With the shot clock dwindling, Paul Pierce lost the ball, backed up behind the three-point line, fought off Landry Fields for the rock and heaved in a deep jumper as the clock leaked zeroes. So what if it didn’t count? It was crazy enough to warrant the MJ shrug from Pierce. It was also a signal: Down the stretch, the Celtics would make the plays. The Knicks wouldn’t. Boston came from behind to win again, 91-89, behind 30 from the Truth and a couple of monster shots from Jesus (14 points). The biggest play of the game wasn’t one of Pierce’s last-second shot clock shots (He actually had another late one that counted). On another possession, the Celtics were up three with a minute left when KG missed a point blank layup. New York couldn’t get the rebound, and it eventually ended up in a Ray Allen layup … Should we rip Mike D’Antoni or the players? Yes, New York’s final play ended up in a Steve Novak fadeaway, but they also had two straight great opportunities. Yet Fields nearly air balled a corner three, and before that Iman Shumpert missed a WIDE OPEN triple … The Knicks are now 8-15. Awful … For about 36 minutes, Philly had us believing. Then Andre Iguodala made a shot from midcourt that didn’t count (after the quarter buzzer), and Miami spiked the Sixers’ drinks, hitting 12 of 16 shots to start the fourth quarter. What was a close game throughout became a blowout, and what was a legitimate question – is Philly an East contender? – now has an answer: if it’s Miami they’re playing, then Hell nah. The Sixers have two double-digit losses this season after losing 99-79, and both have come against the Heat. Dwyane Wade (26 points) and LeBron James (19 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists) dominated, while Chris Bosh drew the wrath of his teammates. He had the ball by Miami’s hoop with a few seconds left in the first half and held on to it instead of taking a shot from midcourt. Mario Chalmers was giving him s— after the buzzer because he clearly wanted to hold on to it so that he didn’t hurt his FG/3PT percentage … OKC and Memphis need a playoff rematch. They played another classic yesterday with Kevin Durant (36 points, 10 rebounds, 50 rebounds in his last four games) scoring the final seven points to help finish off a Thunder comeback from a double-digit second half deficit. The biggest shot of the game came with the score tied and KD iso-ed against his boy Rudy Gay (23 points, eight rebounds). Durant sniped a 25-footer in his face. Can OKC really win like this? Outside of KD, James Harden (24 points) and Russell Westbrook (21 points), the rest of the Thunder (20 points) scored as often as a broke dope fiend … Keep reading to hear about Paul George morphing into a future All-Star …
Paul George was banging threes, dunking on the break and at one point, he even murdered Jason Terry‘s transition layup so hard that we thought the JET might not ever fly again. Dude dropped one of the most randomly ridiculous fantasy lines we’ve seen this year: 30 points, nine rebounds, five assists, five steals and seven treys. All of this came against one of the hottest teams and one of the best defenses in the league in Indiana’s 98-87 win in Dallas. The Mavs got 30 from Dirk, but it seems the worse he plays this year, the better they do … Deron Williams lost the game for New Jersey. All he had to do was get a pass to Anthony Morrow in the corner and we could’ve booked a game-tying triple. Morrow was that money, and was hitting pull-ups from Long Island all night, finishing with 42 points and eight treys. But on their last chance, D-Will (14 assists) lost the rock and the Nets lost the game to Minnesota. Williams and Morrow were playing keep-away from their teammates down the stretch, and it would’ve worked had the Wolves just missed a freebie or two (18-for-18 in the second half) … Did anyone have a better play last night than this one from Ricky Rubio (10 points, 10 assists, six steals)? … Nikola Pekovic had 27 points and 11 rebounds. What? … Houston rode seven players in double figures (four off the bench) in an 18-point win over Phoenix. The most comedic moment of the night came in the second quarter when Jordan Hill tried what looked like a fallaway hook shot. Immediately, the Houston color guys flat out said, “It’s never gone in and it never will.” Way to roast your own player … The Lakers survived a battle in Denver, beating the Nuggets 93-89 in one of the most physical (and craziest) games of the year. Andrew Bynum went for 22 and 10 in the win … Orlando withstood a furious Cleveland rally and another dose of “Hack-a-Howard” to win by eight behind their center (19 points, 16 rebounds, eight blocks). We’re just happy they scored more than 65 … 64 to 37. How do you lose on the glass by 27 to the Raptors, a team that plays a bunch of skinny forwards inside? Washington just didn’t show up, and Toronto whipped them 106-89 … And Brandon Knight (26 points, seven assists) led Detroit to a surprising eight-point win over the Bucks. The rookie was thankfully involved in enough highlights – he was dunked on by Larry Sanders, and another time dropped (okay, BJ was tripped) Jennings before canning a triple – to overshadow Vanilla Ice performing at halftime … We’re out like Jordan Hill’s hook.
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