The Brooklyn Nets shocked the Los Angeles Lakers and the world (and, likely, themselves) as they defeated the purple and gold last night in L.A.
That other L.A. team nailed down a win over the Golden State Warriors, and the Houston Rockets got back on track against Minnesota.
Nine total games on the slate last night …
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Boston Celtics 114
Indiana Pacers 111
The Indiana Pacers played probably their best and most complete game since Victor Oladipo’s return, with Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis leading in a way they hadn’t since last season … but it wasn’t enough to beat the Boston Celtics or stop the third place team from clinching a playoff spot last night. The 94-80 advantage after three quarters was pretty telling as the Celtics were led by Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward.
| CELTICS (43-21) 3rd in the East | PACERS (39-26) 5th in the East |
| Jayson Tatum 30 points – six rebounds – two assists – four steals | Domantas Sabonis 28 points – nine rebounds – eight assists – one steal |
| Gordon Hayward 27 points – 10 rebounds – five assists – two steals – one block | Victor Oladipo 27 points – seven rebounds – four assists – one steal – one block |
| Daniel Thies 20 points – six rebounds – three assists – two blocks | T.J. Warren 22 points – five rebounds |
NEXT GAMES
Boston at Milwaukee – Thursday
Indiana at Philadelphia – Saturday
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New York Knicks 115
Washington Wizards 122
Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards are making things complicated in the Eastern Conference. Not only are they chasing the eighth seed that Orlando has a death grip on right now, but their win mathematically makes the Miami Heat wait another game or two before they clinch a playoff spot. Beal played out of his mind again, scoring 40, this time in a win for the Wizards, who are 5.5 games back of Orlando.
| KNICKS (20-45) 12th in the East | WIZARDS (24-40) 9th in the East |
| Bobby Portis 20 points – six rebounds – five assists – one block | Bradley Beal 40 points – three rebounds – seven assists – three steals – one block |
| Frank Ntilikina 20 points – two rebounds – 10 assists – two steals | Shabazz Napier 21 points – two rebounds – six assists – three steals |
| R.J. Barrett 16 points – six rebounds – one assist – four steals | Thomas Bryant 14 points – 10 rebounds – two assists – one steal |
NEXT GAMES
New York at Atlanta – Tonight
Washington at Boston – Friday
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Cleveland Cavaliers 103
Chicago Bulls 108
The Chicago Bulls gave Cleveland head coach J.B. Bickerstaff a 41st birthday gift he didn’t necessarily want last night. It came courtesy of Coby White, who has been showing his value of late, scoring at least 19 points in his last nine games, including a 20 point effort last night. With that raw greatness exuding, the Bulls and White also had to deal with his nine turnovers, but Otto Porter, Jr. and Lauri Markkanen added 15 apiece to offset 26 from Collin Sexton and 21 from Andre Drummond, who Bickerstaff finally seems to be getting good production from.
| CAVALIERS (19-46) 15th in the East | BULLS (22-43) 11th in the East |
| Collin Sexton 26 points – three rebounds – five assists – one steal | Coby White 20 points – five rebounds – five assists |
| Andre Drummond 21 points – seven rebounds – two assists – two steals – one block | Otto Porter, Jr. 15 points – four rebounds – two assists – two steals |
| Kevin Love 17 points – eight rebounds – seven assists – one steal | Lauri Markkanen 15 points – four rebounds – one steal |
NEXT GAMES
Chicago at Orlando – Thursday
Cleveland at Charlotte – Friday
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Minnesota Timberwolves 111
Houston Rockets 117
There’s nothing like having the Minnesota Timberwolves on the schedule – it means ending a four game losing streak. The Houston Rockets took advantage of the visiting Wolves on a full moon night by combining James Harden and Russell Westbrook for 64 points to take the six point win last night. D’Angelo Russell had 28 for the Timberwolves in a losing effort. Despite the win, the Rockets remain behind Oklahoma City in the Western Conference playoff picture after Orlando wiped them out on Sunday night.
| TIMBERWOLVES (19-45) 14th in the West | ROCKETS (40-24) 6th in the West |
| D’Angelo Russell 28 points – six rebounds – five assists – four steals | James Harden 37 points – four rebounds – seven assists – two steals – one block |
| Juancho Hernangomez 18 points – 10 rebounds – one steal | Russell Westbrook 27 points – six rebounds – seven assists – four steals |
| James Johnson 16 points – six rebounds – three assists – two steals | Eric Gordon 16 points – two rebounds – one assist |
NEXT GAMES
Houston at Los Angeles – Thursday
Minnesota at Oklahoma City – Friday
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Dallas Mavericks 109
San Antonio Spurs 119
In a nationally televised tip, the San Antonio Spurs try to clean up their mess of a season by beating the Dallas Mavericks, who – with their personnel – really shouldn’t be a seventh place team. But they played like one last night against a team that is unaccustomed to being nine games under .500 and on the outside looking in when it comes to the stretch run to the playoffs. LaMarcus Aldridge returned from injury to lead San Antonio to the 10 point win, scoring 24 points to offset Luka Doncic’s 28 point night.
| MAVERICKS (39-27) 7th in the West | SPURS (27-36) 12th in the West |
| Luka Doncic 28 points – seven rebounds – eight assists – two steals | LaMarcus Aldridge 24 points – two rebounds – two assists – three steals – four blocks |
| Tim Hardaway, Jr. 20 points – seven rebounds – three assists – two steals | Rudy Gay 17 points – four rebounds |
| Dorian Finney-Smith 15 points – four rebounds – one steal | Marco Belinelli 14 points – three rebounds – one assist |
NEXT GAMES
Denver at Dallas – Tonight
Denver at San Antonio – Friday
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Orlando Magic 120
Memphis Grizzlies 115
The Orlando Magic torched the Houston Rockets on Sunday night and were salivating at taking another shot at a Western Conference contender last night, as the Memphis Grizzlies visited the Happiest Place on Earth. Terrence Ross, who was instrumental in Sunday’s win with 16, scored 18 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to help the Magic to a five point win in the battle of eighth place teams from each conference. Jonas Valanciunas, Ja Morant, and Dillon Brooks combined for 69 in the Memphis loss.
| MAGIC (30-35) 8th in the East | GRIZZLIES (32-33) 8th in the West |
| Terrence Ross 24 points – two rebounds – one assist – two blocks | Jonas Valanciunas 27 points – 16 rebounds – one assist – one steal |
| Michael Carter-Williams 20 points – three rebounds – two steals | Ja Morant 21 points – four rebounds – five assists – one steal |
| Nikola Vucevic 19 points – 11 rebounds – seven assists | Dillon Brooks 21 points – one assist – one steal |
NEXT GAMES
Chicago at Orlando – Thursday
Memphis at Portland – Thursday
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Phoenix Suns 105
Portland Trailblazers 121
All five of the Portland Trailblazers’ starters scored in double digits last night to snuff the visiting Phoenix Suns. In fact, the starting lineup for Portland scored all but 15 of the Blazers’ total of 105. Carmelo Anthony had 21, Hassan Whiteside added 16 and 14, while it was eight from Mario Hezonja, Anfernee Simons had five, and it was a deuce for Nassir Little. Phoenix was led by a combined 74 from Devin Booker, Dario Saric, and Ricky Rubio. Aron Baynes only had seven after exploding for 37 earlier in the week.
| SUNS (26-39) 13th in the West | TRAILBLAZERS (29-37) 9th in the West |
| Devin Booker 29 points – six rebounds – nine assists | Damian Lillard 25 points – five rebounds – seven assists – three steals – two blocks |
| Dario Saric 24 points – 11 rebounds – two assists – one block | C.J. McCollum 22 points – six rebounds – four assists – one steal – one block |
| Ricky Rubio 21 points – six rebounds – nine assists | Trevor Ariza 22 points – six rebounds – one steal – one block |
NEXT GAMES
Memphis at Portland – Thursday
Phoenix at Dallas – Saturday
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Los Angeles Clippers 131
Golden State Warriors 107
How easy was last night’s game versus the Golden State Warriors? All members of the Los Angeles Clippers got to experience load management in the fourth quarter – not only, but certainly including, Kawhi Leonard. Leonard led the Clippers’ assault with 23 points on 64.3 percent shooting from the field. He deserved the fourth quarter off. The Clippers outscored the Warriors by nine in the first, by 19 in the second, and by another six in the third to take a 34 point lead and the starters to take the rest of the night off. Dragan Bender led Golden State with 23 of his own.
| CLIPPERS (44-20) 2nd in the West | WARRIORS (15-50) 15th in the West |
| Kawhi Leonard 23 points – four rebounds – five assists – two steals | Dragan Bender 23 points – seven rebounds – three assists |
| Reggie Jackson 16 points – four assists – one block | Andrew Wiggins 21 points – two rebounds – three assists |
| Patrick Beverley 15 points – three rebounds – two assists | Jordan Poole 17 points – one rebound – three assists – one steal |
NEXT GAMES
Brooklyn at Golden State – Thursday
Brooklyn at Los Angeles – Friday
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Brooklyn Nets 104
Los Angeles Lakers 102
Who needs Kyrie Irving? These Brooklyn Nets have learned to deal with disappointment and use it as a catalyst for their scrappiness, showing grit and determination every step of the way over the past couple of years, including Irving only showing up when he wanted and ultimately shutting it down in his first season in Brooklyn. That grit, that perseverance showed itself last night in L.A. as the Nets cut down the Los Angeles Lakers, fighting until the final horn sounded and coming out with a well-earned win over the highly favored Lakers. Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert combined for 45 points to counter the 55 put together by LeBron James and Anthony Davis. It was Brooklyn’s second straight win since Jacque Vaughn took over for Kenny Atkinson.
| NETS (30-34) 7th in the East | LAKERS (49-14) 1st in the West |
| Spencer Dinwiddie 23 points – four rebounds – seven assists – one steal | LeBron James 29 points – 12 rebounds – nine assists – one steal |
| Caris LeVert 22 points – seven rebounds – four assists – two steals – one block | Anthony Davis 26 points – eight rebounds – two assists – one block |
| Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot 13 points – two rebounds – two assists – one steal | Kyle Kuzma 14 points – five rebounds – one assist – one steal |
NEXT GAMES
Brooklyn at Golden State – Thursday
Houston at Los Angeles – Thursday
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WEDNESDAY’S LINEUP
(All Times Eastern)
| 7 p.m. Detroit Pistons Philadelphia 76ers ESPN | 7:30 p.m. New York Knicks Atlanta Hawks Fox Sports Southeast | 7:30 p.m. Charlotte Hornets Miami Heat Fox Sports Southeast |
| 8 p.m. Utah Jazz Oklahoma City Thunder AT&T Rocky Mountain | 8 p.m. Denver Nuggets Dallas Mavericks Altitude 2 | 10:30 p.m. New Orleans Pelicans Sacramento Kings ESPN |
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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
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