The good news was the squads trailing the Suns all lost. Meanwhile the WC leaders held steady with the Rockets gaining ground and the Jazz temporarily falling out of the playoff mix. But the Suns lost a half game from the 7th and 8th spots with both Denver and Houston winning.
Denver Nuggets (8) 99 Charlotte Bobcats 88
Denver Stiffs:But give the Nuggets credit in two key areas tonight: rebounding and ball distribution. The Nuggets pulled down 49 rebounds, 5.5 above their average, and dished out 29 assists, also 5.5 above their average. And all this despite not breaking the century mark in scoring. Comparatively, the Bobcats grabbed just 34 team rebounds and dished out 26 assists.
The Nuggets must find whatever mojo they had in Chicago and recreate it soon, or we'll be resorting to rooting for Western Conference teams to lose just to get Denver into the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season.
Dallas Mavericks (5) 100 Orlando Magic 98
From Mavs Moneyball: DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK
DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK Delonte West DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK
DIRK DIRK Jason Terry DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK DIRK
Houston Rockets (7) 99 Memphis Grizzlies (6) 89
Goran Dragic scored a season-high 25 points and dished out seven assists, Courtney Lee poured in 17 points and Marcus Camby grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked a season-best six shots as the Rockets used a sizzling 52.1-percent shooting effort to defeat the Grizzlies 98-89
Boston Celtics 100 Minnesota Timberwolves (10) 79
The Celtics were led by none other than Kevin Garnett, who played his first 12 seasons in Minnesota before moving to Boston. He scored 24 points against his former team while Paul Pierce added 21. Avery Bradley chipped in 17 while Brandon Bass added 12. The Timberwolves were led by Kevin Love, who scored 22 points while Luke Ridnour added 15 and Derrick williams chipped in 14.
The Timberwolves have now lost two of their last three games, giving them a record of 25-28, which puts them in 11th place in the Western Conference and in fourth place in the North West Division.
Sacramento Kings 104 Utah Jazz (9) 103
NBA.COM: DeMarcus Cousins was unstoppable, scoring 27 points while collecting 14 rebounds. Marcus Thornton complemented him nicely from the outside, scoring 26 points and draining three 3-pointers.
The Jazz shot 52 free throws and had an 81.1 percentage in foul shots through three quarters. But they missed too many during the crucial fourth quarter, going 8-for-15 from the free-throw line in the final period. Jefferson had three of the seven misses.
LA Clippers (4) 98 Portland Trailblazers (11) 97
BLAZERSEDGE: Without All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, the Portland Trail Blazers had no fear against the Los Angeles Clippers tonight. On ESPN, the Blazers gave the Clips all they could handle. This was an A+ game in terms of entertainment value, everything ESPN dreams of.
The Blazers were led by a nearly-shocking JJ Hickson, finishing with 29 points and 13 rebounds. He was supported by Nicolas Batum (18 points, 6 rebounds), Wesley Matthews (12 points), Jamal Crawford (14 points, 3 assists) and Raymond "I need a new contract!" Felton (9 points, 8 assists).
