In a busy Saturday of NBA action, the Dallas Mavericks keep sinking, the Charlotte Hornets surge forward, the Oklahoma City Thunder realize once more about their inferiority against the really good teams and the Golden State Warriors pull off another shooting barrage to erase a double digit deficit in no time.
Indiana Pacers 112 Dallas Mavericks 105: The Mavs keep sinking, falling to .500 and losing their fifth game in a row. The Pacers in the meantime have won four of their last five. Led by Paul George with 20 points, the entire lineup and two more bench players finished in double figures. Dirk Nowitzki had 30 points for the Mavs.
Houston Rockets 109 Charlotte Hornets 125: The Rockets look disastrous, while the Hornets keep surging with a seventh straight win. Kemba Walker with 26 points and Marvin Williams adding 25 led Charlotte while Jeremy Lin added 16 to lead one of the best bench units in the league right now. James Harden scored just 12 points on 2-of-14 from the field.
Detroit Pistons 125 Philadelphia 76ers 111: There’s nothing like playing the 76ers to move yourself closer to a playoff spot. Reggie Jackson scored 24 points to go with 10 assists and Andre Drummond had himself a 19-15 double double. Isaiah Canaan led the Sixers with 22 points, needing one more win to avoid finishing with the worst record (tied) in NBA history.
Miami Heat 104 Toronto Raptors 112: A game that keeps the barrier between the Cavs-Raptors duopoly and the rest of the East. DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with 38 points as they won in overtime, also getting 20 points and 10 rebounds from Jonas Valanciunas. Joe Johnson, having the time of his life since joining the Heat, led them with 28 points.
Memphis Grizzlies 83 Atlanta Hawks 95: When JaMychal Green and Matt Barnes are such a big part of your offense, you’re going to have bad days. Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 21 points who managed to avoid letting Kent Bazemore’s 0 points bother them. Jeff Teague scored 18 points and Al Horford finished with 19.
New Orleans Pelicans 92 Milwaukee Bucks 103: Six Bucks players scored in double figures, led by Khris Middleton with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists, while the rest of the lineup all scored in double figures. Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 18 points and 5 rebounds. Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 29 points.
Oklahoma City Thunder 83 San Antonio Spurs 95: The Thunder get another harsh lesson of life in the West and where they stand, as Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant had another clutch implosion on both ends of the floor. Kawhi Leonard with 26 and LaMarcus Aldridge with 24 points led the Spurs, trying to keep up with the Warriors.
Washington Wizards 100 Denver Nuggets 116: The season is slipping away from the Wizards, now five games below .500, their defense getting show up by eight different Nuggets scoring in double figures. Gary Harris, Darrell Arthur, Jusuf Nurkic and D.J. Augustin each scored 17 points for the Nuggets, who’ll probably be worth looking out for next season.
Phoenix Suns 116 Golden State Warriors 123: No words are left to be said about the Warriors, who were getting crushed in the third quarter but came back firing from everywhere in the fourth. Stephen Curry finished with 35 points in what was mostly a bad shooting day until the final quarter, Marreese Speights added 25 from the bench and Draymond Green willed the team to make the comeback through his defense, scoring 19 points.
Orlando Magic 84 Portland Trail Blazers 121: For once there was no need for either Damian Lillard or C.J. McCollum to do much, as the game was over at halftime. Lillard led the Blazers with 19 points, both McCollum and Crabbe added 18 points.
Eastern Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 46 | 18 | .719 | – | 64 |
| 2 | Toronto Raptors | 44 | 20 | .688 | 2.0 | 64 |
| 3 | Boston Celtics | 39 | 27 | .591 | 8.0 | 66 |
| 4 | Miami Heat | 38 | 28 | .576 | 9.0 | 66 |
| 5 | Charlotte Hornets | 37 | 28 | .569 | 9.5 | 65 |
| 6 | Atlanta Hawks | 37 | 29 | .561 | 10.0 | 66 |
| 7 | Indiana Pacers | 35 | 30 | .538 | 11.5 | 65 |
| 8 | Detroit Pistons | 34 | 32 | .515 | 13.0 | 66 |
| 9 | Chicago Bulls | 32 | 32 | .500 | 14.0 | 64 |
| 10 | Washington Wizards | 30 | 35 | .462 | 16.5 | 65 |
| 11 | Orlando Magic | 28 | 37 | .431 | 18.5 | 65 |
| 12 | Milwaukee Bucks | 28 | 38 | .424 | 19.0 | 66 |
| 13 | New York Knicks | 27 | 40 | .403 | 20.5 | 67 |
| 14 | Brooklyn Nets | 18 | 47 | .277 | 28.5 | 65 |
| 15 | o – Philadelphia 76ers | 9 | 57 | .136 | 38.0 | 66 |
Western Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden State Warriors | 59 | 6 | .908 | – | 65 |
| 2 | San Antonio Spurs | 56 | 10 | .848 | 3.5 | 66 |
| 3 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 44 | 22 | .667 | 15.5 | 66 |
| 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | 42 | 22 | .656 | 16.5 | 64 |
| 5 | Memphis Grizzlies | 39 | 27 | .591 | 20.5 | 66 |
| 6 | Portland Trail Blazers | 35 | 32 | .522 | 25.0 | 67 |
| 7 | Houston Rockets | 33 | 33 | .500 | 26.5 | 66 |
| 8 | Dallas Mavericks | 33 | 33 | .500 | 26.5 | 66 |
| 9 | Utah Jazz | 30 | 35 | .462 | 29.0 | 65 |
| 10 | Denver Nuggets | 28 | 38 | .424 | 31.5 | 66 |
| 11 | Sacramento Kings | 25 | 39 | .391 | 33.5 | 64 |
| 12 | New Orleans Pelicans | 24 | 41 | .369 | 35.0 | 65 |
| 13 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 21 | 45 | .318 | 38.5 | 66 |
| 14 | Phoenix Suns | 17 | 49 | .258 | 42.5 | 66 |
| 15 | Los Angeles Lakers | 14 | 52 | .212 | 45.5 | 66 |