Cavaliers 95, Hawks 84
In the first game of a home-and-home series, the Cavaliers showed their dominance by beating the Hawks at the Phillips Arena. It was a tight game with the Hawks down one at the start of the final quarter. The Cavs held the Hawks to a meager 10 points in the fourth to pull away and earn the hard fought victory. LeBron James struggled from the field going 6-20, but found other ways to help his team out. He finished with 14 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds, and 5 …

Golden State 103, Boston 99
Despite an 18 point lead, the Celtics could not capitalize on the early advantage.
The C’s committed 25 turnovers, which kept the Warriors in the game by scoring 23 points off them. Monta Ellis continues to break out, playing the entire game and scoring 37 points, which included 2 clutch free throws.
Rajon Rondo did his best to preserve the lead, scoring 30 of his own and collecting 15 assists. Ray Allen also chipped in 24, but did not shoot well from 3 (1/7).
Props to Monta Ellis for …

Phoenix 118, LA Lakers 103
In a matchup of high-octane offenses, the Suns just proved to be too much tonight at home.
The Suns took the lead with a 12-0 run to take the lead 32-23 in the early second quarter. While the Lakers would get it as close as 3, the lead never changed hands from that point on.  Amare Stoudemire (26 points) and Jared Dudley (19) led the Suns in scoring. Steve Nash chipped in his usual 13 assists in the rout.
The Lakers, who were missing Ron Artest due to …

Clippers 92, Celtics 90
Don’t take things for granted. That was the theme in Los Angeles on Sunday night.
Going into the game, the Celtics, coming off a big road win on Christmas in Orlando, had a nine-game road win streak – with only one road loss all season. The Clippers are a perennial sub-.500 team which you would think the C’s would be able to easily handle. Don’t take any road game for granted.
The Celtics held a lead for most of the fourth quarter until Rasual Butler sank a big three-pointer …

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 …

Thunder 98, Bobcats 91
In the match up up the two -cat teams (Thundercats/Bobcats) the Thundercats reined supreme.  Kevin Durant scored 30 points on the night making it the 3rd consecutive game in which Durant scored 30 points or more.  With the win the Thunder are now back to one game over .500 with their next game coming on Monday in NJ.  The NBA’s leading rebounder, Gerald Wallace, had an off night rebound (6) and shooting as well (13 points 3-9).  The Bobcats were outrebounded by 12 on the night.
Clown of …

Mavericks 106, Grizzlies 101
In a Saturday matinee, neither the Mavs nor Grizz came out with a Christmas hangover. Each team competed from tip to finish, but Dallas used the comfort of home to come away with their 21st win of the season to beat Memphis.
In recent days, Dirk Nowitzki publicly stated that he felt his team deferred to him too much, making them a weaker team overall. Well, he got some help in a close game from Jason Terry and Josh Howard down the stretch. Dirk didn’t score any points …