Kyrie Irving took care of his All-Star case a long time ago. So last night, he spent the final three minutes of Cleveland’s five-point win over the Thunder doing other things, like letting the world know he’s coming for that “point god” spot. With CP still out, Uncle Drew is the best lead guard playing right now, and he cooked the Thunder for 13 of his game-high 35 points in the final 2:52. He scored from the line, with floaters, off those hesitation moves where he leaves a trail of ankle tendons in his wake, and then made what’s becoming his signature shot: a dagger three-pointer in Russell Westbrook‘s (28 points) grill to ice it. Basically, just watch this video. And yes, those highlights are real – nothing doctored or Photoshop’d in there … Kevin Durant dropped 32 points and 11 boards, but was still hurting after the game. He had to leave the action for a bit because of a rib contusion … With the loss, OKC has fallen back to the second seed in the West. San Antonio has won 10 straight games, and they got the Wizards last night, 96-86. Tony Parker (19 points, 12 assists) had his hands full with John Wall (21 points, nine dimes), but while Wall plays with names like Temple, Vesely and Price that couldn’t win you your rec league title, Parker has a revolving door of super average players who suddenly turn into prime rib once they get to San Antonio … It wasn’t all peaches and cream for the Spurs. During the second quarter, Martell Webster drove at the rim, fell and rolled into Tim Duncan‘s legs. The sprained knee and ankle injury looked bad enough that even Sean Elliott shut up for a few minutes until Duncan finally left for the locker room with help from his teammates … Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had his own troubles in Houston’s 14-point win over the Bobcats. During a big second half run from Charlotte, MKG went down hard after getting a knee to the back of his head, and had to leave on a stretcher. The rook was motionless for a while, but The Charlotte Observer later reported that Mike Dunlap told reporters that MKG was able to move his extremities and was communicating with medical personnel … As for the game, James Harden locked in a triple-double (21 points, 11 boards, 11 dimes), and Patrick Patterson (24 points) exploded in the fourth quarter, making all seven of his shots and showing off his complete game. He had a dunk in transition, a couple of three-pointers, a jump hook in the lane, and even hit a pull-up jumper as the shot clock expired with around three minutes left … In other storylines from last night: Dante Cunningham (18 points) led a balanced attack for Minnesota in their 115-86 slaughter of the Hornets; Luol Deng rang up one of the best fantasy lines (25 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, three triples, four steals and two blocks with zero turnovers) you’ll ever see in Chicago’s 17-point beatdown of the Hawks; Damian Lillard went for 23 and eight in Portland’s 105-99 win over the Jazz; in the Warriors’ blowout over Phoenix, it felt like Stephen Curry‘s (29 points) jumpers never touched the rim; and the Knicks blew the Kings out by nearly 40 as their bench put up a mind-boggling 82 points, the most in franchise history. J.R. Smith had 25, and Amar’e Stoudemire (21 points) didn’t miss a shot … Keep reading to hear about the biggest college basketball game of the year …
Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic (20 points, 12 boards) was so good in Milwaukee’s nine-point win over the Magic that the Bucks TV broadcast guys were talking like they wanted to retire his jersey on the spot. Yet the game’s best player was Monta Ellis (21 points, 11 dimes). He was his normal self on offense (aka a recking ball), and was so good defensively on J.J. Redick that they started calling him “the shadow.” It might’ve been the first time we’ve seen Ellis play defense in four years … Josh McRoberts always brings the comedy. Whether he’s trying to be the Larry Bird of the new generation or being extra physical inside, sometimes we just watch the Magic to see what he’s up to. Now he’s rocking a haircut that makes him look like he just stepped off the set of Mad Men. Either that or he hired Zac Efron‘s stylist … Brandon Jennings (20 points) also found time to tweet this amazing photo. Tyson Chandler looks like he hasn’t aged a day over the last decade-plus, while Jennings looks like he hasn’t gained a pound over the last decade-plus … You don’t want to put too much stock into Indiana’s 81-73 win over top-ranked Michigan. They were at home, they did get big nights from all of their best players, and right now, having the No. 1 ranking is like being fitted with a Madden curse. But in the second half, it was pretty obvious who the better team was. The Hoosiers were efficient, and lived in the paint thanks to Cody Zeller (19 points, nine boards). The big man made eight shots, and we can’t remember any of them being outside of three feet from the rim. On the other side, Michigan’s offense consisted of Trey Burke (25 points, eight assists) dribbling around for 20 seconds and everyone else trying to get free to launch a deep jumper. An 11-0 Indiana run opened it up in the second half, and then two Jordan Hulls triples – the cat who shoots the ball as if it weighs 20 pounds – were the back-breakers … Victor Oladipo (15 points) had a missed alley-oop in the second half that would’ve caused Dicky V‘s head to explode. Vitale was about to have Oladipo’s baby anyways, calling him the most improved player he’s ever seen and then dropping the dreaded “mini Michael Jordan” label once Oladipo decided to windmill after the final buzzer … In other college scores, C.J. Fair got 20, yet No. 6 Syracuse still fell by 10 to Pittsburgh; Erik Murphy (19 points) and the Gators put a hurting on No. 16 Ole Miss, 78-64; No. 14 Miami got the W against No. 19 N.C. State thanks to a tip-in from Reggie Johnson (15 points, eight boards) with less than a second remaining; and No. 2 Kansas took a 90-85 loss to the face against Oklahoma St. as the Cowboy guards Markel Brown and Marcus Smart combined for 53 points … We’re out like McBob’s barber.
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