Toronto 102, Detroit 95

Usually, when you players get back from injury, they don’t shoot so much.

Ben Gordon is not the usual player. Gordon went 4-15 (15 points) from the field in his return with Tayshaun Prince, who did the usual: 9 points on 4-8 shooting. All in all, it led to 40% shooting for the team and another loss for the struggling Pistons (11-19), their 7th straight. Rip Hamilton scored 15 (6-20 FG) to lead the Pistons scoring, but this team is not good. They have everyone back now, and need to reset. They’re in the East, which makes it incredibly easy, and are only 2 games out. The East is such a joke.

The Raptors (15-17) continually play well with Chris Bosh leading the way scoring 25 points, grabbing 16 rebounds & 3 blocks. With Bosh playing at an MVP level and Jarrett “17 Again” Jack commanding the offense with control and poise, the Raptors find themselves as the 6th seed and getting better. Jack scored 17… again.

Andrea Barganni and Hedo Turkoglu scored 16 and 14 respectively to help out in the win.

Stat of the Game: The Raptors are 11-1 when they hold teams under 100 points.

Cleveland 108, Houston 83

Heat Check: The Cavs are Red Hot

After their big win on Christmas Day against the Lakers, the Cleveland Cavaliers (24-8) dismantle the Houston “Never Back Down” Rockets (18-13) in a big win to bring the home faithful some belated holiday cheer. Lebron James leads Cleveland again with 29 points and Mo Williams supports him with 20 of his own. When Mo is in a flow, the Cleveland Cavaliers are a Go. 4-6 from 3 for Mr. Williams.

The Rockets didn’t show up in the second half, because this was a two point game going into half time. The Cavs just took it to them and they had no answer which is Houston’s biggest weakness. They don’t have the firepower to respond to big runs. The Rockets were outscored 32-15 in the third, and finished shooting 33% from the floor. Aaron Brooks did play well however, he scored 23 points on 7-15 shooting.

Stat of the Game: Rebounds
Cleveland 53
Houston 37

Miami 114, Indiana 80

The entire Indiana (9-20) squad must have had too much Egg Nog the night before, because they were absolutely terrible. Troy Murphy was the leading scorer with 16 and that is the only good thing to report for a terrible Pacers team. After being outscored 34-21 in the first, nobody knew had to anwser. Michael Dunleavy went 1-10 form the floor (atrocious), Dahntay Jones scored 0 points(embarrassing), and Josh McRoberts got playing time (inexcusable). Danny Granger, where are you?

The Heat (16-12), after having a team meeting following their blowout loss against Memphis, has been playing extremely well, and it continued tonight. Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 25 and Jermaine O’Neal added 19 points in 19 minutes. Michael “Blow” Beasley is starting to assert himself on the offsneive end by dropping 16 to help Wade out on a more consistent basis. He is the key to Miami’s future success.

Stat of the Game: Field Goal Percentage
Miami 50%
Indiana 31%

This is The Ref signaling I’m out until next time and remember: We miss calls, you miss lay ups.