James Harden’s second straight 40-point performance led the Rockets to victory and put the Suns into a perilous position, tied in the loss column with both New Orleans and Oklahoma City. Elsewhere, the Grizzlies blast the Nets, the Pistons blow out the Hornets in Charlotte, and the Bulls lose Jimmy Butler but get a win over the Kings.
Let’s get to the games:
Pistons 106 (21-32) – Hornets 78 (22-30)
The bottom half of the Eastern Conference playoff picture is incredibly unclear as we head into the All-Star break, and Detroit is looking to take advantage everywhere possible in order to snag a spot. The Pistons dominated the Hornets, giving them their third straight loss and taking the Pistons to 16-9 in their last 25 games. Greg Monroe finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds and D.J. Augustine had 18 in the win. Gerald Henderson had 17 for the Hornets, while Al Jefferson was held to 6 for 11 shooting and finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Rockets 127 (36-16) – Suns 118 (29-25)
The Rockets took an early 18-points lead, but squandered it away before James Harden took over and led the Rockets back to a comfortable win. The Suns have now fallen to one game up on both New Orleans and Oklahoma City but are tied in the loss column with both. Harden finished with 40 points, his second straight 40-point game. Josh Smith added 20 points in one of his best games as a Rocket. Eric Bledsoe scored 32 and Goran Dragic added 20 points for the Suns.
Kings 86 (18-33) – Bulls 104 (33-20)
The Kings are in a free-fall, and likely will be switching coaches before they return from the All-Star break. The Bulls are in need of some easy wins, and they got one despite losing Jimmy Butler to a shoulder injury in the first half. Tony Snell stepped up for Chicago with a career-high 24 points, while Pau Gasol finished with 26 and 16 rebounds, and Derrick Rose had 23 with no turnovers. The Kings were led by Rudy Gay with 24, but Sacramento has now lost 12 of their last 14.
Nets 86 (21-31) – Grizzlies 95 (39-13)
The Nets have been successful in jumping out to good starts recently (if not much else), but the Grizzlies flipped the script, outscoring them by 17 in the 1st quarter on the way to a blow out win. The Nets now face 10 days off and have some tough decisions to make about their player personnel. Zach Randolph led the Grizzlies with 19 and Marc Gasol had 14 with 11 rebounds. Mason Plumlee and Alan Anderson both had 15 for the Nets, who have now lost 7 of their last 10.
Nuggets 106 (20-33) – Lakers 96 (13-39)
The Nuggets have epitomized an up-and-down team this year, in one breath trading away key assets and in another beating teams with a well-organized offense and tough defense. Tonight, they got a win over the hapless Lakers, but it was the kind of win that felt good heading into the All-Star break. Ty Lawson had a season-high 32 points and 16 assists while Darrell Arthur added 15. Carlos Boozer led the Lakers with 21 and 10 rebounds and Wayne Ellington finished with 18.