Magic 113, Lakers 103
Dwight Howard was supposed to grant the Lakers magical defensive powers. Dwight Howard played seven minutes of the fourth quarter on Sunday. The Orlando Magic -- currently the No. 28 offense in the NBA -- still scored 40 in the fourth to overcome a 4-point deficit and beat the Lakers in Los Angeles. Magic center Nikola Vucevic -- a player who came over in the Howard trade -- actually outscored Dwight 11-9 in the fourth despite Orlando sending its old superhero to the line for 14 free throw attempts in the final frame. (Howard hit 7-14.) Orlando shot 14-21 from the floor in the fourth, and just picked apart L.A. as 13 of those 14 field goals were assisted. Jameer Nelson had seven assists in the quarter, and J.J. Redick added five. It was a brutal surgery from an offense that is more typically worse than brutal.
NBA scores: Lakers’ defense tanks in loss to Magic, Knicks survive Suns
The Lakers lost ... at home ... to the Magic on Sunday. Yep. Plus, the Knicks beat the Suns at Madison Square Garden as Carmelo Anthony popped off.
Knicks 106, Suns 99
New York led this one from the first quarter on, though Phoenix made a number of runs at it. Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points on 31 shooting possessions, and Raymond Felton had a strong game with 23 points on 10-17 shooting with seven assists and no turnovers. New York controlled the ball beautifully: the team had only eight total giveaways, and of the 10 Knicks who got into the game only two -- ‘Melo and Pablo Prigioni -- had any at all. On the bright side, Marcin Gortat hung 18 points on 7-11 shooting on Tyson Chandler. The dude can play.
Check out our team blog recaps at SBNation.com/NBA-Scores.
