Sunday January 4th 2015 In The NBA
The NBA on a Sunday, shrouded by saddening news of the passing of Stuart Scott who was a big part of the NBA’s media coverage for the last 2 decades, saw the home teams stay strong for the most part.
Dallas Mavericks At Cleveland Cavaliers. Mavs beat Cavs 109-90.
As “The King”, LeBron James, begins his 2 week stint off the court to rehab some injuries, the Cleveland Cavaliers hosted the Dallas Mavericks. Monta Ellis scored 20 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 15 and the Dallas Mavericks won their fifth straight game. Tyson Chandler and Chandler Parsons each had 14 points. Tyson Chandler also grabbed 8 rebounds on the night. J.J. Barea came off the bench to score 14 points and Richard Jefferson joined Barea off the bench to score 11.
Kevin Love score 30 points for the Cavs with 10 rebounds on the night. Matthew Dellavedova scored 10 for the Cavs and Shawn Marion came off the bench to score 13. Kyrie Irving only had 6 points on the night.
James, who is out with knee and back soreness, missed his fourth in a row and fifth of the season. The Cavs are 1-4 when the four-time MVP doesn’t play and they also have dropped 5 of their last 7.
Dallas Mavericks are 25-10. Cleveland Cavaliers are 19-15.
Sacramento Kings at Detroit Pistons. Kings beat Pistons 114-95.
Since letting Josh Smith roam free away from the ‘Motor City’, the Detroit Pistons have been on a roll and haven’t looked back as they extend their season-high winning streak to 5 with their home victory over the Sacramento Kings. Brandon Jennings had a huge night scoring 35 points and handing out 7 assists on the night. Greg Monroe had 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Andre Drummond scored 15 points with 14 rebounds. Jodie Meeks came off the bench to score 13 points.
DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings with 18 points and pulled down 15 rebounds. Darren Collison had 17 points and 6 rebounds, Ben McLemore scored 11 points and Rudy Gay contributed 12 of his own. Derrick Williams came off the bench to score 12 and Ray McCallum also came off the bench to score 10 points.
Detroit Pistons are 10-23. Sacramento Kings are 14-20.
Brooklyn Nets at Miami Heat. Heat beat Nets 88-84.
A surprise bench performance helped fuel the Miami Heat to a victory over the Brooklyn Nets in South Beach to end the Heat’s 4 game losing streak.
Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 25 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Chris Bosh also had a big game, scoring 26 points for Miami. It was reserve big man, Hassan Whiteside, who had the surprising game scoring 11 points off the bench and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Joe Johnson led the Nets by scoring 19 points and the only other Nets starter in double figures was Mason Plumlee who scored 12 points. The most expensive bench in recent memory was led by Brook Lopez who scored 16 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Deron Williams dropped 13 points with 8 assists and 6 rebounds on the night and Mirza Teletovic had 14 points also coming off the bench.
Miami Heat are 15-20. Brooklyn Nets are 16-17.
Milwaukee Bucks at New York Knicks. Bucks bash Knicks 95-82.
New York Knicks are reeling and in the worst way. Thanks to the Milwaukee Bucks the Knicks, who were without Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani, have now lost 11 straight games and are right at the bottom of the NBA.
Brandon Knight led the Bucks with 17 points on the night and dished out 5 assists. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Zaza Pachulia scored 16 points each. Pachulia grabbed 14 rebounds and Antetokounmpo grabbed 12 rebounds. Johnny O’Bryant scored 10 for Milwaukee starting at power forward due to the many front court injuries the Bucks have. Kendall Marshall came off the bench to score 15 points on the night coming off the bench for Milwaukee.
The Knicks were led by Tim Hardaway Jr. who scored 17 points for New York. J.R. Smith helped Hardaway by scoring 15 points, grabbing 7 rebounds and handing out 4 assists. Cole Aldrich scored 12 points and grabbed 7 rebounds starting at center for the Knicks. Jason Smith scored 10 points coming off the bench for the Knicks.
Milwaukee Bucks are 18-17. New York Knicks are 5-31.
Toronto Raptors at Phoenix Suns. Suns smash Raptors 125-109.
Eric Bledsoe leads the Suns to a big win over the Toronto Raptors at home. Bledsoe dropped 20 points and handed out 8 assists. The other 2 parts of the point guard triple threat in Phoenix, Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas, also helped out Bledsoe in a big win over the Raptors.
Dragic scored 18 points and grabbed 6 rebounds for Phoenix and Thomas came off the bench to also score 18 points and got 5 steals. Alex Len scored 10 points for the Suns. Marcus Morris came off the bench to score 10 points, Archie Goodwin scored 12 points and Gerald Green scored 11 points while grabbing 6 rebounds and all 3 players came off the bench for the Suns.
Jonas Valanciunas led the Raptors with 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Toronto. Kyle Lowry scored 19 points while handing out 7 assists and Terrence Ross scored 12 points for the Raptors who are expected to get All-Star DeMarr DeRozan back this week. James Johnson and Louis Williams scored 17 points for Toronto and Johnson also grabbed 7 rebounds as both players came off the bench.
Phoenix Suns are 20-16. Toronto Raptors are 24-10.
Indiana Pacers at Los Angeles Lakers. Lakers defeat Pacers 88-87.
An almost fight, a miraculous comeback, 2 teams who don’t want to give in and the old mainstay clinching it late for his team. Sounds like the pitch for a big time Hollywood movie, right? Instead it was what happened between the Indiana Pacers and Los Angeles Lakers as they faced off in Los Angeles.
A Kobe Bryant statline that included him playing 32 minutes, scoring 20 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, dishing out 6 assists, getting 3 steals and even a go-ahead baby hook with 12 seconds to go in the game to lead the Lakers to victory. Ed Davis scored 11 points and grabbed 6 rebounds for Los Angeles, being the only other Lakers starter in double figures. Nick Young came off the bench to score 22 points and shot 12-12 from the free throw line. Carlos Boozer scored 12 points off the bench and Jeremy Lin also came off the bench to score 10 points.
Indiana Pacers were led by a big performance from C.J. Miles who scored 19 points coming off the bench. Donald Sloan scored 16 points, dished out 9 assists and grabbed 7 rebounds and Roy Hibbert, who almost got into it with Lakers reserve big man Carlos Boozer, scored 12 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. David West scored 11 points and grabbed 8 rebounds on the night for the Pacers. Solomon Hill and Rodney Stuckey scored 10 points each for Indiana.
Los Angeles Lakers are 11-23. Indiana Pacers are 13-22.
