Daily NBA Fix 1-8-14
NEW YORK KNICKS 89, Detroit Pistons 85
An Ugly W Is Still A W – If there’s one word to describe New York Knicks basketball this season, it would be ugly. But as long as the Knicks are winning ugly, it’ll do for now. The Knicks nearly blew a 17-point lead, but Carmelo Anthony dropping 17 of his game-high 34 points in the third quarter helped extend the lead just far enough to send the Pistons to their fifth straight loss. Although Tyson Chandler missed the game with an illness, New York welcomed back Raymond Felton, who scored 12 points as the starter. Josh Smith had 21 points and 12 rebounds for Detroit. I’m not ready to say ‘Bocker basketball is back just yet, but the Knicks are 3-1 in 2014.
CHICAGO BULLS 92, Phoenix Suns 87
IT’S A TRAP! – Most Suns fans salivated at the idea of playing a deflated Bulls team without Luol Deng. I took it as more of an Admiral Ackbar-ian situation for the Suns, being the Phoenix was still without Eric Bledsoe and facing an emotional Chicago squad. Anytime the Bulls have reason to be emotional or face adversity, it usually means bad news for their opponent. It also didn’t help that weather delays prevented Phoenix from flying in to Chicago until a few hours before the game (or that Goran Dragic‘s 21 points didn’t get much help), but credit the Bulls for banding together and trolling the ownership that (wisely) wants to tank the season away. Taj Gibson had 19 points and 10 boards while Joakim Noah finished with 14 points, 16 rebounds and six assists.
San Antonio Spurs 110, MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 108
San Antonio Still Runs On Duncan – I know we say this over and over again year after year, but until Tim Duncan retires or breaks a hip, you can never count out the San Antonio Spurs. Duncan had a monster game in Memphis with 24 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and two blocks and Marco Belinelli added 19 to help the Spurs outlast the Grizzlies in overtime on Manu Ginobili‘s layup with 1.8 seconds to play. Mike Conley led Memphis with 30 points but took a DEEP three too early when he had room and time to step up for a slightly easier attempt. Underestimate the Spurs all you want, but Duncan is just going to kick those pesky opponents off his lawn.
Golden State Warriors 101, MILWAUKEE BUCKS 80
“WE’RE GOING STREAKING!” – Ten was the magic number of night, not just because the Warriors won their 10th straight game, but also because Western Conference Player of the Week David Lee knocked down his first 10 shots en route to 22 points and 18 rebounds. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson added 15 apiece as Golden State used another dominant third quarter (and second half in general) to put away yet another inferior team. Ersan Ilyasova led Milwaukee with 20 points, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Dubs from improving to 6-0 on their current road trip and 19-3 when Mark Jackson‘s preferred starting five is available.