NBA Capsules
February 22, 2012NEW YORK (AP) - Jeremy Lin had an easy night ahead of his toughest opponent yet, and the New York Knicks tuned up for their trip to Miami by beating the Atlanta Hawks 99-82 Wednesday night.
Lin had 17 points and nine assists, sitting out most of the fourth quarter in a rare game during his remarkable run that the Knicks needed little from him.
Carmelo Anthony scored 15 points in his second game back from injury for the Knicks, who led the depleted Hawks by 25 points at halftime. New York bounced back from a loss to New Jersey on Monday and won for the ninth time in 11 games since Lin joined the rotation.
Jeff Teague scored 16 points for the Hawks. They played without All-Star guard Joe Johnson, who left their loss at Chicago on Monday with a sore left knee and had to pull out of Sunday's game in Orlando, and have lost three straight and five of six.
The Knicks shot 52 percent in the first half, scored 30 points in both periods, and led 60-35 at the break.
THUNDER 119, CELTICS 104
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Russell Westbrook scored 31 points, Kevin Durant added 28 and Oklahoma City beat Boston for its 11th straight win at home.
Kevin Garnett's return after a two-game absence wasn't enough to lift the Celtics, who were still without point guard Rajon Rondo as he served the second of a two-game suspension.
Paul Pierce and Garnett scored 23 points apiece, and Garnett also had 13 rebounds after missing the previous two games for personal reasons. The Celtics lost their fifth straight.
Boston trailed by as many as 27 before pulling to 108-102 with 3:31 left. Durant banked in a pair of jumpers and hit two free throws during an 11-2 run that sealed it for Oklahoma City.
PACERS 102, BOBCATS 88
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Tyler Hansbrough had a season-high 22 points and nine rebounds as Indiana continued its dominance of Charlotte.
The Pacers have beaten the Bobcats nine time straight times, including twice this week. This game was much closer than the 35-point rout Sunday in Indianapolis - for three quarters.
The Pacers led by 10 after three but began to pull away in the fourth. Danny Granger had 12 points and Lou Amundson had a season-high 11 rebounds as Indiana won its fourth game in a row to remain in second place in the Central Division.
Corey Maggette scored 20 points as Charlotte lost its 18th in 19 games.
MAGIC 108, NETS 91
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Dwight Howard had 20 points and 17 rebounds to help Orlando roll to victory against New Jersey.
Glen Davis, who hit his first seven shots, added 16 points for Orlando, which won for the eighth time in 11 games.
Deron Williams had 23 points, six rebounds and eight assists to lead New Jersey, which headed into the All-Star breaking having lost 8 of 11. Rookie MarShon Brooks added a game-high 24, while Brook Lopez had 15 in his second game since his return from a broken right foot.
Orlando shot 62.5 percent in the opening 12 minutes and jumped to a 34-17 lead.
RAPTORS 103, PISTONS 93
TORONTO (AP) - DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points, Aaron Gray set season highs with 12 points and 12 rebounds and Toronto beat Detroit to snap a three-game losing streak.
Leandro Barbosa scored 17 points, James Johnson had 15 and Amir Johnson added 11 for the Raptors, who had lost seven of eight coming in. Ed Davis scored 10 points and Jose Calderon added 15 assists as Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak against Detroit.
Greg Monroe had 30 points and 14 rebounds for the Pistons, Brandon Knight scored 16 and Tayshaun Prince had 14 as Detroit dropped to 3-14 on the road.
The Pistons had won three of four and seven of 10 coming in.
HORNETS 89, CAVALIERS 84
CLEVELAND (AP) - Chris Kaman scored 21 points, Marco Belinelli added 19 and New Orleans held off a late rallly to beat Cleveland.
Rookie point guard Kyrie Irving, who made several clutch plays in Cleveland's back-to-back one-point wins over Sacramento and Detroit, was held to six points. Irving's jumper with 2:08 to play cut New Orleans' lead to 76-74, but Kaman's dunk and Belinelli's 3-pointer put the Hornets ahead 81-74 with 1:04 on the clock.
Antawn Jamison led Cleveland with 22 points and Irving had career-high 11 assists.
Jarrett Jack scored 16 points for New Orleans and Kaman grabbed 13 rebounds.
KINGS 115, WIZARDS 107
WASHINGTON (AP) - Marcus Thornton scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half, and rookie Isaiah Thomas had 16 of his 18 after halftime to lead Sacramento past Washington.
Tyreke Evans added 22 points - 20 in the first half - and DeMarcus Cousins had 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Kings, who broke a six-game losing streak and salvaged a win in the finale of their six-game road trip.
Jordan Crawford scored a season-high 32 points, and John Wall had 21 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Wizards, who have lost four straight.
The Kings led 104-103 with 3:44 to play before closing with an 11-4 run.
Leave A Comment
- 0 Comments
- View All Comments
- Currently no comments for this article

