Lakers 108, Heat 107

Even when you play great defense on Kobe Bryant, you can still get burned.

That’s the case for the Miami Heat, who were the victims of Kobe Bryant’s miraculous three pointer at the buzzer in Los Angeles. With 3.2 seconds left, Kobe took the inbound and hoped to drive to the basket; however, due to a double team, he was re-routed towards the center of the court and he shot up a prayer on one leg as he faded to the right. The shot banked in and the Lakers came away with a crazy win – one that they truly are lucky to get.

Before all of this, the Lakers were down by four with only 9.3 seconds left, making a comeback seemingly impossible. However, the Lakers magic was in full fledge on Friday at the Staples Center – coming from the hands of Derek Fisher and Kobe. Fisher hit a three with 4.3 seconds left to put t the deficit down to one point. And then of course Kobe was Kobe for the buzzer beater.

Not to be lost in the defeat is the persistence of Heat G Dwyane Wade, who started off slowly from the floor, but he made some big baskets down the stretch to put some major pressure on the Lakers. Wade finished the game with 26 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter. But his missed free throw in the final seconds came back to haunt the Heat in the end.

The Lakers improve their NBA-best record to 15-3, and move to an 8-game winning streak.

Nets 97, Bobcats 91

After losing 18 straight games to start the 2009-2010 season, we all knew that the Nets first win would not come easy. As it turns out, they’re lucky that they had an opponent that they could beat – which the Nets did, as they FINALLY picked up their first win of the season.

Down by 1 point entering the fourth quarter, the Nets scrapped together a six point lead that they saw disappear after a pair of Stephen Jackson three-pointers. But Courtney Lee and Brook Lopez were more than determined to ensure that this game did not slip away from them, as so many have already this season. Lee scored a career-high 27 points, and he looks completely healed from his injuries earlier in the season. Lopez dominated the paint with 31 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Nets.

Not only was the first game that newly appointed head coach Kiki Vandeweghe coached in his career, but it is now his first win from the sidelines. After the game, you could see Kiki say, “that’s one” to Devin Harris as he hugged him in congratulations. He is not satisfied with just this one win.

Ironically, the Nets last regular season win came on April 13 of last season against the Charlotte Bobcats as well. If only they had more home games against them… Nevertheless, the team, organization, and the fans are very excited to get the ever-growing monkey off their backs.

Highlight of the Game: With just over a minute left in the game, Devin Harris jumped into the fourth row to save a ball, despite a 9-point lead at the time. It was a very graceful dive deep into the stands, but the ball was still out of bounds. Don’t get hurt again Devin!

Here are a few other scores and highlights from some other games on Friday night’s schedule:

Celtics 105, Thunder 87

In OKC, the ‘old’ Celtics beat the ‘young’ Thunder at their own game to improve to 16-4 on the season. ‘The Big Ticket’ Kevin Garnett shot 10-11 from the floor for 23 points and 8 rebounds in the win. Most of Garnett’s points came off simple pick-and-roll’s with Rajon Rondo. The two of them combined for 24 points in the third quarter, as the C’s pulled away with a 28-16 advantage in the quarter.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 36 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough to end Boston’s win streak, which is now at 7 games. The Celtics swept their road trip as well.

Grizzlies 98, Mavericks 82

You know what doesn’t happen often? The Grizzlies winning a game. You know what doesn’t happen even more often? The Mavericks only score 82 points.

Both of these were true in Memphis, thanks much to Zach Randolph’s incrbl game. Z-bo showed his precenese on the court with 24 points and 15 rebounds. OJ Mayo added 25 points of his own, but it was the defense that did the talking on Friday night. The Grizzlies held the Mavs to a season-low in points and a season-low in field-goal percentage at 35.2%. Keep it up Griz, that’s how you can win games.

Jazz 96, Pacers 87

The Jazz wore their ugly 80s old-school green jerseys on Friday night in Utah, and they ended up giving them a little luck in their win over the Pacers. But you know who didn’t need luck? Carlos Boozer. He was SO STRONG in grabbing 13 rebounds in addition to his 35 points in his monster game.

The Jazz went up 22-3 to start the game, but let the lead slip to only four points. Although, that’s as close as the Pacers would get, as the Jazz still came away victorious at home.

-Shooter