Nuggets 124, Hawks 104

When you see a Denver Nuggets box score and you see that someone scored 40 points, the first person that pops into your head is Carmelo Anthony.  Not tonight.  Anthony played well scoring 24 points, but tonight it was the JR Smith show.  Smith scored 41 points on 15-25 shooting.  He also hit 10 three pointers in tonight’s contest.  Ty Lawson had 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists starting in place of injured Chauncey Billups.

Jamal Crawford led the Hawks with 24 points off the bench.  Al Horford and Josh Smith had a solid games.  Horford scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Smith at 17 points and 9 rebounds of his own.

Stat of the Game: The Nuggets shot 50% from three point range, going 13-26.  JR Smith was 10-17 (59%) by himself.

Thunder 117, Suns 114

The Thunder, led by Kevin Durant’s monster effort, fought back to reach the .500 mark with a 117-114 win against the Suns.  Durant hit twelve of twenty shots and went eleven of fourteen from the free throw line to finish with 38 points.  Russell Westrbook pitched in scoring 17 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and dishing out 7 assists.  Jeff Green was one rebound short of a double-double going 17 and 9.

Amare Stoudemire did all he could to help prevent the Suns from losing their second straight game at home this season.  Stoudemire put in 35 points of his own and pulled down 14 rebounds.  Steve Nash had another one of his solid but typical performances scoring 24 points and recording 12 assists.  One of the candidates for Most Improved Player, Channing Frye, had 24 points of his own in the losing effort.

Stat of the Game: Not only did the Thunder out rebound the Suns 48-38, they did it by out rebounding the Suns by eight on the offensive end.

Cavs 117, Kings 104

The Kings had a chance to win this game tied at 104 with the Cavs in regulation.  Tyreke Evans, who seconds before hit a driving lay-up to tie the game at 104, missed a fade away shot while being tightly contested by LeBron James at the buzzer sounded.

From there the Cavaliers outscored the Kings 14-0 in the extra period to win their twenty-second game of the year.  LeBron played out of this world notching another triple-double.  He finished with 34 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists.  Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 25 points, including hitting two huge three pointers to put the Kings away in overtime.

It is hard for me to call Tyreke Evans a rookie because he has not been playing like one.  Evan led the Kings with 28 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and 3 blocks in the loss.  Fellow rookie Omri Cassi had 18 points and Spencer Hawes finished with a double-double recording 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Stat of the Game: LeBron James.  When you play against a player that not only records a triple-double, but scores 34 points in doing so, it is hard to believe you will win that game.  I am not a die hard LJ23 fan, but it hard not to sit in awe when watching this game or reading his stat line.

Wizards 109, Bucks 97

Earl Boykins replaced injured Gilbert Arenas in the second half, and the Wizards did not miss a beat.  Boykins scored 12 of his 15 points in the fourth to help put away the Bucks.  Antwan Jameson and Caron Butler both recorded double=doubles.  Jameson had 25 points and 10 rebounds and Butler had 23 points and 10 rebounds respectively.

The Bucks were led by Michael Redd’s 32 points.  He shot 8-21 from the field, but hit all fifteen of this free throws.  Brandon Jennings struggled tonight due to being in foul trouble.  He had seven points in sixteen minutes.

Blazers 98, Spurs 94

With injuries ravaging the Blazers, Juwan Howard and Jerryd Bayless started tonight’s game against the Spurs.  Bayless scored 31 points and notched 7 assists.  Howard finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds in the 98-84 win against the Spurs.  LaMarcus Aldridge, one of the few Blazer starters left, had 22 points and 8 rebounds in the win.

Tim Duncan led the Spurts with 24 points and 11 rebounds.  Richard Jefferson had a decent game for the Spurs scoring 18 points.

-JB