A busy day of NBA basketball is highlighted by the Golden State Warriors losing for the second time this season, playing without Stephen Curry; the Chicago Bulls beating the Indiana Pacers in overtime with a Jimmy Butler game winning alley oop; and Kobe Bryant playing his final game in Boston, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a rare away win.
Los Angeles Clippers 122 Charlotte Hornets 117: The Clippers finished the game on a 14-4 run to breakaway from the Hornets despite playing without Blake Griffin. Chris Paul finished with 19 points and 11 assists, DeAndre Jordan had another double double while J.J. Redick scored 26 points. Kemba Walker scored 29 points to lead a Hornets team playing without Jeremy Lin and Al Jefferson.
Brooklyn Nets 93 Orlando Magic 100: The Magic have won seven of nine and used a big fourth quarter to erase a double digit deficit in the second half, riding Nikola Vucevic with 20 points and 9 rebounds, while Evan Fournier helped out scoring 17. Brook Lopez led the Nets scoring 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.
Los Angeles Lakers 112 Boston Celtics 104: Something of an embarrassing loss for the Celtics, allowing the Lakers their sixth win of the season, as Kobe Bryant said goodbye to the TD Garden. He scored 15 points on an awful shooting game, with Jordan Clarkson and Lou Williams, combining to score 43 points, actually carried the Lakers to a fourth road win this season.
Washington Wizards 91 Toronto Raptors 94: The Wizards remain under .500 and lose another regular season game to the Raptors (fifth in a row), unable to slow down DeMar DeRozan with 34 points, including 15-of-15 from the line. Otto Porter led the Wizards with 20 points.
Indiana Pacers 100 Chicago Bulls 102: A big win for the Bulls, playing without Derrick Rose, coming with an Alley Oop in overtime by Jimmy Butler to win the game. He scored 28 points, Aaron Brooks added 29 from the bench while George Hill, with 20 points, led the Pacers.
Utah Jazz 80 Minnesota Timberwolves 94: The Jazz, missing too many key players, weren’t much of a rival to the Timberwolves, getting a big night from Karl-Anthony Towns, scoring 25 points with 10 rebounds, getting help from Andrew Wiggins, finishing with 17, although missing most of his shots. Trey Burke led the Jazz with 23 points.
Golden State Warriors 91 Dallas Mavericks 114: No Stephen Curry, Festus Ezeli and Leandro Barbosa meant an easy night for the Mavs and only the second loss this season for the Warriors. J.J. Barea scored 23 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 18. Draymond Green and Klay Thompson combined to shot 8-of-30 from the field, and Ian Clark led the Dubs with 21 points.
Phoenix Suns 79 San Antonio Spurs 112: The Suns continue to be a laughing stock, maybe the biggest in the league right now, demolished by LaMarcus Aldridge with a 21-12 double double and 19 points by Kawhi Leonard. The Suns shot just 39.5% from the field while allowing the Spurs to make 56.6% of their attempts.
Denver Nuggets 103 Portland Trail Blazers 110: Not having Damian Lillard didn’t hurt the Blazers, getting 29 points from C.J. McCollum who is having quite the breakout season. Allen Crabbe helped out with 20 points, while Will Barton scored 36 for the Nuggets, playing without Emmanuel Mudiay, J.J. Hickson and Jusuf Nurkic.
Philadelphia 76ers 110 Sacramento Kings 105: The Kings enter a short list of teams that should be ashamed of themselves for losing to the 76ers. Nerlens Noel scored 20 points, Ish Smith had 18 with 9 assists, Jerami Grant scored 16 points and Isaiah Canaan added 15. For the Kings, Marco Belinelli led the way with 28 points, while DeMarcus Cousins scored 21 before being thrown out of the game, this time with 6 fouls.
Eastern Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 21 | 9 | .700 | – | 30 |
| 2 | Atlanta Hawks | 21 | 13 | .618 | 2.0 | 34 |
| 3 | Toronto Raptors | 20 | 13 | .606 | 2.5 | 33 |
| 4 | Chicago Bulls | 18 | 12 | .600 | 3.0 | 30 |
| 5 | Orlando Magic | 19 | 13 | .594 | 3.0 | 32 |
| 6 | Indiana Pacers | 18 | 13 | .581 | 3.5 | 31 |
| 7 | Miami Heat | 18 | 13 | .581 | 3.5 | 31 |
| 8 | Boston Celtics | 18 | 14 | .563 | 4.0 | 32 |
| 9 | Charlotte Hornets | 17 | 14 | .548 | 4.5 | 31 |
| 10 | Detroit Pistons | 17 | 15 | .531 | 5.0 | 32 |
| 11 | New York Knicks | 16 | 18 | .471 | 7.0 | 34 |
| 12 | Washington Wizards | 14 | 16 | .467 | 7.0 | 30 |
| 13 | Milwaukee Bucks | 12 | 21 | .364 | 10.5 | 33 |
| 14 | Brooklyn Nets | 9 | 23 | .281 | 13.0 | 32 |
| 15 | Philadelphia 76ers | 3 | 31 | .088 | 20.0 | 34 |
Western Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden State Warriors | 29 | 2 | .935 | – | 31 |
| 2 | San Antonio Spurs | 28 | 6 | .824 | 2.5 | 34 |
| 3 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 22 | 10 | .688 | 7.5 | 32 |
| 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | 20 | 13 | .606 | 10.0 | 33 |
| 5 | Dallas Mavericks | 19 | 13 | .594 | 10.5 | 32 |
| 6 | Memphis Grizzlies | 18 | 16 | .529 | 12.5 | 34 |
| 7 | Houston Rockets | 16 | 17 | .485 | 14.0 | 33 |
| 8 | Utah Jazz | 13 | 17 | .433 | 15.5 | 30 |
| 9 | Portland Trail Blazers | 14 | 20 | .412 | 16.5 | 34 |
| 10 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 12 | 20 | .375 | 17.5 | 32 |
| 11 | Sacramento Kings | 12 | 20 | .375 | 17.5 | 32 |
| 12 | Denver Nuggets | 12 | 21 | .364 | 18.0 | 33 |
| 13 | Phoenix Suns | 12 | 22 | .353 | 18.5 | 34 |
| 14 | New Orleans Pelicans | 10 | 21 | .323 | 19.0 | 31 |
| 15 | Los Angeles Lakers | 6 | 27 | .182 | 24.0 | 33 |