Memphis Grizzlies 107
Philadelphia 76ers 119
The Philadelphia 76ers outscored the Memphis Grizzlies by 30 points, 71-41, over the second and third quarters of last night’s basketball game to take control and guide themselves to a much needed win. The battle in the middle was really nothing. It was Furkan Korkmaz and Ben Simmons taking Memphis to the woodshed, combining for 56 points and 10 rebounds while Ja Morant and Tyus Jones combined for half of that. The Grizzlies looked like the winners on trade deadline day, but have some things to get back together to get back on their winning track. Philadelphia knows what that’s like, coming off a four game losing streak in its own right.
| GRIZZLIES (26-26) 8th in the West | SIXERS (32-21) 5th in the East |
| Ja Morant 15 points – three rebounds – six assists | Furkan Korkmaz 34 points – six rebounds – four assists – one block |
| Jonas Valanciunas 14 points – 10 rebounds – one assist – one steal – four blocks | Ben Simmons 22 points – four rebounds – 10 assists – three steals – one block |
| Tyus Jones 13 points – one rebound – seven assists – two steals | #VFL Tobias Harris 21 points – six rebounds – five assists – two blocks |
NEXT GAMES
Memphis at Washington – Sunday
Chicago at Philadelphia – Sunday
********************
Dallas Mavericks 118
Washington Wizards 119
The Dallas Mavericks sorely miss Luka Doncic. And while Bradley Beal may not be an All Star in the coaches’ minds, he played like one last night, hitting the game winning layup with 0.2 seconds remaining to give the Washington Wizards their 18th win of the season through 50 games. Dallas has lost three games of the five that Doncic has sat after spraining his ankle. The sixth game will be tonight at Charlotte, where the Mavs hope to break even and the Hornets hope to capitalize.
| MAVERICKS (31-21) 7th in the West | WIZARDS (18-32) 9th in the East |
| Seth Curry 20 points – three rebounds – three assists – two steals | Bradley Beal 29 points – five rebounds – eight assists – one steal |
| Tim Hardaway, Jr. 19 points – four rebounds – seven assists – two steals | Davis Bertans 20 points – eight rebounds – three assists |
| Jalen Brunson 15 points – four rebounds – four assists | Rui Hachimura 17 points – six rebounds – one assist – two steals |
NEXT GAMES
Dallas at Charlotte – Tonight
Memphis at Washington – Sunday
********************
Atlanta Hawks 107
Boston Celtics 112
In a game when some of the marquee names on both teams sat out – Trae Young, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward – it was still a competitive night. After having their wings clipped 33-18 in the third quarter, the Atlanta Hawks failed in their comeback effort in the fourth, losing to the Boston Celtics for the second time in a week. Clint Capela, who both teams were in the hunt for earlier this week – also did not play. Jayson Tatum led all scorers with seven three pointers and 32 points, while John Collins and Kevin Huerter kept Atlanta in the thick of things with 55 combined. Recently elevated Romeo Langford had 16 and five for Boston after spending much of the season with the Maine Red Claws..
| HAWKS (14-39) 14th in the East | CELTICS (36-15) 3rd in the East |
| John Collins 30 points – 10 rebounds – one assist – one steal – one block | Jayson Tatum 32 points – four rebounds – six assists – two blocks |
| Kevin Huerter 25 points – seven rebounds – six assists – one steal – one block | Enes Kanter 16 points – 15 rebounds – one block |
| Brandon Goodwin21 points – two rebounds – four assist – one block | Romeo Langford 16 points – five rebounds – one steal – one block |
NEXT GAMES
New York at Atlanta – Sunday
Boston at Oklahoma City – Sunday
********************
Toronto Raptors 115
Indiana Pacers 106
For the second time in as many games, the Toronto Raptors have taken down the Indiana Pacers. Wednesday it was a one point win in Toronto, but last night, the Raptors owned the Pacers from the outset of what was a very fun and competitive game to watch on national television. It was a battle royale down in the paint between Serge Ibaka and Domantas Sabonis, which Ibaka won. The loss, coupled with the Sixers’ win, puts Philadelphia back in fifth and Indiana bask to sixth in the Eastern Conference. The win was Toronto’s 13th consecutive victory.
| RAPTORS (38-14) 2nd in the East | PACERS (31-21) 6th in the East |
| Serge Ibaka 22 points – 10 rebounds – three assists | Domantas Sabonis 19 points – 16 rebounds – three assists |
| Fred VanVleet 20 points – three rebounds – seven assists – two steals | Malcolm Brogdon 16 points – six rebounds – eight assists – one block |
| Terence Davis 17 points – eight rebounds – two assists – two steals – one block | Victor Oladipo 15 points – one rebound – four assists – two steals |
NEXT GAMES
Brooklyn at Toronto – Tonight
New Orleans at Indiana – Tonight
********************
Detroit Pistons 101
Oklahoma City Thunder 108
A nice even and consistent performance from the Oklahoma City Thunder, peppered with five point scoring margins in the first and third quarter handed the Thunder their 32nd win of the season last night in OKC. Oklahoma City’s guard corps struck again, with the trio combining for 61 points (Dennis Schroder had 18 off the bench), while the move of Andre Drummond opened up the opportunity that Christian Wood had been seeking since his days as a New Orleans Pelican. Thon Maker finally got his opportunity with Drummond gone as well, but fouled out after 34 minutes, 19 points and seven rebounds.
| PISTONS (19-35) 11th in the East | THUNDER (32-20) 6th in the West |
| Reggie Jackson 28 points – three rebounds – three assists | Chris Paul 22 points – six rebounds – seven assists – one block |
| Christian Wood 27 points – 12 rebounds – five assists | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 21 points – two rebounds – seven assists – two blocks |
| Thon Maker 19 points – seven rebounds – two assists – one steal (fouled out) | Danilo Gallinari 19 points – nine rebounds – four assists |
NEXT GAMES
New York at Detroit – Tonight
Boston at Oklahoma City – Sunday
********************
Houston Rockets 91
Phoenix Suns 127
That 46-26 mugging that the Phoenix Suns put on the visiting Houston Rockets stunned the small ball squad so much that they came back after halftime and only scored 36 points combined in the second half, suffering a deflating letdown after the high of beating the Los Angeles Lakers the night before. Seems Kelly Oubre, Jr. took a little offense to having his name in the tradewinds this week and is on a mission to prove his value to the Suns, hitting a career high 39 last night. James Harden looked to be the only Rocket with a pulse, as he shot 47.4 percent overall and 50 percent from downtown to keep the Rockets from being embarrassed even more than they were. Robert Covington had nine points in his second outing as a Rocket, Eric Gordon scored four points, and Russell Westbrook caught a case of Kawhi Leonard’s load management and did not play.
| ROCKETS (33-19) 5th in the West | SUNS (21-31) 12th in the West |
| James Harden 32 points – two rebounds – five assists – one steal – one block | Kelly Oubre, Jr. 39 points – nine rebounds – one steal – two blocks |
| Austin Rivers 14 points – three rebounds – one block | Devin Booker 33 points – nine rebounds – three assists – one block |
| Ben McLemore 13 points – one rebound – one assist – one steal | Cheick Diallo 14 points – eight rebounds – three blocks |
NEXT GAMES
Denver at Phoenix – Tonight
Utah at Houston – Sunday
********************
Miami Heat 97
Sacramento Kings 105
Nineteen three pointers. Yep, that’ll do almost any team in, even the Miami Heat, who succumbed to the aerial show last night in Sacramento, California. Nemanja Bjelica hit five of six, while Bogdan Bogdanovic and Buddy Hield took 13 long range bombs each; Bogey hit 46.2 percent while Buddy Love was five of 13 on the night. Harrison Barnes, De’Aaron Fox, and Cory Joseph each had one in the assault on the Heat, who fought back with Duncan Robinson hitting six of nine from downtown in the loss.
| HEAT (34-17) 4th in the East | KINGS (20-31) 13th in the West |
| Bam Adebayo 26 points – seven rebounds – three assists – two blocks | Bogdan Bogdanovic 23 points – four rebounds – two assists – three steals – one block |
| Duncan Robinson 18 points – five rebounds – six assists – one block | Buddy Hield 21 points – seven rebounds – five assists |
| Kendrick Nunn 16 points – six rebounds – three assists | De’Aaron Fox 16 points – two rebounds – eight assists – one steal – one block |
NEXT GAMES
San Antonio at Sacramento – Tonight
Miami at Portland – Sunday
********************
Portland Trailblazers 114
Utah Jazz 117
A day after the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers got hosed by the officiating crew, and I got mobbed with questions here in Knoxville if I could write about it, my hometown Portland Trailblazers suffered the same fate in their tete-a-tete with the Utah Jazz last night, causing the red hot and rollin’ Blazers to come to a screeching and controversial halt in Salt Lake City. Not only did the non-call on the goaltend by Rudy Gobert cost the Blazers the game, it could cause issues if things tighten up in the Western Conference, where the Jazz and Blazers are 9.5 games apart with nearly 30 games to go, dependent upon wins, losses, and season series between teams. But Portland has to get things buttoned up before then.
| TRAILBLAZERS (24-29) 9th in the West | JAZZ (33-18) 4th in the West |
| Damian Lillard 42 points – six rebounds – six assists – one steal – two blocks | Bojan Bogdanovic 27 points – four rebounds – one assist – two steals |
| C.J. McCollum 27 points – five rebounds – three assists – one steal | Mike Conley 18 points – three rebounds – four assists – two steals |
| Gary Trent, Jr. 16 points – four rebounds – one assist – four steals | Rudy Gobert 16 points – 14 rebounds – two assists – one steal |
NEXT GAMES
Miami at Portland – Sunday
Utah at Houston – Sunday
********************
SATURDAY’S GAMES
(All Times Eastern Standard Time)
| 5 p.m. Milwaukee Bucks Orlando Magic Fox Sports Florida | 7 p.m. New York Knicks Detroit Pistons Fox Sports Detroit | 7 p.m. Dallas Mavericks Charlotte Hornets Fox Sports Southeast |
| 7:30 p.m. New Orleans Pelicans Indiana Pacers Fox Sports Indiana | 7:30 p.m. Brooklyn Nets Toronto Raptors YES | 8 p.m. Los Angeles Clippers Minnesota Timberwolves FSN Prime Ticket |
| 8:30 p.m. Los Angeles Lakers Golden State Warriors ABC | 9 p.m. Denver Nuggets Phoenix Suns Altitude | 10 p.m. San Antonio Spurs Sacramento Kings NBATV |
********************
Tracy Graven is a Senior NBA Analyst for BackSportsPage.com.
He has written the NBA, and done NBA radio, for the last two decades for HoopsWorld, Swish Magazine, and HoopsHype, the Coach Scott Fields Show and NBARadioShow.com, and is also tackling the NFL, NCAA, and will be pinch-hitting on some Major League Baseball coverage for BackSportsPage.
He’s spent 20 years in locker rooms in
- Orlando
- Boise (G League)
- San Antonio
- Phoenix
- Denver
- Oklahoma City
- Atlanta
A corporate trainer by day, he currently resides in SEC Country near Knoxville, Tennessee.
Reach him on Twitter at @RealTMoneyMedia
Featured Articles
Featured Writers
