NBA Sunday: Heat extend winning streak to 22 games

Warriors 108, Rockets 78

Golden State’s defense was also in top form, shutting down Houston’s high-powered offense from the start. The Warriors held the Rockets to just 10 points in the first quarter en route to a season-low 78 points. Houston managed to shoot only 32.6 percent from the field.

Los Angeles and Sacramento were tied at 56-56 after a very entertaining first half, but the Lakers took control of the game by outscoring the Kings 30-20 in the third quarter. Sacramento made things interesting early in the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run to cut a 12-point deficit to two, but Los Angeles answered with an 11-0 run of their own to put the game out of reach.

• The morality of Lakers trolling

The Hawks trailed by two heading into the fourth quarter, but opened the quarter on a 13-4 run to create some breathing room. The Nets would get back to within four at one point, but they would not get it any closer. Atlanta outscored Brooklyn 34-20 in the final frame.

With the victory, Atlanta grabbed sole possession of the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, one game behind Brooklyn for the fourth seed.

Oh, Jack. Jack, Jack, Jack. I know it hasn’t been a great season, but you didn’t have to resort to THIS.

(Okay, we definitely doctored this photo. Worth it.)

Kevin Durant struggled for much of the night, but came on strong in a thrilling fourth quarter to finish with 31 points and nine rebounds. 19 of those points came in the final frame, with two free throws at the end to put the nail in the coffin.

In addition to Westbrook and Durant, Serge Ibaka had a big game with 18 points and 16 rebounds. The play of the Thunder’s “Big Three” helped make up for a poor performance from their bench, which was outscored by the Mavs’ bench 40-18.

Beaubois is set to become a free agent this offseason, so we may have seen the last of him in a Mavericks uniform. The 25-year-old has shown some promise in Dallas, but injuries have slowed his development. Beaubois needed two surgeries to fix a broken foot in his second season and after bouncing back from the injury to average 8.9 points in 21.7 minutes last year, those averages dipped to 4.1 points in 12.3 minutes this year.

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Perhaps even more impressive than the play of the backcourt was the Warriors’ defense. The Rockets entered the night as the highest-scoring team in the NBA and had won the previous three meetings this season, but they shot just 32.6 percent en route to a season-low in points.

Golden State led almost the entire game, jumping out to an 18-10 lead after a surprisingly low-scoring first quarter and then extending the lead to 54-31 at halftime. Houston did cut the deficit to five late in the third quarter, but Curry and Thompson stifled the run with a string of buckets.

Check out this sweet Rubio to Chris Johnson connection and the sweet throwdown.

via cjzero.com

Westbrook is just so freakishly fast and explosive. Crazy.

(video via @dailythunder)

Anthony alone averages 27.5 points per game -- a scoring punch sorely missed as he nurses his knee. The Knicks shot only 35.8 percent from the field, but were honed in from beyond the arc making nearly half of their attempts, going 12-for-26. New York only put up 20 points in the paint, while the Clippers doubled that with 40.

• The morality of Lakers trolling

• The morality of Lakers trolling

• Did Dahntay Jones intentionally hurt Kobe Bryant?

His second attempt, went, well, not as planned.

• The morality of Lakers trolling

The Heat pulled away in the fourth quarter. Going into the final frame, the score was only 76-73. Miami outscored Toronto 32-18 in the fourth and cruised while elongating their winning-streak.

• The morality of Lakers trolling

Houston goes for the season sweep at home tonight at 7 p.m. ET.

Golden State still has a better overall record than the Rockets; the Warriors are at 37-30 (sixth in the Western Conference), and Houston’s at 36-30 (seventh). But the Warriors’ record could be a lot better if it could figure out how to beat Houston. It’s been a recurring problem, too—the Rockets have won 17 of their last 19 games in the series against Golden State.

So do the Raptors have a shot? There’s a few things that go in their favor.

Second, Toronto doesn’t turn the ball over a lot. For their offensive woes, they only turn the ball over on 12.63 percent of their possessions, the third-best number in the league. Miami are ballhawks, forcing the sixth-highest percentage of turnovers in the league, so a team that doesn’t turn over the ball much hurts their gameplan.

The game airs Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Here’s a look at Sunday’s complete schedule. All times are Eastern.

1 p.m. Heat vs. Raptors