NBA Scores & More: Andrew Bynum, Dwight Howard Huge In Wins, Rockets Edge Thunder In Thriller

Memphis built a 17 point lead midway through the third quarter on the strength of their pressure defense. The Grizzlies lead the league in steals per game at 10, and they pilfered 15 in this game. The steals also led to easy baskets -- Memphis outscored the Lakers in fast break points 22-5. Those easy points were crucial to Memphis, who struggled to score in the half court without Gay.

When LA was able to take care of the ball and get it inside, they began to chip away at the lead. Memphis had no answer for Bynum, who made 15-18 field goals and 7-8 free throws in an astoundingly efficient offensive performance. Many of his baskets came on simple passes to the rim, where Bynum does a great job of sealing and is just too big for anybody to handle.

Howard’s performance marked only the 29th time since the 1985-86 season that a player had scored 24 or more points with 25 or more rebounds. Tuesday night marked the fourth time in those 29 that Howard has hit that mark.

It didn’t look like much would change in the second half until all at once the Heat started becoming a jump shooting team, the Magic pushed the ball up the floor a little bit to get shots before the Heat defense could come set up and the Magic made a run to get back into the game.

Before that, OKC had this game in the bag. James Harden was the man to thank -- at least temporarily. Houston built a four-point lead heading into the final stanza by virtue of Chandler Parsons’ inspired play (he scored all 21 points in the first three quarters on 9-14 shooting), but Harden opened the fourth with nine points and three assists in less than five minutes to turn the tables.

Serge Ibaka -- 12 points, eight rebounds, two blocks -- got into the action by nailing his first four attempts in the period, then Kevin Durant took a break from ineffective jump-shooting (0-4 in the fourth) to stretch the OKC lead to nine with a free throw, marking KD’s only point in the final 12 minutes. Why did Durant wither in the final minutes after unloading 27 points on 8-14 in the first three quarters? This probably had something to do with it: