• New York Knicks 107, New Orleans Hornets 88
These types of games are supposed to happen to Chris Paul once or twice per year, and at the hands of Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook. One night after Jose Calderon had his finest game of the season against, it was Toney Douglas’ turn to jump into the fray.
Douglas had a great two-way game, but it would have been much nicer from New York’s perspective on a night in which Paul was right since he clearly is not right now even though he insists otherwise. Paul is 7-for-29 (24.1%) over this three-game losing streak. The best thing Paul did at MSG on Wednesday was how he handled the media and expressed his commitment to the Hornets.
The Knicks had an eFG% of 61.0% and scored 121.6 points per 100 possessions while limiting the Hornets to 97.4 per 100.
• Los Angeles Clippers 106, Houston Rockets 103
Eric Gordon makes a huge difference, no?
Other than the Blake Griffin dunks, the calling card of the 10-11 Clippers has been fourth quarter offensive meltdowns since Gordon's remarkable development has gone almost entirely overlooked nationally. Between the disorganization of their halfcourt offense and horrible free throw shooting, getting buckets late in games is a constant struggle for the Clippers. They are 1-32 when they go into the fourth quarter with a deficit and they have earned every piece of that.
But with Gordon back for the first time in 18 games, he gave the Clippers fourth quarter points when it looked like Houston was going to rip a victory from their grasp.
• Atlanta Hawks 83, Chicago Bulls 80
A Dickensian game with the Bulls posting a +17 in the first half and Atlanta responding with a +20 in the second half on a career night for Al Horford where he got the better of his former Gator teammate.
Derrick Rose and Joe Johnson had similarly inefficient nights with a 5-for-21 and 5-for-20 respectively that wasn't bolstered at the line.
Atlanta looked much better in the second half in all regards, but this game was won entirely on the performance of Horford.
• San Antonio Spurs 109, Cleveland Cavaliers 99
For the Spurs, this is a classic 'get in and get out' game even though Cleveland was left within striking distance at the half. San Antonio doesn't lose these games and the put their foot on the Cavaliers' throat in the third quarter and George Hill turned in the kind of game he needed while filling in for Tony Parker over the next few weeks. Hill had 22 points on 15 shots to go with five assists and five rebounds.
J.J. Hickson's streak of great play ended, though Samardo Samuels showed some legitimate skill in his 23 and 10.
• Golden State Warriors 106, Washington Wizards 102
Given the way Golden State has played on this road trip against beatable opponents, they needed a win over Washington otherwise they were going to arrive in Cleveland with an 0-5 record.
Stephen Curry scored 29 points on 18 shots on another strong rebounding night, though his fourth quarter was a small blight on the rest of his outing.
The decision to start Ekpe Udoh over the lost cause that has become Andris Bierins was a good one and he made a subtle impact defensively even if the stat-line suggests little contribution.
• Boston Celtics 115, Phoenix Suns 103
Throw out Phoenix's 18-0 run at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth and this was an absolute bloodbath in a game that had been circled on the Celtics' calendar. Kevin Garnett was ejected in the previous meeting for a shot to Channing Frye and that devolved into strong comments from Alvin Gentry about KG's character.
Garnett's 28 points on an extremely tidy 14 shots, 11 boards and a technical tells the story from his perspective.
Great outing from Aaron Brooks, who looked explosive and only missed one of his seven shots.
• Minnesota Timberwolves 116, Detroit Pistons 105
There are a lot of nights where Minnesota's backcourt lets them down, but that didn't happen at Detroit with Luke Ridnour going 5-for-5 in his 18 minutes and Jonny Flynn accumulating 14 assists. Kevin Love went 20/20 per usual and Anthony Randolph got in on the fun with 19 points on 13 shots and 10 boards. Minnesota scored 117.9 points per 100 possessions.
Like the Clippers, the Wolves have had struggles late in games but went on a nice fourth quarter run to pull away from the Pistons who were on a back-to-back.
• Denver Nuggets 120, Charlotte Bobcats 80
Great pace, 34 assists, +24.1 FG% differential usually means a 40-point win for the good guys. Denver had seven players score between 10 and 16 points with remarkable balance in their attack.
We still need to see if this group is built to last, but so far so good.
• Portland Trailblazers 107, Sacramento Kings 102
The Blazers needed this win for morale purposes regardless of how ugly it might have been.
On the night in which LaMarcus Aldridge won Player of the Month honors in the afternoon, he needed 27 shots to score just 20 but was bailed out by his supporting cast this time in a reversal of the typical. Patty Mills provided instant electric offense, Gerald Wallace and Wesley Matthews were invaluable utility men and Nicolas Batum was able to spread the floor with his perimeter jumper.
DeMarcus Cousins and Marcus Thornton combined for 54 points on just 35 shots off the bench, which is extraordinary in and of itself even if both players come with as many qualifiers attached to them as much as heaps of talent.
• Oklahoma City Thunder 113, Indiana Pacers 89
The Thunder came into the game with an uncomfortable three-game losing streak but cruised to an extremely comfortable win on an uncomfortable night because of Kevin Durant's ankle sprain.
Oklahoma City was +13 on points off turnovers and +10 on points in the paint while shooting 9-for-20 from distance compared to Indiana's 3-for-13. Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and James Harden scored 21, 21 and 20 respectively.
The Pacers were playing on the second night of home/road back-to-back which didn't improve their odds going into it, but proved irrelevant. After a great night on Tuesday, Danny Granger fell into early foul trouble and struggled consistently on offense.