Ballin': LeBron Erupts For 41 Against Philly, Heat Improve to 9-1 Without Dwyane Wade
By Jason McIntyre
Miami 99, Philadelphia 93: In a tuneup for his showdown with Kevin Durant tonight, LeBron scored 41 points – including 14 in a row in the final seven minutes of the game – and the Heat won without D Wade (knee). Philly has lost 11 straight in the regular season to the Heat. If the season ended today, they’d meet in the playoffs.
Andre Iguodala put on quite a dunking exhibition.
Golden State 94, Memphis 98: Keep losing, Warriors! That’s six in a row, and they’re inching closer to having one of the seven worst records in the league, which would mean retaining their lottery pick. They’ve got a few picks in this draft, so expect them to take at least a couple international players. The Warriors ran out of gas (or quit) in the 4th, giving up a 13-0 run after leading by 12.
New York 104, Indiana 112: Knicks take a 15-point lead into the 4th quarter and it feels like they’re going to beat the Pacers for the third time in a few weeks. Then the Pacers went small, Danny Granger scored 14 points and Indy outscored New York 40-17 to steal a victory and move up to the 3rd playoff spot in the East, ahead of Orlando. The Knicks, who got 39 points from Melo, still lead Milwaukee by 1.5 game for the final playoff spot.
Orlando 95, Detroit 102: No Dwight Howard again, and the Pistons won the fourth quarter and sent the Magic to their 4th loss in a row. Orlando, which got 31 points and 10 rebounds from Glen Davis, has lost six of nine. The loss sent Orlando from the 3rd seed in the East to the 5th seed. So from hosting a playoff series against Indiana to traveling to Boston. Good luck.
LA Lakers 91, New Jersey 87: Without Bynum (ankle), Ramon Sessions stepped up as the 3rd scorer with 19. Kobe hit the game-winner, then pointed at Jordan Farmar. How could the Nets possible lose track of Kobe Bryant on the final play? Probably worth monitoring this Bynum vs. the Franchise situation.