A double header in Los Angeles was split for the city: The Clippers beating the Chicago Bulls, the Lakers losing to the Charlotte Hornets. In other NBA news, the Orlando Magic finally won a game, the Miami Heat won a fourth in a row against the sliding Atlanta Hawks while the Golden State Warriors, with another huge game from Klay Thompson, had their way with the New York Knicks.
Chicago Bulls 93 Los Angeles Clippers 120: The highs & lows of this season for the Chicago Bulls continue by getting destroyed in LA by the Clippers, falling apart in the second half. Jamal Crawford had 26 off the bench, J.J. Redick finished with 21 points, Chris Paul had 19 and DeAndre Jordan scored 17 points while grabbing 20 rebounds. Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose combined to score 43 points.
Atlanta Hawks 87 Miami Heat 105: The Heat win a fourth straight game for the first time this season, putting them only 0.5 games behind the Hawks in the division. Chris Bosh led the way with 18 points, both Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng scored 17. Paul Millsap and Al Horford each had 17 for the sliding Hawks.
Boston Celtics 114 Orlando Magic 119: After losing eight consecutive games, the Magic finally get to smile at the end of one. Evan Fournier scored 24 points to lead the way, Aaron Gordon followed with 19 points and 14 rebounds and rookie Mario Hezonja added 17 points. Marcus Smart led the Celtics off the bench with 26 points.
Phoenix Suns 78 Dallas Mavericks 91: Dirk Nowitzki didn’t play, but against the saddest bunch in the NBA? Deron Williams led the scoring with 27 points and Chandler Parsons helped out scoring 15. It didn’t matter that the Mavericks shot just 39.1% from the field.
Golden State Warriors 116 New York Knicks 95: A complete obliteration of the Knicks at the Madison Square Garden, as Klay Thompson scored 34 points (37 points per game in the last three) while Draymond Green had a perfect triple double: 20-10-10 while shooting 9-of-9 from the field. Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 24 points.
Minnesota Timberwolves 93 Portland Trail Blazers 96: The Timberwolves defense held out for once, but still wasn’t enough in Portland, who remain in 8th. The Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum combination finished with 21 points each while making the most of 17 turnovers by the Timberwolves, who were led by Karl-Anthony Towns scoring 21 points.
Charlotte Hornets 101 Los Angeles Lakers 82: The Hornets have no problem in their final game of their Western Conference Tour, as Marvin Williams and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist each scored 19 to lead the visitors. The Lakers had 23 from Kobe Bryant but shot just 33.8% from the field.
Eastern Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 34 | 12 | .739 | – | 46 |
| 2 | Toronto Raptors | 32 | 15 | .681 | 2.5 | 47 |
| 3 | Chicago Bulls | 26 | 20 | .565 | 8.0 | 46 |
| 4 | Miami Heat | 27 | 21 | .563 | 8.0 | 48 |
| 5 | Atlanta Hawks | 27 | 22 | .551 | 8.5 | 49 |
| 6 | Boston Celtics | 27 | 22 | .551 | 8.5 | 49 |
| 7 | Indiana Pacers | 25 | 22 | .532 | 9.5 | 47 |
| 8 | Detroit Pistons | 25 | 23 | .521 | 10.0 | 48 |
| 9 | Charlotte Hornets | 23 | 25 | .479 | 12.0 | 48 |
| 10 | Washington Wizards | 21 | 24 | .467 | 12.5 | 45 |
| 11 | New York Knicks | 23 | 27 | .460 | 13.0 | 50 |
| 12 | Orlando Magic | 21 | 25 | .457 | 13.0 | 46 |
| 13 | Milwaukee Bucks | 20 | 29 | .408 | 15.5 | 49 |
| 14 | Brooklyn Nets | 12 | 36 | .250 | 23.0 | 48 |
| 15 | Philadelphia 76ers | 7 | 41 | .146 | 28.0 | 48 |
Western Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden State Warriors | 44 | 4 | .917 | – | 48 |
| 2 | San Antonio Spurs | 39 | 8 | .830 | 4.5 | 47 |
| 3 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 36 | 13 | .735 | 8.5 | 49 |
| 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | 32 | 16 | .667 | 12.0 | 48 |
| 5 | Memphis Grizzlies | 28 | 20 | .583 | 16.0 | 48 |
| 6 | Dallas Mavericks | 28 | 22 | .560 | 17.0 | 50 |
| 7 | Houston Rockets | 25 | 25 | .500 | 20.0 | 50 |
| 8 | Portland Trail Blazers | 23 | 26 | .469 | 21.5 | 49 |
| 9 | Utah Jazz | 21 | 25 | .457 | 22.0 | 46 |
| 10 | Sacramento Kings | 20 | 27 | .426 | 23.5 | 47 |
| 11 | New Orleans Pelicans | 18 | 28 | .391 | 25.0 | 46 |
| 12 | Denver Nuggets | 18 | 30 | .375 | 26.0 | 48 |
| 13 | Phoenix Suns | 14 | 35 | .286 | 30.5 | 49 |
| 14 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 14 | 35 | .286 | 30.5 | 49 |
| 15 | Los Angeles Lakers | 9 | 41 | .180 | 36.0 | 50 |