Tag: Phoenix

‘Masked Mamba’ crowns Kings for 38 to lead Friday’s S&Ds

 Kobe Bryant is becoming accustomed quite nicely to the mask protecting his broken nose, thank you.

Bryant has his second consecutive big game with the facewear, erupting for 38 points and eight rebounds in a 115-107 triumph Friday night over Sacramento.

The mask is courtesy of the broken nose he received in the All-Star Game, courtesy of an elbow from Miami guard Dwyane Wade.

Bryant wears it throughout the game, resulting in the protection making his face feel like “a sauna on my face.”

“The mask felt fine,” Bryant told the Associated Press after the game. “It felt fine last game, it felt fine tonight.”

It particularly didn’t bother him early Friday night as the NBA’s leading scorer went for 20 points in the first quarter. He slowed down as the game progressed  before scoring a pivotal 3-pointer with 2:43 left to ice the victory.

“We played well, (but) we didn’t come in with the right sense of urgency and focus in the fourth quarter, and it almost cost us,” Bryant told the AP.

He’ll have a chance to meet up again with Wade Sunday afternoon after a strong effort leading Friday’s Studs and Duds.

STUDS

Los Angeles Lakers G Kobe Bryant: Erupted for 38 points, eight rebounds, three assists and was a team-best plus-13 in the Lakers’ triumph over  Sacramento.  

Atlanta F Josh Smith: Filled the stat sheet for 24 points, 19 rebounds, four assists and three blocks in the Hawks’ victory over Milwaukee.

Boston F Paul Pierce: Produced 27 points, eight assists and was a team-best plus-25 in the Celtics’ victory over New Jersey.

Denver G Ty Lawson: Went for 22 points, seven rebounds, 15 assists, two steals and was a team-best plus-18 in the Nuggets’ victory at  Houston.

Miami F LeBron James: Produced 35 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and was a game-high plus-7 in the Heat’s loss at Utah.

Milwaukee G Brandon Jennings: Scored 34 points and dished off nine assists in the Bucks’ loss at Atlanta.

DUDS

Milwaukee F Carlos Delfino: Clanked through a 1-for-10 shooting night with two turnovers and was minus-11 in the Bucks’ loss at Atlanta.

Sacramento C Jason Thompson: Went 1 for 8 from the field with a turnover and was minus-5 in the Kings’ loss at the Lakers.

Dallas G Jason Terry: Struggled throuugh a 1-for-9 shooting effort with a turnover and was a game-worst minus-19 in the Mavericks’ loss at New Orleans.

Phoenix C Channing Frye: Clanked through a miserable 2-for-18 shooting effort in the Suns’ victory over the Clippers.

Miami G Mario Chalmers: Went 1 for 6 from the field with four turnovers and was minus-1 in the Heat’s loss at Utah.

Dallas F Dirk Nowitzki: Struggled through a 7-for-19 shooting effort with six turnovers and was minus-5 in the Mavericks’ loss at New Orleans.

LeBron paces star-studded roster on Thursday’s S&Ds

Before the game, Miami coach Erik Spoelstra implored LeBron James he would need a “Magic Johnson-like” performance from him Thursday night to overcome the loss of missing power forward Chris Bosh. 

James obliged with a performance that would have pleased Johnson, erupting for 38 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and five steals in the Heat’s 107-93 victory at Portland — their NBA-best ninth straight victory.  

Spoelstra invoked Johnson’s name to James, telling him he needed him to do a lot with a strong all-around effort.

“Really, it was as simple as this: `We need a Magic Johnson-type, not necessarily performance, but awareness,”’ Spoelstra told the Associated Press. “Man, he really took the challenge. It’s his ability to do all these different things in the course of one game.”

James said he was ready to do what his team needed.

“We had a big piece of our team out, so I definitely had to step up my game to bring home this win,” he told the AP.

Dwyane Wade added 33 points and 10 assists as the Heat cruised  to their sixth straight victory on the road and 17th victory in their last 19 games.

Their big games were enough to place both on Thursday’s Studs and Duds of  the top efforts across the league.

STUDS

Miami F LeBron James: Erupted for 38 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, five steals and was plus-8 in the Heat’s victory at Portland.

Oklahoma City F Kevin Durant: Went for 38 points, eight rebounds and was plus-9 in the Thunder’s victory at Orlando.

Miami G Dwyane Wade: Notched 33 points, 10 assists, three steals and was plus-13 in the Heat’s victory at Portland.

Oklahoma City G Russell Westbrook: Delivered 29 points, 10 assists and was plus-10 in the Thunder’s victory at Orlando.

Phoenix G Steve Nash: Provided 13 points, eight rebounds and 17 assists and was plus-9 in the Suns’ victory over Minnesota.

DUDS

Miami G Norris Cole: Missed all four shots with three turnovers and was minus-5 in the Heat’s victory at Portland.

Los Angeles Clippers Eric Bledsoe: Missed both shots, had two turnovers and fouled out in only 10 minutes of game in the Clippers’ victory at Sacramento.

Sacramento G Isaiah Thomas: Went 2 for 4 from the field, had  six turnovers and was minus-8 in the Kings’ loss to the Clippers.

Sacramento G Tyreke Evans: Clanked through a 7-for-21 shooting night with four turnovers and was minus-6 in the Kings’ loss to the Clippers.

Orlando F Glen Davis: Went 1 for 8 from the field in the Magic’s loss to Oklahoma City.

Revenge-minded D-Will snuffs out ‘Linsanity’ at least for one night

After helping create ”Linsanity” in its earliest stages, Deron Williams was ready to show what he could do Monday night.

The veteran New Jersey point guard outplayed Jeremy Lin, leading New Jersey to a 100-92 victory over New York.

“This all started on me,” Williams told the Associated Press after of Lin and the Knicks. Lin had helped the Knicks win eight of nine coming into the game.

Williams erupted for a season-best 38 points, including eight 3-pointers, as he outscored Lin 36-11 through three quarters.

The New Jersey All-Star had noted some of Lin’s recent publicity and his early role in helping create it.

“I don’t really watch too many games, but I do see Twitter, people tweet me and every, you know, three lines it was Jeremy Lin destroyed Deron Williams,”’ said Williams, who singed the Knicks’ leaky defense for 16 points in the third quarter. “So I definitely took offense to that in the first game and definitely, like I said, I had it circled.”

Lin went for 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, but Williams had the stronger performance to exact a measure of revenge after the first game.   

“Deron was on fire,” New Jersey coach Avery Johnson . “I told him even this morning, if you’ve got some looks at threes, just take them. We know you can make them, but just be aggressive, and if their point guard’s not on you, we’ll figure out a way to get him back on you, and we want you to attack.”

Williams’ big game catapulted him to the top of Monday’s Studs and Duds.

STUDS

New Jersey G Deron Williams: Went for 38 points on eight 3-pointers and produced six assists, four rebounds and was plus-12 in the Nets’ victory at New York.

Oklahoma City F Kevin Durant: Produced 31 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and was plus-4 in the Thunder’s victory over New Orleans.

Houston G Kyle Lowry: Tallied 24 points, seven rebounds, nine assists, four steals and was plus-4 in the Rockets’ victory over Memphis.

San Antonio G Tony Parker: Produced 23 points and 11 assists — his third consecutive 20-10 game — along with six rebounds, three steals and was plus-4 in the Spurs’ victory at Utah.

Dallas F Dirk Nowitzki: Muscled for 26 points, 16 rebounds, two blocks and was a game-high plus-27  in the Mavericks’ victory over Boston.

Orlando C Dwight Howard: Notched 28 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, three steals and was plus-6 in the Magic’s victory at Milwaukee.

DUDS

New York F Carmelo Anthony: Struggled in his return to the lineup with 4-for-11 shooting, six turnovers and was minus-10 in the Knicks’ loss to New Jersey.   

Minnesota G Ricky Rubio: Clanked through a 5-for-16 shooting night with five turnovers in the Timberwolves’ overtime loss to Denver.

Denver G Andre Miller: Missed all eight field-goal attempts and had four turnovers in the Nuggets’ overtime victory over Minnesota.

Washington G John Wall: Hit 4 of 11 from the field with four turnovers and was a game-worst minus-26 in the Wizards’ loss at  Phoenix.

Denver C Timofey Mozgov: Went 2 for 5 from the field with four turnovers in 11 minutes and was a team-worst minus-17  in the Nuggets’ overtime victory over Minnesota.

New Orleans C Chris Kaman: Clanked through a 4-for-17 shooting night with three turnovers and was minus-14 to match the game low in the Hornets’ loss at Oklahoma City.