NBA Action Highlights - 26 February

Here are the highlights from the games played in the NBA today -

Washington Wizards 90 – Toronto Raptors 84

Beal scored 20 points, Nene had 11 points and nine rebounds, and the Washington Wizards beat the Toronto Raptors 90-84 for their third straight victory. The Raptors were looking for their 7th straight win but it wasn’t to be. They fell to 23-34 as the Wizards improved to 18-37.

Atlanta Hawks 114 – Detroit Pistons 103

Al Horford had 23 points and 22 rebounds, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons 114-103 for their fifth win in six games. Josh Smith was 9 of 17 from the field in this one for 23 points. The Hawks improved to 32-23 as the Pistons fell to 22-37.

Denver Nuggets 119 – Los Angeles Lakers 108

Wilson Chandler scored 23 points in place of Gallinari, and Ty Lawson added 22 in the Nuggets’ 119-108 win in which Denver outscored the Lakers 33-3 on the fast break and 78-50 in the paint. Lakers had won 11 of their last 15 but were too tired on a back to back game to stay with the Nuggets in the Mile High City. Kobe did get his 31,000th point. JaVale McGee blocked both Bryant and Howard. Two plays in this game exposed Howard. One was an alley-oop by Faried over the back of Howard and one was a hook by Dwight which was swatted away by McGee. If Howard’s health improves as the season goes on, the Lakers have a shot in the postseason. The Lakers fell to 28-30 as the Nuggets improved to 36-22.

Boston Celtics 110 – Utah Jazz 107

Paul Pierce led Boston with 26 points, including seven straight in overtime to lead the Celtics to a win. How much do the Celtics miss Rondo? They are winning without him, having gone 6-4 in their last 10 games. The Celtics improved to 30-27 as the Jazz fell to 31-26. The Lakers making it to the playoffs also depends on teams like the Jazz losing a few, so this day wasn’t a total loss for the Lakers.