 win over Memphis.
https://youtu.be/Gr2ZEhGrV-o
Russ’ clutch stats have really helped separate himself from James Harden in the MVP discussion. Per 100 clutch possessions this season, Westbrook is averaging far more points (+19.1) and shooting a far better (+8.2 percentage points).
Nuggets 104 (37-41), Rockets 110 (53-25)
With the W, Houston clinched the 3-seed in the West.
James Harden had a game-high 31 points (including 14 straight in the fourth) with 7 rebounds and 10 assists.
Nikola Jokic put up a crazy line of 12 points, 19 boards, 9 assists and 5 steals. Wow.
Cavs 114 (51-25), Celtics 91 (50-28)
After a 38-point second quarter, Cleveland dominated this one until the end.
The Cavs blew out the Cs in Boston to take a 1-game lead atop the East standings and now hold the tie-breaker over the Celtics.
LeBron James had a game-high 31 points with 10 rebounds, 6 assists and was everywhere on the court.
LeBron with the two-handed volleyball block. 👀 pic.twitter.com/6DLfbjPEaN
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) April 6, 2017
Lakers 102 (23-55), Spurs 95 (60-18)
L.A. fans were actually mad that Lakers lost ping-pong balls. A shame.
Warriors 120 (65-14), Suns 111 (22-57)
The Warriors clinched the NBA’s best record for the third straight season behind Stephen Curry’s 42 points and 11 assists.
There were a couple interesting highlights in this game, both of which didn’t have much to do with the final outcome of the game. Here we go anyway:
1) Shaun Livingston hadn’t made a three all season. Until this happened…
Here's Shaun Livingston's first three-pointer of the season. 😂 pic.twitter.com/0iKPo8DYvF
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) April 6, 2017
2) Derrick “Airplane Mode” Jones Jr is a putback dunk machine.
Now THIS is a putback dunk. #AirplaneMode pic.twitter.com/zVPzoxwvNp
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) April 6, 2017
Mavs 101 (32-46), Clippers 112 (48-31)
The Clippers have won four in a row, but bear in mind that their last three were against the Suns, Lakers and Mavs.
L.A. never trailed and built up a 20-point lead by the fourth quarter.
Blake Griffin led the way with 32 points, while Chris Paul had 22 and 11 and DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 20 boards.
