Miami 93, Washington 89

Night after night, Dwyane Wade continually proves that he deserves to be mentioned in the discussion about who is the best basketball player in the league. Wade finishes the game with 40, carrying his team to victory along with help from Quentin Richardson, whose contributing since his 30 pound drop-off from last year. He scored 19 points and pulled 9 rebounds making him a solid wingman to Wade’s slashing abilities. On the other side, Gilbert Arenas did everything he could by dropping 32 points, but on 9-27 shooting and only one assist. Arenas needs to give his teammates involved; he took 33% of the Wizards shots.

The Wizards have Indiana next, while Miami squares off against the Nuggets.

Stat of the Night: 3-point percentage
Miami 57.4%
Washington 31.3%

Boston 92, Minnesota 90

Wednesday night at the Target Center, the T-Wolves controlled most of the game led by Oleksiy Pecherov’s 24 points on 9-14 shooting while pulling down 8 boards until Boston’s balanced attack was too much to handle. Minnesota was leading by 8 going into halftime,then Rajon Rondo took over and scored 14 of his 18 points in the third quarter to bring the Celtics back. Eddie House capped off the quarter with buzzer-beater three to tie up the game going into the final period. The Timberwolves couldn’t convert on many opportunities to stay in the game and then slowly lost their edge due to poor shot selection from the young core. The Celtics took advantage and wound up with the tight victory; remaining the only undefeated team in the Eastern Conference.

Al Jefferson added 18 while Kevin Garnett added 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks in his third return to Minnesota since he was traded in 2007.

Stat of the Night: The Celtics shot worse from the free throw line and the field while also being out-rebounded and still found a way to win the game.

Indiana 101, New York 89

In Madison Square Garden, the Indiana Pacers, who have been relying on Danny Granger to carry the load, decided to play more team ball by having all 5 starters in double figures. Granger did lead the way with 21 and 4 steals, but Dahntay Jones dropped 19 points and grabbed 12 boards. Jones has played very impressively since coming to Indiana in the offseason. He is beginning to build on his defensive prowess by presenting a gritty offensive game by attacking the hoop relentlessly. The Knicks were led by Al Harrington and David Lee who combined for 42 points and 28 rebounds. However, the Knicks received no help from the supporting cast building upon their lack of team chemistry.

Stat of the Night: Roy Hibbert recorded his second straight double-double of the season while shooting 55% from the floor. He is showing improvement and becoming a viable option to Danny Granger’s stellar play.

-The Ref