NBA wRap: Blazers’ 84 points in first half

MANILA, Philippines – The Portland Trailblazers scored 84 points all in the first half as they sunk the Denver Nuggets further down into the standings, OKC catches a break and gets solid contribution off the bench, and Anthoy Davis delivers another solid performance. This and more on the November 13 edition of the NBA wRap.

Washington Wizards (6-2) 107 – 103 Detroit Pistons (2-6)
WAS: John Wall 27 points, 11 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block
DET: Brandon Jennings 32 points, 10 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals

The Wizards are off to a hot start with a 6-2 record – their first since the 1975-1976 season.

Brandon Jennings was torching Washington in the first half, but the Wizards made adjustments in the second half to steal the game away. Wall led 4 other Wizards who scored in double figures.

Atlanta Hawks (4-3) 100 – 97 Utah Jazz (3-6)
ATL: Paul Millsap 30 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks
UTA: Derrick Favors 20 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks

Power forward Paul Millsap had a huge night with 30 points and 17 rebounds as he made up for missing production from forwards Demarre Carol and Mike Scott, but it was three-point specialist Kyle Korver’s trey with 58 seconds left to play that won the game for the Hawks.

Oklahoma City Thunder (3-6) 109 – 94 Boston Celtics (3-4)
OKC: Reggie Jackson 28 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal
BOS: Rajon Rondo 20 points, 12 assists, 9 rebounds, 2 steals

Thunder point guard Reggie Jackson finds himself in an unfamiliar situation, needing to carry much of the offensive load as OKC plays the waiting game on its stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook who are both out with injuries. Jackson didn’t disappoint leading the Thunder to a win over the Celtics.

Anthony Morrow was a valuable 6th man for OKC as he outscored the entire Celtics bench with 28 points on 4/5 shooting from beyond the arc.

Rajon Rondo had another near triple-double game leading the Boston starters who all scored in double figures. Unfortunately for the Cs, they didn’t have enough support from their reserves.

Indiana Pacers (3-6) 81 – 75 Miami Heat (5 -3)
IND: Roy Hibbert 16 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks
MIA: Dwyane Wade 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists

The Indiana Pacers outworked the Miami Heat on the glass in this rematch of the 2013-2014 Eastern Conference Finals. The Pacers outrebounded the Heat, 53-28. Center Roy Hibbert and wingman Solomon Hill combined for 25 boards, nearly equalling Miami’s total output.

Chris Bosh, who was averaging in double figures in both scoring and rebounding was held to just 9 points and 2 rebounds.

Orlando Magic (3-6) 97 – 95 New York Knicks (2-7)
ORL: Evan Fournier 28 points, 4 steals, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
NYK: Carmelo Anthony 27 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block

Frenchman shooting guard Evan Fournier scores a career-high 28 points to help the Magic beat the struggling New York Knicks. Center Nikola Vujecic also had another big game for Orlando. He finished the game with 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 assists.

New Orleans Pelicans (4-3) 109 – 102 LA Lakers (1-7)
NOP: Anthony Davis 25 points, 12 rebounds, 6 blocks
LAL: Kobe Bryant 33 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds

Anthony Davis continues to impress this season as he stuffed the stat sheet once more in the Pelicans’ win over the Lakers. Tyreke Evans also had a solid outing as he tallied 19 points, 11 assists, and 5 rebounds.

Kobe had another impressive offensive performance leading all scorers with 33 points. Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin added 16 and 15 points, respectively, but head coach Byron Scott said the problem why the Lakers are down 1-7 is their inconsistency on the defensive end.

Portland Trailblazers (6-3) 130 – 113 Denver Nuggets (1-6)
POR: Damian Lillard 27 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals
DEN: Ty Lawson 32 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals

The Portland Trailblazers had this game as early as the end of the first half when they already had 84 big points. According to data tracking company STATS, the last time any team scored that much in the first half was during March 25, 2011 when Golden State led against Toronto.

Point guards Lillard and Lawson dueled from beyond the arc with Lillard making 5/6 of his three-ball attempts while Lawson knocked down 4/5 long bombs.

Phoenix Suns (5-3) 112 – 104 Brooklyn Nets (4-3)
PHX: Gerald Green 28 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
BKN: Joe Johnson, 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists

The Brooklyn Nets tried to slow the game down and it was working for the most part as they built a 19-point lead. But that would eventually vanish as Gerald Green came offf the bench to spark a Suns uprising and steal the game from the Nets. Eric Bledsoe (11 points, 7 turnovers) had a less than stellar outing with 11 points and 7 turnovers but felow point guards Goran Dragic (18 points, 6 assists) and Isaiah Thomas (21 points, 4 rebounds) picked up the slack.

The Nets had 6 players in double figures and drew a double-double from veteran Kevin Garnett (12 points, 10 rebounds) but couldn’t keep up with the run-and-gun Suns.

Houston Rockets (6-1) 113 – 101 Minnesota Timberwolves (2-4)
HOU: James Harden 23 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals
MIN: Nikola Pekovic 11 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block

Dwight Howard and James Harden were at their best in front of Mexican fans. The superstars stuffed the stat sheet combining for 45 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 steals, and 4 blocks.

Stat line of the night: Rajon Rondo was one rebound away from triple-double but it was in a losing effort against a depleted OKC Thunder. Rondo has been his usual self but he’ll need more help from his teammates to string together a few wins. – Rappler.com