Golden State Warriors 128-120 Dallas Mavericks
On the grounds of rest and a left abdominal strain Dallas Mavericks starters Dirk Nowitzki and Deron Williams were not going to take the court against the Golden State Warriors on the second game of a back to back for the Mavs.
Although Dallas being depleted was a huge talking point, the Warriors-Mavs match-up was bigger than that. It was the first time former Warrior David Lee returned to the Oracle Arena.
Despite already having a record of 64-7, the Warriors have their sights set on locking down home court for the entire Playoffs and thus they had no players resting for this game.
Golden State’s big three of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson (40 points) and Draymond Green had huge games to continue the team’s dominant run at home. Curry had 33 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists while Green had 19 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds to lead Golden State to their 52nd straight win at home.
For the Mavericks, seven players scored in double figures led by Wesley Matthews (26 points) but it wasn’t enough to win the game. The loss is a huge deal given the tight race Dallas is in with four other teams in the West for the last three Playoff spots.
San Antonio Spurs 110-104 Memphis Grizzlies
LaMarcus Aldridge had a monster game of 32 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks as the San Antonio Spurs won at home against the Memphis Grizzlies, tying the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls for the best home start (37-0) in a single regular season. San Antonio has now won 46 consecutive games on their home floor.
The Spurs shot 57.1% from the field and comfortably sealed the game despite missing multiple players in Patty Mills, Danny Green, Boris Diaw and Kawhi Leonard. For the Grizzlies, they had six players in double figures but just could not compete with San Antonio without Zach Randolph.
The result of the game has absolutely no impact on the standings’ of either team. Memphis have a comfortable four game lead for the fifth seed despite losing six of their last eight games. San Antonio have locked up the second seed but still have a quite some distance (3.5 games) if they intend to contend for the top seed in the West.
Houston Rockets 112-109 Toronto Raptors
James Harden recorded his third triple-double of the season and ninth of his career, leading his Houston Rockets to an important win over the Toronto Raptors. Michael Beasley had a huge game of 21 points and 7 rebounds in 27 minutes on 9 of 12 shooting.
The Rockets gave up a lead in the first half but started strong in the fourth quarter (13-2 run) to give them a chance to grab the win. Toronto was in the game till the end but eventually tempers flared and that got the better of them. Both Kyle Lowry and DeMar Derozan were ejected from the game within a span of three minutes.
The Raptors haven’t won in Houston since 2007 and that streak stayed on with Friday night's result. Despite the result of the game, Toronto center Jonas Valanciunas had a huge game of 16 points and 18 rebounds.
Atlanta Hawks 101-90 Milwaukee Bucks
Paul Millsap (ATL): 14 pts, 13 rebs, 3 asts, 3 blks, 2 stls
Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL): 11 pts, 7 rebs, 4 asts, 3 blks
Miami Heat 108-97 Orlando Magic
Hassan Whiteside (MIA): 26 pts, 12 rebs, 5 blks
Elfrid Payton (ORL): 14 pts, 7 rebs, 7 asts
Detroit Pistons 112-105 Charlotte Hornets
Andre Drummond (DET): 18 pts, 14 rebs, 3 blks
Kemba Walker (CHA): 29 pts, 5 asts
Minnesota Timberwolves 132-129 Washington Wizards (2OT)
Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN): 27 pts, 10 rebs, 5 asts
John Wall (WAS): 22 pts, 16 asts, 3 rebs
Sacramento Kings 116-94 Phoenix Suns
DeMarcus Cousins (SAC): 29 pts, 11 rebs
Devin Booker (PHO): 26 pts, 5 rebs, 4 asts, 2 stls
Denver Nuggets 116-105 Los Angeles Lakers
Julius Randle (LAL): 13 pts, 18 rebs, 10 asts
D.J. Augustin (DEN): 20 pts, 8 asts
