The Boston Celtics have won 14 straight games after beating the Philadelphia 76ers 84-80 in a defensive struggle. The Celtics moved to 23-4 on the season, and 13-1 at home, and will take their streak into a Christmas Day match-up with the rival Orlando Magic, who are unfortunately not so hot right now.
NBA Scores And More: Celtics Outlast 76ers, Take Winning Streak To 14
While this was a slow-paced game, it was also filled with defense -- that's how you get games with scoring in the low-80s, low pace and good defense. It's the late-90s Knicks and Heat all over again. The teams are both top-10 in the league in defense. Each squad's primary scorer -- Andre Iguodala and Paul Pierce -- shut each other down. Iguodala was 2-11 and Pierce just 4-15. As debilitating for Philly was Jodie Meeks' poor night; he's been a big part of their recent success, but went just 0-2 with three turnovers in 30 minutes.
This very well could have been a preview of the East’s 1-vs.-8 match-up come April, though I think the 76ers are good enough to get a spot or two higher. They certainly showed as much in slowing down the hottest team in the country that does not feature Maya Moore.
Regarding the Celtics: keep in mind that they are doing this without Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins. And be afraid.
The Knicks have won again, and I think that means we can start printing parade routes and “Amare 4 MVP” handbills again. In all seriousness, this was a great win for New York after three tough losses, and The City should be excited about this team.
The difference in the game: the Knicks went 10-21 from long-range, while the Thunder hit just 3-17. The Knicks' starting lineup just obliterated that of Oklahoma City (Amar'e Stoudemire, for example, was a +26 while Kevin Durant was a -15), and OKC's peripheral "wins" -- especially on the offensive glass, where they grabbed a whopping 22 boards -- couldn't make up the difference.
The Knicks are deeply flawed, perhaps fatally so. They desperately need a defensive-minded center, but adding one next to Stoudemire could upset the carefully crafted high-octane offense. We'll see what Donnie Walsh can do at the deadline. Carmelo Anthony certainly wouldn't solve the team's biggest problems, though he'd be a fever dream when paired with someone like Amar'e.
The Nuggets played the Spurs close despite missing Carmelo Anthony, who left the team briefly due to the tragic death of his sister. Denver had solid performances from Chauncey Billups, J.R. Smith and Ty Lawson, but San Antonio's deep bench prevailed as the Spurs won their 10th straight. The Spurs outscored the Nuggets 29-14 in the fourth to make up ground and earn the win.
Gary Neal had 22 points again. Sheesh, Gary. Don't hog all the awesome.
In other action:
Hawks 98, Cavaliers 84: It appears Larry Drew's decision to start Jason Collins at center and move Al Horford and Josh Smith to power forward and small forward respectively will be situational. Collins didn't start against the Cavs, which makes sense, because the Cavs' only big man scorer -- Antawn Jamison -- is just as likely to kill you from the perimeter as he is at the rim. Jamison had a nice night, actually, but the rest of the Cavs' major contributors struggled, and the Hawks pulled away late. Apropos of nothing, I'm a big fan of Hoopinion's Joe Johnson Power Rankings.
Rockets 97, Clippers 92: Take it away, Steve Perrin of Clips Nation:
This is not your everyday statistic, but I am pretty sure that the Clippers set an NBA record tonight for the number of times in a single game that a team falls behind by a double digit deficit, then cuts the lead to one, without ever tying the game of taking the lead. Three times they did that - three times! That's pretty amazing.
It's like some invisible force -- let's call it "the Cosmic Clipper Leash" -- kept yanking L.A. back from the brink of victory. The Cosmic Clipper Leash also tripped Elton Brand in 2007, causing his ACL tear, and served as Baron Davis' summertime White Rabbit, leading him to burger joints, pizzerias and doughnut shops. Oh, Cosmic Clipper Leash, you cruel ... leash.
Jazz 112, Wolves 107: The Wolves are not so different from the Kings. Remember Tuesday night, when Sacramento lost to the Warriors despite seemingly insurmountable leads late in the game? Well, the Wolves lead by 15 with a quarter and change to go, and then had seven-point lead with three minutes left. And they lost.
The Jazz had cut the deficit to three with a bit under six minutes to go in the game, but Martell Webster hit a three and four big free throws to keep the Wolves ahead. A jumper by Luke Ridnour with three minutes left pushed Minnesota's lead back to seven. Utah then went on a 7-0 run as Ridnour and Webster misfired. The teams traded buckets until a Webster and-1 on Paul Millsap let the Jazz take the lead. The call was close -- it looked like a charge on first glance. But it didn't matter.
Gordon Hayward sealed the win with a kiss dunk. I'm not joking.
Hornets 105, Nets 91: The New Orleans offense just exploded. Rohan Cruyff of At The Hive explains what went right.
The Hornets distributed their attempts very evenly among their best scorers. David West took 12 shots, Marcus Thornton took 10, Chris Paul took 8, and Emeka Okafor took 13 on a night he was really feeling it. Sure, the Hornets opted to force feed the ball to [Trevor] Ariza late with the game well in hand, but even that couldn't put a damper on a very heartening offensive effort.
Is this a strategy now? Build a comfortable lead by giving only your most efficient players the ball, and then let the guys who can’t shoot but need possessions to remain happy shots at the end? Brilliant!
But seriously, 105 points for this team is like 150 for the Phoenix Suns. The Nets should not feel good about their defense.
Pistons 115, Raptors 93: Ben Gordon started for Rip Hamilton. I dare say it worked. Hamilton scored 35 points off the bench, his most prolific night since last February. Sad Amir Johnson, not Fun Amir Johnson, showed up for Toronto. Tracy McGrady had 17 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.
Bulls 87, Wizards 80: Can you call a low-scoring game a defensive battle if you know for a fact one of the teams cannot under any circumstances defend effectively for an entire game? The Bulls shot 42 percent and had a season-high 21 turnovers. How much of that was the Wizards' defense, and how much was the spastic Bulls offense? I suppose it depends on your zip code. If you're in the D.C. area, that was a sign of renewed aggression and a commitment to passionate play. If you live anywhere else, it was a blip. Thirty points and 10 rebounds for Carlos Boozer. Another 20-point game (22, actually) for Nick Young.
This Andray Blatche blown lay-up is not in slow-mo. I repeat, it's not in slow-mo.
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