NBA schedule: Lakers continue descent into madness in loss to Bulls

Crawford made the most of his 22 minutes, scoring 13 points on an efficient 5-of-8 shooting from the field, including 3-of-4 from the three-point line. He added one rebound, one steal and one assist and turned the ball over just once.

Here’s the .GIF from Bullets Forever commenter @Wiz_Spurtin

LOLakers

The Sixers scored just 21 points in the fourth quarter, and couldn’t get their shots to fall as a result of the stifling San Antonio defense.

Philadelphia (17-24) had a dismal first half before turning things around and scored just 35 points. In the first two quarters combined, they were just 15-of-43 from the field, including 1-for-6 from the three-point line. They used a strong third quarter to get the game back within reach, however, shooting 61.9 percent from the field and turning the ball over just twice while scoring 18 points in the paint.

For Laker fans, this is just another instance of the annoying drama that has constantly surrounded the 2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers. For non-Lakers fans, it’s another example of just how hilarious the second best team in Los Angeles can be.

This is not a new injury for Davis. The number one overall draft pick was already forced to miss 11 games this year due to a stress fracture in the same ankle. Prior to exiting the game, Davis racked up 11 points and six rebounds in the first half.

Curry was especially impressive, knocking down 6 of 8 shots from three-point range as part of a 28-point effort to lead Golden State. Jack didn’t have the same scoring numbers, putting up 18 points on 7 of 15 shooting, but he added six rebounds and a team-high 10 assists.

L.A. actually led by seven points going into the fourth quarter, but the Warriors dominated the final 12 minutes, 33-19, to get the win.

This guy’s reaction was appropriate.

Dear higher power, please give us a Warriors-Clippers playoff series.

Even in a turnover-riddled performance for the Nets, they managed to beat one of the league’s better teams on the road. New York had a 19-5 advantage in turnovers during the game, but the Nets rode rebounding and three-point shooting to victory.

Despite knocking down half of their 24 shot attempts from three-point range, the Nets struggled badly on shots inside the arc. Brooklyn made just 38 percent of their two-point shot attempts, the kind of poor shooting that makes it pretty difficult to beat good teams on the road.

Los Angeles Clippers big man DeAndre Jordan is a career 43.6 percent free-throw shooter, so he’s no stranger to coaches ordering their players to grab him and intentionally send him to the line. Nevertheless, he didn’t seem too happy when Golden State Warriors rookie Draymond Green did the deed at the end of the first half of Monday’s game.

Something tells me this won’t deter players from fouling Jordan in the future, but it was a nice thought.

Let this be a reminder to you, 90 percent free-throw shooter. If it can happen to Matt Barnes, it can probably happen to you.

Already without Lou Williams, Devin Harris, Anthony Morrow and DeShawn Stevenson, the Atlanta Hawks suffered another devastating loss when “Skyhawk,” their popular mascot, injured his leg in a trampoline stunt in the first quarter of the Hawks’ game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. “Shyhawk” had to be helped off the court.

The injury robs the Hawks of their third-best healthy shooting guard. In his absence, the man from the hot dog stand will need to step in and try to pull up the slack. “Skyhawk” averaged 24 high-fives, 14 waves and three trampoline dunks per game this season, his strongest in many years.

It’s common for NBA players to continue their move after the buzzer whistled. After all, if you don’t have to stop your momentum, why try? But if you do continue on, you should probably make the wide-open dunk you’ve been afforded thanks to the other nine players on the court not playing.

The bad news, however, is that the Lakers have a 5-13 road record and have lost the last five in a row. Losing to the Bulls on the road would make it the longest losing streak for the franchise in eight seasons.

It’s even worse for D’Antoni’s squad that the Bulls could very well be testy.

Harris is averaging 8.7 points and 2.5 assists per game this season.

Duncan was taking a game off to rest while Ginobili will miss Monday’s game with a hamstring injury.

Parker has the 76ers’ number in the most recent outings, averaging 26 points per game against Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Holiday will need to flip his fortunes against Parker -- coming off a career-high scoring game, he’ll be needed for a Philadelphia team whose offense appears to depend heavily on the fourth-year guard.

This is the fourth and final regular season meeting between the two teams this year, with the Knicks winning two of the first three. Brooklyn (24-16) has been playing very well since the firing of head coach Avery Johnson, and sit just two games behind New York in the Atlantic Division.

Here’s a full look at the holiday schedule via SI.com (all times Eastern):

Lopez is leading the team in scoring at 18.6 per game while shooting 52 percent from the field. His 7.3 rebounds per game is second on the team and he averages 2.1 blocks per game.

Brooklyn won the first match-up at the Barclays Center but the Knicks have won two straight including a 100-86 win at Madison Square Garden.

Tip off is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET. There is currently no line on the game.

The matchup between Gay and George will be a good game within the game and may actually determine the outcome. George is probably the better defender of the two, but Gay is explosive as a scorer and is capable of putting George to the test. Gay scored just 11 points on 3-of-17 shooting in the earlier meeting, but prior to that, averaged over 27 points a game in the previous three meetings.

Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET and will be televised nationally on ESPN. The Grizzlies are favored by five points, according to OddsShark.