Orlando 102, Houston 87

Houston does an amazing job to come out every night and take it to any team in the league, but when you have nobody on your roster to stop or even slow down Dwight Howard, chalk it up as a loss.

Well they do have Yao Ming, but he is in rehab.

Howard led the way for Orlando (22-7) with 13 points (5-7 FG), 20 rebounds, and 4 blocks and received support from Vince Carter who led all scorers with 18. The Magic commanded the entire game, but really put the pedal to the metal in the 3rd by ending the quarter with a 10-0 run.

Houston (17-12) did their best to counter the blow, but couldn’t respond with the Magic’s stellar defense neglecting any possible run. Aaron Brooks anchored the scoring with 17, but did it on 5-14 shooting with 3 turnovers (team high).

Stat of the Game: Tracy McGrady sighting: 2 pts. (1-4 FG) in 8 minutes… riveting.

Toronto 94, Detroit 64

Detroit showed up tonight, but not to play basketball.

Detroit (11-18) held it close in the 1st, then got bamboozled in the second. The Pistons leading scorer had 12 points (Will Bynum), shot 28% percent from the floor, and 11% from 3. That’s sounds like a loss to me. More like an embarrassment. Could you imagine buying a ticket to this game? I am furious for the fans and I hate Detroit. The crowd of 19,000+ probably flipped an explicit when they saw their team come out like this. It’s an abomination.

Andrea Barganni led Toronto (14-17) with 21 tonight and Hedo Turkoglu contributed a rare double double: 11 points and 11 assists. Christmas Miracle.

Stat of the Game: Team Assists
Toronto 26
Detroit 10

Miami 80, Utah 70

When the score to an NBA game at halftime is 32-30, I don’t think, “Yes, a terrific defensive match up tonight between two great teams is among us!” I rather think, “Way to suck it up. ”

Well, I was right. Utah (16-13) shot 38% from the floor, compared to 36% from Miami (14-12). Carlos Boozer scored 14 points on 6-14 shooting while Michael Beasley scored 5 points on 2-10 shooting, right after I gave him so much love in my weekly power rankings.

Two players did show up though: Dwyane Wade and Deron Williams. Wade dropped 27 and dished out 5 assists tonight to rival Deron Williams, who scored 18 and had 6 assists, but it was Mr. Wade’s performance on the defensive end that changed the game. He had 2 steals and 3 blocks and really gave Ronnie Brewer problems (3 points, 1-4 FG). It probably wasn’t necessary, but it’s nice to see someone came to play in Miami. Maybe the rest of the Jazz and Heat went out to dinner with the Detroit Pistons.

Stat of the Night: Turnovers
Utah 20
Miami 13

Minnesota 103, New Jersey 99

The T-Wolves proved tonight that the 21 point comeback on opening night against the Nets was no fluke. Just ask the Nets.

Minnesota (6-24) came out with a balanced attack by all five starters, led by Al Jefferson. Jefferson scored 27 points and grabbed 7 boards while absolutely dominating Brook Lopez. He was almost a no show: 9 points (2-8 FG). It was a complete role reversal, where Brook had 27 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks in the first game compared to just 11 measly points from Jefferson.

The T-Wolves received a big game from Jonny Flynn, who was the culprit of the comeback on opening night, scored 22 points, 5 assists, and forced 4 turnovers. All five starters were in double figures, even Damien Wilkens, who made the buzzer beater fade-away in that ‘infamous’ game.

New Jersey (2-27) was led by Devin Harris, who scored 23 tonight.

There is good news though for the New Jersey Terribles: Yi Janilian played extremely well: 22 points and 8 rebounds.

New Jersey would like a Time Machine for Christmas… for obvious reasons.

Stat of the Game: Points of the Paint
Minnesota 56
New Jersey 30

New Orleans 108, Golden State 102

At least there was one great game in the early part of tonight’s schedule.

Both teams showed up tonight to play ball. Monta Ellis was on fire by going 15-26 from the floor to finish with 35 points and 4 steals, but Chris Paul had the last word tonight. The Warriors (7-21) brought the game within 2 points with 36 seconds to go, but Paul got dirty and dropped a filthy fadeaway over the aforementioned Ellis to give the win for New Orleans (13-14).

It was a back and forth game all night with a lot of players having big nights for Golden State. Corey Maggette dropped 22 and grabbed 10 boards. Stephen Curry was 3 assists shy of a triple double: 17 points, 10 rebounds, & 7 assists.

Too bad, the effort wasn’t enough to overtake a balanced scoring attack by New Orleans. Peja Stojakovic (13), David West (14), Emeka Okafor (10-14), and Devin Brown (11). But of course, the team was led by none other than CP3. The man scored 20 points, tore down 5 boards, and assisted 7 times with 0 turnovers.

That’s an infinite assist to turnover ratio for all you math nerds.

What a great game.

Fantasy Player of the Game: Anthony Randolph – The man scored 12 points, had 8 rebounds, and denied 8 opponents a chance at a score. Nasty.

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