Mavs 94,  Wiz 93

Down one with time running out, Caron Butler had a chance to propel his Wizards to victory.  Unfortunately for Butler, Shawn Marion was standing in the way.  Marion blocked Butler’s 16 footer giving the Mavericks another one point victory. Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavs with 28 points.  Jason Terry added 21 off the bench and Shawn Marion finished with both 12 points and 12 rebounds.  Jason Kidd only scored 6 points but he dished out 15 assists.  Randy Foye, who has played well in the absence of Gilbert Arenas, had 26 points on 9 of 14 shooting.  Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood (18 rebounds) both finished with double-doubles.  Antawn Jamison struggled shooting 2 of 10 and finishing with 7 points.

Bobcats 104, Heat 65

The Bobcats stayed hot by absolutely blowing out the Miami Heat.  The Heat never had a chance falling behind by twenty seven at halftime.  The biggest margin of victory ever by the Bobcats pushed their home winning streak to 9 games and their home record to 18-4.  Stephen Jackson (24 points) and Gerald Wallace (20 points and 10 rebounds) continued their stellar play to lead the Bobcats.  Nazr Mohammed also had a double-double for the Bobcats recording 16 points and 10 rebounds.  The Heat were led by Dwayne Wade’s and Dorrel Wright’s 16 points a piece, but it was not nearly enough.  The Heat drop to one game over .500 at 21-20.

Blazers 98, 76ers 90

Brandon Roy came back for the Blazers but was limited to 18 minutes after re-injuring his hamstring.  Andre Miller led the Blazers with 24 points and LaMarcus Aldridge contributed 23 points in the win.   The Sixers were led by Andre Iguodala’s 23 points.  The MVP for this game was Samuel Dalembert.  Dalembert spent the last two days in Hati helping out those in need and trying to make contact with his family.  He arrived back at the Wachovia Center right before 7 pm, started the game, and finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds.  He has already donated $100,000 to UNICEF and told fans before the game that he would match whatever was donated by the fans at the game.  Way to go Samie D.

Pistons 92, Celtics 86

Rasheed Wallace lost in his first return to the Palace after leaving the Pistons to join the Celtics, 92 to 86.  Wallace finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds in almost 40 minutes.  Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo paced the Celtics with 21 points a piece.  Rondo also grabbed 8 rebounds, dished out 7 assists, and recorded 4 steals.  Rodney Stuckey led all scored with 27 points and he also grabbed a game high 11 rebounds.  Charlie Villanueva contributed scoring 19 points off the bench.

Hawk 108, Kings 97

Jamal Crawford continues to show why he will win the 6th Man award by leading the Hawks with 20 points.  Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, and Marvin Willaims also scored in double figures.  The Kings were led by Rookie Tyreke Evans’ 24 points followed by Kevin Martin’s 23.

Magic 109, Pacers 98

After Roy Hibbert put on a show against Dwight Howard in their last match-up, Dwight Howard vowed that would not happen again.  Superman was right.  Howard scored a season high 32 points while pulling down 11 rebounds.  He limited Hibbert to 3 points and 3 rebounds.  Vince Carter is just not fitting in.  He finished with 6 points (2 of 8 from the field) in 28 minutes.

-JB