Ballin': The 76ers Are Fading Fast
By Jason McIntyre
Denver 108, Orlando 105: Remember when the Magic were hovering around .500 last month and without Dwight Howard, were playing well? They’ve now lost 10 in a row. Six Nuggets scored in double figures, led by Kenneth Faried, who scored 19 points and took 19 rebounds.
Toronto 90, Philadelphia 72: Man, the 76ers are in a bad place. They’ve lost five straight, have fallen to 15-22, and there’s still no sign Andrew Bynum is coming anytime soon. Jason Richardson and Kwame Brown were out, too, Doug Collins is so angry, he’s resigned to blaming the schedule. The Raptors, who are 13-22, got 19 points and 12 rebounds from Amir Johnson.
Boston 87, Phoenix 79: The Celtics have a bench! Sullinger scored 12 points and collected 16 rebounds; Jason Terry tallied 13 points and Jeff Green scored 14 points, including that dunk.
New Orleans 88, Houston 79: A night after beating the Lakers, the Rockets turned the ball over 22 times and were beaten by the Hornets, who got 17 points each from Vasquez, Jason Smith and Roger Mason. Odd trio, right? Ryan Anderson, Eric Gordon and Austin Rivers shot a combined 2-for-24, including 0-for-11 from deep.
Utah 112, Charlotte 102: Keep an eye on Gordon Hayward’s improvement: 4-of-10 shooting, and all four of those were 3-pointers (4-of-5). I’m thinking next year he’ll be legit All-Star material.
Cleveland 99, Atlanta 83: Sideshow Bob went on the shelf for 6-8 weeks, and then Tristan Thompson took his place, scoring 11 points and collecting 14 rebounds in helping Kyrie Irving (33 points) beat the Hawks.
Oklahoma City 106, Minnesota 84: Ricky Rubio provided the Wolves with another fun stat line – 22 minutes, 0-3 FGs, seven assists. He’s only played seven games this year and taken 24 shots, but he’s shooting just 20 percent. Nevertheless, I love watching this kid play.