NBA wRap: New Orleans sets records, Duncan milestone

MANILA Philippines – The New Orleans Pelicans set various franchise records in their demolition of the Minnesota Timberwolves, LeBron and Melo score 40-point season-high games but only one got a win, and Tim Duncan reaches a scoring milestone. This and more on the Saturday, November 15 edition of the NBA wRap.

Denver Nuggets (2-6) 108 – 87 Indiana Pacers (3-7)
DEN: Ty Lawson 11 points, 10 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal
IND: AJ Price 14 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds

The Denver Nuggets used a balanced attack to snap a 6-game skid. Seven Nuggets scored in double figures led by Aaron Afflalo’s 17 points. Point guard Ty Lawson played a key role in getting his teammates involved tallying 10 assists on top of his 11 points.

AJ Price came off the bench and led the Pacers in scoring with 14 while Chris Copeland was held to just 3 points on a miserable 1/10 shooting from the field.

Orlando Magic (4-6) 101 – 85 Milwaukee Bucks (4-5)
ORL: Tobias Harris 26 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block
MIL: Brandon Knight 24 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists

Victor Oladipo made his season debut coming back from a facial fracture injury and delivered 13 points in 25 minutes of action. But this night was all about Tobias Harris who registered a double-double in this win against his former team.

Atlanta Hawks (5-3) 114 – 103 Miami Heat (5-4)
ATL: Paul Millsap 19 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists
MIA: Mario Chalmers 23 points, 11 assists, 1 rebound

The Atlanta frontline of Paul Millsap and Al Horford took the fight directly to Miami and combined for 38 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists as the Hawks took down the Heat.

Mario Chalmers (23 points) provided the offense off the bench for Miami, who was playing without All-Star Dwyane Wade who was out because of a strained left hamstring. Shawne Williams and Chris Bosh added 21 and 20 points, respectively.

Cleveland Cavaliers (4-3) 122 – 121 Boston Celtics (3-5)
CLE: LeBron James 41 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds
BOS: Jared Sullinger 19 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists

LeBron James dropped a season-high 41 points, 10 of which he scored in the fourth quarter, where Cleveland fought to win the ball game. Kyrie Irving added 27 points while Kevin Love tallied a double-double, 12 points and 15 rebounds.

Of the 10 players fielded in by Boston, only 3 failed to score in double figures, one of them is Rajon Rondo who only had 6 markers but distributed the wealth with 16 dimes.

Utah Jazz (4-6) 102 -100 New York Knicks (2-8)
UTA: Gordon Hayway 33 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds
NYK: Carmelo Anthony 46 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist

Carmelo Anthony sunk a three-pointer with 3.2 seconds left to play to tie the game at 100, but Trey Burke topped that shot by making a contested jumper from the corner to sap the energy out of the Madison Square Garden who was treated to a 46-point performance by Melo but was robbed of another win.

Houston Rockets (8-1) 88 – 87 Philadelphia 76ers (0-9)
HOU: James Harden 35 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block
PHI: Michael Carter-Williams 19 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds

Just when you thought the Sixers were finally going to win one, James Harden attacked the basket and made a layup with 9 seconds left to play to give the Rockets its 8th win in 9 games. Dwight Howard was a beast defending the paint, tallying 7 rejections on top of 21 points and 16 rebounds.

New Orleans Pelicans (5-3) 139 – 91 Minnesota Timberwolves (2-6)
NOP: Jrue Holiday 24 points, 9 assists, 9/10 FG shooting
MIN: Andrew Wiggins 20 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist

The Pelicans could do no wrong in this game, setting various records en route to a 139-91 demolition of the Timberloves. The 139 points, 56 made field goals, 66.7% shooting, and 48-point margin are all new franchise records. The Pelicans led by as much as 53 points in the fourth quarter.

New Orleans also tied the franchise record for three-pointers made when they shot 15/20 from beyond the arc.

Detroit Pistons (3-6) 96 – 89 Oklahoma City Thunder (3-7)
DET: Brandon Jennings 29 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals
OKC: Jeremy Lamb 24 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals

Brandon Jennings scored 25 of his 29 points in the second half, 8 of those came in overtime when he took over to give Detroit Pistons the win.

Jeremy Lamb had a breakout game for the Thunder who also drew a 20-point, 12-assist performance from Reggie Jackson but still fell short against the boys from Motor City.

Charlotte Hornets (4-5) 103 – 95 Phoenix Suns (5-4)
CHA: Kemba Walker 19 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists
PHX: Eric Bledsoe 22 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists

Charlotte snapped a 5-away-game skid as Kemba Walker turned it on in the second half to give the Hornets its 4th win of the season. Al Jefferson and Gary Neal added 14 apiece while Bismack Biyombo added 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Gerald Green and Isaiah Thomas who usually lead the Suns bench scoring were severely missed in this game. Thomas had just 9 points while Green failed to get on the scoreboard.

San Antonio Spurs (5-3) 93 – 80 Los Angeles Lakers (1-8)
SAS: Tim Duncan 13 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists
LAL: Carlos Boozer 19 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist

This game didn’t have the playoff feel that was usually present in Spurs vs Lakers games. San Antonio cruised to their 3rd straight win with 7 players scoring at least 9 points. Duncan made a scoring milestone when he scored his 25,000th point in the first half – the 19th player in NBA history to do so.

Kobe Bryant, after a string of high-scoring games, had an off night and scored only 9 points on a depressing 1/14 shooting from the field.

Stat line of the day: James Harden may have scored the winning basket but it was Dwight Howard who did a lot of damage in the paint nearly tallying a triple-double with 21 points, 16 rebounds, and 7 huge blocks, possibly many more altered shots showing no ill-effects of travelling from Mexico.

– Rappler.com