Daily NBA Fix 11-21-13: Spurs Perfect, CP3 and PG15 Show MVP Worthiness

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It was a busy night in the association, with the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers playing a thrilling game that Paul George took over to keep the Knicks in the gutter. Today’s Daily NBA Fix for Thursday, November 21 has all of that and more, so let’s get right to it!

Wednesday’s Results (home team in CAPS)

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS 95, Brooklyn Nets 91

Kemba’s Way – Kemba Walker poured in 31 points to lead the 6-6 Bobcats to victory over the listless Nets. Ramon Sessions chipped in 13 off the bench and Gerald Henderson added 13. No Al Jefferson was no problem, as the Bobcats still outrebounded the Nets 41-36. Andray Blatche led the Nets with 25 points.

DALLAS MAVERICKS 123, Houston Rockets 120

Dirk Passes Reggie – Dirk Nowitzki passed Reggie Miller on the NBA’s career scoring list with his 35 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Monta Ellis scored 37 with eight assists and the Mavericks ended up shooting 58.3 percent as a team. Dwight Howard scored 33 with 11 rebounds (and 9-of-13 from the FT line), but the Mavericks outscored the Rockets by 17 in the fourth quarter.

Memphis Grizzlies 88, Golden State Warriors 81

Grind On – Without Stephen Curry, you’d think the Warriors would still be able to score, just not as well. Not on this night, as Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol combined for 39 points, 23 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Grizzlies to a win. The Warriors got 21 from Klay Thompson and 14 assists from Andre Iguodala, but shot just 43.9 percent, including 27.8 percent from three.

Portland Trail Blazers 91, MILWAUKEE BUCKS 82

Opposite Directions – The Blazers have won eight straight behind LaMarcus Aldridge and his 21 points, Damian Lillard and his 19 and Nicolas Batum‘s eight points, eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals. The Bucks have lost six straight and continue to get uneven production from O.J. Mayo, who scored just nine points and turned the ball over four times.

Washington Wizards 98, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS 91

Beal For President – Bradley Beal scored 26 points with seven rebounds and eight assists to lead the Wizards. He shot 6-for-7 from the 3-point line and is truly blossoming into a terrific player. John Wall added 15 points, nine assists and four steals, with Nene Hilario scoring 24 with eight rebounds and six assists. The Cavs got 28 points and six assists from Kyrie Irving in just 29:38.

Los Angeles Clippers 102, MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES 98

CPMVP – Chris Paul is in the record books as the first to start a season with 12 games of 10+ points and 10+ assists, passing Magic Johnson. Paul scored 20 with 11 assists and four steals, Blake Griffin scored 20 with 10 rebounds, two steals and two blocks and the Clippers held off the Wolves late. Kevin Martin scored 28 with 10 rebounds but Kevin Love shot just 2-for-14 and ended with 10 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

NEW ORLEANS PELICANS 105, Utah Jazz 98

The Uni-Wow – Forget the unibrow, Anthony Davis should be nicknamed the “Uni-Wow.” He put up 22 points, nine rebounds, four assists and eight blocks as the Pelicans inched closer to .500 (5-6) with a win over the Jazz in Trey Burke‘s debut. Burke scored 11 off the bench in 12 minutes. Gordon Hayward shot just 1-for-17 but did add 11 assists.

Indiana Pacers 103, NEW YORK KNICKS 96 (OT)

King George – Is it too early to start the LeBron/Paul George nickname changeover? In any event, George has been terrific and continued the trend with 35 points, five rebounds, four assists, five steals and two blocks for the Pacers, who got bailed out late by a bad foul from Iman Shumpert. The Knicks got 30 points and 18 rebounds from Carmelo Anthony, but they still drop to 3-8.

Miami Heat 120, ORLANDO MAGIC 92

More Cruise Control – This is the Heat team that scares folks. The fact that they’re able to go into cruise control and let their bench take over. LeBron James scored 21 with six rebounds and seven assists in 29:05 and James Jones added 17 in a starting role for the injured Dwyane Wade. Michael Beasley added 14 off the bench. The Magic got 30 from Arron Afflalo and 20 from Victor Oladipo, with five steals.

Toronto Raptors 108, PHILADELPHIA 76ERS 98

DeMar Does It – 33 points (and no assists) from DeMar DeRozan was enough for the Raptors to pick up a road win for Toronto. Kyle Lowry added 13 points, 10 assists and three steals, with Terrence Ross scoring 17 off the bench. The Sixers got 28 and 10 rebounds from Spencer Hawes and 13 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals from Evan Turner.

Sacramento Kings 113, PHOENIX SUNS 106

No Answers For Boogie – DeMarcus Cousins only scored 19 on 4-for-14 from the field, but his presence really opened up the court for others. Isaiah Thomas scored 23 off the bench as the Kings swept the home-and-home series from the free-falling Suns. Phoenix got 31 from Goran Dragic and 23 from Gerald Green, but badly missed Eric Bledsoe in the lineup.

SAN ANTONIO SPURS 104, Boston Celtics 93

The Machine – The Spurs as a team and as an offense are a well-oiled machine. Every starter scored in double figures, with Kawhi Leonard adding five steals and Tiago Splitter adding 10 rebounds. The Spurs are a perfect 5-0 at home. The Celtics got 19 points and 17 rebounds from Jared Sullinger in the loss.

ATLANTA HAWKS 93, Detroit Pistons 85

Little Bit of Everything – The Hawks were led by Paul Millsap‘s 19 points, Al Horford‘s five blocks and DeMarre Carroll‘s 11 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocks. They shot 50.7 percent as a team, but committed 21 turnovers. The Pistons shot just 40.2 percent, “led” by Brandon Jennings and his 21 points (9-for-21 FG). Josh Smith is back…0-for-4 from the 3-point line.

Wednesday’s Top Five

Now this is why the Mavs got him. Credit: Inthemomentpics.com

PlayerOppMPFGFGAFG%3P3PA3P%FTFTAFT%ORBDRBTRBASTSTLBLKTOVPFPTS
Monta EllisHOUW40:171318.72224.500912.7500228203437
Dirk NowitzkiHOUW33:381320.65025.400771.0001674111335
Paul George@NYKW48:501226.46227.286912.7500554521335
Dwight Howard@DALL36:151216.75000913.69238111001333
Chandler Parsons@DALL37:51710.70045.80034.75014511402321

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/21/2013.

Wednesday’s Bottom Five

He’s smiling because he literally did nothing last night and made tens of thousands. (NBA.com photo)

PlayerOppMPFGFGAFG%3P3PA3P%FTFTAFT%ORBDRBTRBASTSTLBLKTOVPFPTS
Ekpe UdohPORL19:2101.0000000000000230
Archie GoodwinSACL18:1308.00003.00012.500123210111
Michael Kidd-GilchristBRKW26:16410.40001.00002.000134100538
Brandon DaviesTORL10:4802.00001.00012.500033000131
Tristan ThompsonWASL23:3105.00000221.000224000212

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/21/2013.

Nightly Goose Egg Award (most minutes without scoring)

The Goose Egg goes to the man with the funky name, Mr. Ekpe Udoh. He played 19:21 and did not record a point. He also didn’t record a single positive stat. That’s tough to do.

Nightly Clean And Sober Award (most minutes without taking a shot)

Congratulations to Ian Mahinmi for winning the Clean and Sober award, as he played 9:39 without taking a single shot. He did add two rebounds, so there’s that.

Circling The Drain

30. Utah Jazz (1-12)
29. Milwaukee Bucks (2-8)
28. Boston Celtics (4-9)
27. Brooklyn Nets (3-8)
26. New York Knicks (3-8)

Random Tidbits and News

After being named the Western Conference Player of the Month, Markieff Morris has seven points in three games…Have to hand it to Paul George for making 3-of-3 free-throws on the road to send the Pacers into overtime…Carmelo Anthony’s 18 rebounds were excellent, but the fact that nine were offensive is even greater…Kevin Martin has to love Minnesota, as he’s averaging 23.6 points per game.

Thursday’s Schedule and Lines (courtesy of VegasInsider.com)

Your Best Bets*

Thunder -4.5
Nuggets +3.5

Wednesday’s Best Bets

76ers +3.5 (LOSS)
Clippers at Wolves UNDER 212.5 (WIN)
Kings at Suns OVER 191.5 (WIN)

Season Record: 17-15