Cavaliers (49-27) 114, Heat (34-41) 88
LeBron James dropped 23 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks and the Cavs got their 17th straight home win in a rout of Miami. Four and a half minutes into the game, LBJ passed Patrick Ewing for 20th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list; fittingly enough, the go-ahead bucket came on a jump hook.
Kyrie Irving added 23 points of his own along with 5 assists and 4 steals. Iman Shumpert (17 points, 4 steals) and Tristan Thompson (8 points, 15 rebounds) were instrumental in the win, as well. Luol Deng and Hassan Whiteside each put up 17 points and 8 boards for the losing side. Dwyane Wade bruised his knee in the second quarter after playing 13 minutes and wouldn’t return. Luckily for the Heat, the Hall of Fame shooting guard should be back in action soon — it’s nothing too serious.
Rockets (52-24) 108, Mavericks (46-30) 101
A night after scoring a career-high 51 points, James Harden dropped 24 points and 6 assists to lead Houston over the Mavericks. With the win, the Rockets moved a half game ahead of the Grizzlies for second place in the West. Not only did Dallas lose the game, but it also lost Chandler Parsons to a knee injury in the third quarter. The extent of his injury is unclear at this time.
Apart from Harden, Trevor Ariza (19 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) and Josh Smith (15 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks) had it going as well. Dirk Nowitzki (21 points, 7 rebounds) and Monta Ellis (19 points) led the way for the Mavs, who will probably finish with the seventh seed out West. These two teams could very well play one another in the playoffs.
Warriors (62-13) 107, Suns (38-38) 106
What. A. Game.
The Warriors led 55-44 at the half, but Phoenix crept back into it and the two teams traded leads late in the fourth quarter. Then, one of the best finishes of the season occurred. Steph Curry (28 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 6-11 from deep) hit a 3-pointer to put Golden State up by one point with 6.8 seconds left in regulation. The basket garnered MVP chants from the crowd. On the ensuing play, Eric Bledsoe got free from Klay Thompson and laid in a pretty reverse with 4.5 seconds remaining to regain the lead. Steph wanted the ball again at the end, but he couldn’t get open; Harrison Barnes took the final inbounds pass and somehow managed to get a shot to fall from inside the lane with four defenders surrounding him. He hadn’t scored since the first quarter, but Barnes hit the most important shot of the game to lift the league’s best team to yet another home victory.
