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Suns 109 - Mavs 97

So there was no Jason Kidd or Shaquille O'neal in this one. It didn't matter so much for the Suns because they managed pull out the 109-97 victory but for the Mavericks, who are very injury depleted, they could've really used the All Star point guard.

The Mavs had good contributions from Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry. They had 36 and 29 respectively. It wasn't enough to beat the high flying Suns though. They could've really used help from the injured Josh Howard, Jerry Stackhouse and Devin Harris.

The Suns had a very balanced attack with 26 from Amare Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa, 24 points and 13 dimes from Steve Nash and 19 from Boris Diaw. They also had the pick and roll with Nash and Stoudemire going good for them all night. The Mavs couldn't stop it all night. Heres an example:

Around the league

• Hinrich scored 24 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 99-92 victory over Miami and send the Heat to their 24th loss in 25 games, despite solid outings by Dwyane Wade and Shawn Marion.

Spurs 112 - Cavs 105

Ok so you may want to send a message to Casino owners in Las Vegas. Manu Ginobili is planning on going there over the All Star weekend this weekend and he is on some kind of hot streak.

In their first return back to Cleveland since winning the NBA title there last year, the Spurs were lead by Ginobili's 46 to a 112-105 victory over the Cavs. He had a particularly dominant fourth quarter. He had 18 points on 5/5 FG's, 4/4 3 point FG's, and 4/4 FT's. Owned.

Heres some highlights:

Mavericks 96 - Trail Blazers 76

So the Jason Kidd talk didn't seem to distract the Mavs, for the most part. They seemed very focused, for the most part. They all played well, for the most part. The other part of the Mavs though was Devean George who had his worse game of his career and had to deal with heckling fans all night. The only problem was that those were fans of his team.

Yesterday there was a lot buzz around the potential trade. The trade would've sent Jason Kidd to Dallas for Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, Devean George, DeSagana Diop and Maurice Ager. This in my opinion would've made the Mavs THE team to beat in the west. For right now it looks like the deal isn't going to go down but we will see in the next few days.

All the trade talk and chants like "Quit being selfish,'' and "We want Kidd,'' must have been enough to make George finish with 0 points on 0/11 shooting. Thats not gonna make them want to keep you man. Good thing for the Mavs they have Dirk Nowitzki. He finished with 37 points and lead them to the 96-76 win over the Blazers.

Here is George saying "I'll be the bad guy":

Magic 109 - Nuggets 98

So after the Magic loss at home the other night to the , Stan Van Gundy felt that it was necessary to call out his star player Dwight Howard. He said to the media in a press conference that he needs to "concentrate more on defense and rebounding." Van Gundy was criticized for this because Howard is only 22 and he is a nice guy and you'd think that this could potentially cause a problem.

Well apparently thats not the case. Howard is a professional and he showed it in last nights game against the Nuggets. Too bad for the Nuggets they had to catch the aftermath of Van Gundy's comments.

Howard finished with 23 points, 24 rebounds and 2 blocks to push the Magic past the Nuggets 109-98. Afterwards, Van Gundy sarcastically said that the 24 rebounds was "ok" and that they were disappointed that he didn't get 3 blocks. More motivation maybe?

Around the league

• Jeff McInnis' hook shot with 51.4 seconds left in overtime gave the Charlotte Bobcats a 100-98 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
• Chris Bosh had 27 points, Jose Calderon had 22 points and 12 assists and the Toronto Raptors beat the New Jersey Nets, who were playing without Jason Kidd, 109-91.
• Andre Iguodala had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as the Philadelphia 76ers won their fifth straight and completed a perfect homestand before the All-Star break with a 102-88 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
• Paul Pierce scored 24 points, and his newly minted All-Star teammate Ray Allen added 21 to help the Boston Celtics beat the New York Knicks 111-103.
• Antawn Jamison scored 29 points and tipped in a missed shot by Antonio Daniels with three-tenths of a second left, giving Washington a 91-89 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers and snapping the Wizards' eight-game losing streak.
• Carlos Boozer had 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his first triple-double as the Utah Jazz soared into the All-Star break with a 112-93 victory over the Sonics.
• Monta Ellis scored 37 points and Baron Davis made three straight baskets down the stretch to send the Golden State Warriors into the All-Star break with a win against the Western Conference's top team, 120-118 over the Phoenix Suns.
• Steve Novak hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to give the Houston Rockets their eighth straight win, an 89-87 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
• After two weeks on the road, the Los Angeles Lakers are going home with Pau Gasol and an impressive record. Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, Gasol pitched in another well-rounded game, Lamar Odom patched together a triple-double, and the Lakers breezed past the Minnesota Timberwolves 117-92 to finish their road trip 7-2.
• Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton led a balanced attack with 14 points each as the Detroit Pistons won their 10th straight with a 96-80 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
• Peja Stojakovic hit a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left and All-Stars David West and Chris Paul combined for 43 points as New Orleans looked ready for its star-studded weekend with a 111-107 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Nuggets 114 - Heat 113

Before the game Dwayne Wade had a message to the few Heat fans there are left:

"I know it's been a tough year,'' Wade said, as he thanked fans for helping vote him onto the Eastern Conference All-Star team. "But it won't last forever.''

He's right that it won't last forever but it will definitely last for right now.

J.R. Smith knocked down 8 three pointers (career high) and finished with 28 points. Carmelo Anthony added 22 points with 6 of them coming in the Overtime period to help lead the Nuggets past the struggling Heat. This loss gives the Heat their 23rd loss in their last 24 games. Ouch.

Dwayne Wade and Shawn Marion fought valiantly for the Heat but it was all futile. They were outplayed when it counted. The Heat had a 14 point lead at halftime that they allowed to slip out of their hands. Marion scored 23 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, the most boards for any member of the Heat this season. Wade had 29 points and 10 assists but he missed a 22 foot shot to win the game for them in regulation. When your winning games it just seems like those shots fall... When your not then your the Heat.

Around the league

• Chauncey Billups came through when it mattered, scoring 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to rally the Detroit Pistons to their ninth win in a row, 94-90 over the Atlanta Hawks.
• Paul Pierce had 28 points and 12 rebounds, and the short-handed Boston Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers 104-97 to win their fourth straight game.
• With a 92-88 win over the visiting Timberwolves last night, the Nets won their third straight and took over seventh place in the Eastern Conference. Jason Kidd fell a point and an assist short of his 100th career triple-double.
• Hakim Warrick had 24 points and 13 rebounds - both season-high totals - to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 107-94 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
• Peja Stojakovic hit six 3-pointers as he and Hornets teammate David West scored 27 points apiece in a 100-86 victory over the Bulls, sending Chicago to its sixth loss in nine games.

Rockets 95 - Portland 83

Houston has been the hottest team in the West lately and they are completly flying under the radar. They have won 8 in a row and 11 of their last 12. Despite this hot streak they are still only tied for the very last playoff spot in the West.

Yao Ming ended the game with 25 points and 7 rebounds. Rafer Alston contributed 17 points and Tracy McGrady had 12.

"We're doing well and it looks like we're climbing the ladder at a fast pace,'' Alston said. "But we're slow-walking. The West is so good. We just have to continue to take care of what we take care of.''

Warriors 120 - Wizards 117

This was a crazy game for the Warriors. They fell behind by 23 in the first half and seemed to be all but out of the game. Did they panic though? Hell no. They just made a great comeback to beat the struggling Wizards 120-117.

They slowly chipped away at the lead going into the second half. The turning point was when their defense stepped up and held the Wizards to 2:50 without scoring. Then Stephen Jackson decided to take over as well. Jackson scored 10 of the Warriors last 12 points to lead them to victory. He finished with a season high of 41 points.

When your on an 8 game winning streaking and 3 of your top scorers are injured, bad things happen. Even bad things that you don't expect to happen, happen.

When you have a highly dynamic and overly dramatic young team, every tough win you get is a learning experience. Just ask Warriors coach Don Nelson.

"Never a dull moment around here, huh?'' Nelson said after watching his club's 12th comeback from a double-digit deficit already this season.

"I wish we played every possession the way we played in the second half, but that just doesn't happen,'' he added. "A shot here, a shot there, and a totally different outcome. ... Why? Don't ask me. I'm only the coach. Why do we start games that way? I don't have a clue.''

Around the league

• Larry Hughes scored a season-high 40 points and LeBron James added 29 and 10 assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic 118-111.
• Andre Miller scored 21 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to their fourth straight win, 84-76 over the Dallas Mavericks.
• Manu Ginobili scored a season-high 34 points and added a career-high 15 rebounds, leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 93-88 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
• Kobe Bryant scored 31 points, Pau Gasol added 26 and the new-look Los Angeles Lakers continued their impressive road trip with a 106-97 win against the reeling Bobcats.
• Al Thornton scored 25 points and Sam Cassell added 21 points and eight assists as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 96-89.

Melo over Lebron, again

Carmelo Anthony may be the only player who consistantly wins games over Lebron James. Melo is 8-2 vs King James in their young pro careers.  Yesterdays game was no exception.

It probably didn't help Lebron's case that his team is extremely injury depleted and they had to play guys that hadn't played all season. It also didn't help that Carmelo led the way for his squad, scoring 27 points and Iverson followed him up with 25 points and 13 assists, many of which went to Anthony. This production helped the Nuggets cruise to a 113-83 shallacking of the Cavs.

It's rare that you see the King as frustrated as he was yesterday during this game. At the end of the third quarter when the Cavs were down by 20+ points, James didn't even participate in the huddle. Ouch. They will bounce back but you can't stop a team as explosive as the Nuggets with like 8 guys playing.

Suns 108 - Wizards 107

Shaquille O'neal has arrived in Phoenix but he didn't play. He was the the Suns biggest cheerleader on Sunday as they topped the depleted Wizards 108-107 at home.

I don't know if it was because his new mentor had arrived or what but Amare Stoudemire has really come out to play since the arrival of Shaquille O'neal. In this game he had 31 points and 13 rebounds. This is the second 30/10 game for Stoudemire. He's ballin right now.

The Wizards were down for the most of the game but they managed to stay in it the whole time. Even though the Wizards lost 6 striaight coming into this one and they were without Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antonio Daniels they managed to make a game of it in the fourth, before Stoudemire put the game away with two clutch free throws with 7.5 seconds left. Nice try though.

Celtics top the Spurs at home

Going into Boston is going to be a tough place in the playoffs. The Boston Celtics beat the San Antonio Spurs at home yesterday 98-90 improving their marks to 22-4 at home and 16-0 against the superior Western Conference. This is getting interesting.

The Celtics were still without Kevin Garnett but his affect on the teams defense is being felt, even when he's not playing. The Celtics defense outplayed the Spurs and with contributions of 35 points from Paul Pierce, 19 from Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo getting a double double the hard way going for 12 assists and 11 rebounds led the Celtics to victory. If they are playing this good without KG, it's going to be scary to go up against them come playoff time.

Around the league

• Andrea Bargnani scored 16 points and Jose Calderon had 15 points and 10 assists for his second consecutive double-double to help the Toronto Raptors beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 105-82.
• Vince Carter scored 25 of his 29 points after nearly being knocked out by an elbow to the head, and the inconsistent New Jersey Nets ran off 21 straight points to stun the Dallas Mavericks 101-82.
• Tayshaun Prince scored 14 of his 21 points in the first quarter and the Pistons won their eighth straight game, 113-87 over the Bobcats.
• Shawn Marion's debut was strong. It just wasn't enough for the Miami Heat to stop Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant scored 33 points, and the Lakers used a 16-2 second-half run to pull away and beat the skidding Heat 104-94.

Warriors top the Kings in the NorCal rivalry

So the Warriors pulled out a close game with some fourth quarter heroics. No it wasn't from Baron Davis. No it wasn't Stephen Jackson. It wasn't even Andris Biedrins. Monta Ellis took over in fourth quarter to lead the Warriors past the Northern California rivals the Sacremento Kings 105-102.

Ellis scored 16 of his 34 points when it counted the most, in the fourth. It's a good thing that he did because the Warriors normal heroes Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson weren't able to save the day in this one. Baron Davis got into foul trouble and wasn't ever really able to get it going, eventually fouling out of the game. Stephen Jackson twisted his ankle and was hobbling around for most of the game.

"I didn't think (Davis) was going to get that sixth foul, but once he got it, I knew what I had to do," Ellis said. "It wasn't just me. It was everybody. We all had to dig down, and we got it."

Ellis, who is starting to become a legitimate star in this league has been on fire lately. Over the last seven games his been shooting 66% from the field and he took over down the stretch for the Warriors. He scored 9 consecutive points late in the fourth followed by his gutsy baseline jumper and a free throw with 3.3 seconds left to quell the Kings' last rally.

Around the league

• Lou Williams scored 18 points, and the Sixers won their third straight game with a 101-80 victory over the Clippers.
• Yao Ming had 28 points and nine rebounds, and the Houston Rockets routed the Atlanta Hawks 108-89 for their 10th win in 11 games.
• The Knicks overcame a 17-point, third-quarter deficit to beat the Bucks 99-98 and break an eight-game losing streak.
• Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and the Utah Jazz responded one night after their 10-game winning streak ended by beating the Chicago Bulls 97-87.

Melo drop 49 against the Wizards

Allen Iverson admitted that this was one of his easiest games ever. "I was out there watching,'' Iverson said after the Nuggets beat the Wizards last night 111-100 last night.

He had Carmelo Anthony to thank for the night off. Carmelo took his team on his shoulders last night and was all over the Wizards in the process. He finished the game with 49 points and he left the Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan so frustrated that he decided to double and triple team him in the final minutes of the game.

"I thought it was very classless to close the game out,'' Jordan said. "I have my opinion. I can say what I want to say. That's what I thought it was.''

Anthony took it all in stride though. He didn't feel that they disrespected anyone and that he also said that he felt that none of the Wizards players could guard him one on one, which was true last night.

Kevin Garnett comes back home

Even though Kevin Garnett couldn't play last night, his former hometown fans showed him a lot of love when he made his first trip back to Minnesota since being traded to the Celtics last summer. They gave him a standing ovation and signs thanking KG for all his hard work could be seen all over the stadium.

The main story of the game was not Kevin Garnett's return though. Surprisingly enough, this was a close game between the team with the best record in the league and the team with the worst record in the western conference. It came down to the wire but with some last second heroics by the Celtics they won 88-86.

The Timberwolves had the ball with the score tied 86-86 with 28 seconds left. Marko Jaric missed a 3-pointer and teammate Craig Smith rebounded the ball and tried to kick it back out.

But Ray Allen stepped in front and stole the pass and raced the other way with the clock ticking down. A frantic scramble under the basket ended with Powe putting back a miss just before the buzzer sounded. Crazy.

Lakers bonding nicely

Kobe Bryant and newly acquired Pau Gasol are starting to play some good ball. Last night was Pau's third game with the Lakers but he ran the pick and roll so effectively with Kobe last night, you would've thought they'd been playing together for years.

Kobe finished with 36 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists while Gasol complimented that with 30 points and 9 rebounds. That chemistry lifted the Lakers past the Magic in Orlando last night 117-113.

This is the kind of help that Kobe has been waiting for, for a long time. We are seeing a very happy Kobe right now.

Around the league

• Kevin Martin scored 27 points and the Sacramento Kings pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Utah 117-104, ending the Jazz's 10-game winning streak.
• Wally Szczerbiak called a timeout when Seattle had none remaining with 15.1 seconds to play, allowing the Phoenix Suns to pull out a 103-99 victory over the Sonics.
• Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points while also getting some rest and a lot of help in the Dallas Mavericks' 92-81 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, who played on the road for the first time without Pau Gasol.
• Chauncey Billups took advantage of Brandon Roy's absence, scoring 17 points in the first quarter to help the Detroit Pistons beat the Portland Trail Blazers 91-82 for their seventh straight victory.
• LeBron James scored 26 points, Ira Newble added a season-best 18 and the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers held on for a 100-95 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
• Michael Finley made the tying 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left in regulation and the Spurs dominated overtime in a 99-93 victory over the Knicks, who matched a season high with their eighth straight loss.
• Corey Maggette matched his season-high with 35 points, Cuttino Mobley had 19 and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Toronto Raptors 102-98.
• Richard Jefferson scored 23 points as the Nets turned in a rare strong performance in beating the Bobcats 104-90.

T-Mac is sick... Rockets still win

Houston didn't really need their all star guard Tracy McGrady last night to win.  It's a good thing too because not long after the game, T-Mac was resting drinking some chicken noodle soup.  They handled the Cavs 92-77 last night.

The sick and sluggish McGrady only scored 8 points on 3-11 shooting.  Yao Ming and Rafer Alston picked up the slack for him though.  Yao finished with 22 points and 12 boards and Rafer had 17 points and 9 assists.

The Cavs really missed Drew Gooden, their second leading rebounder.  They completly got outworked on the boards.  The rebound totals for the game was 55-35 in favor of the Rockets.  Drew Gooden was out of the game with a groin injury.

The Rockets also didn't let the Cavs get anything going offensively.  LeBron finished going 12-23 from the field but the rest of the team was 19-55.  Owned.

Around the league

• Chris Duhon scores a career-high 34 points to help the undermanned Bulls stun the Warriors, 114-108.
• Andre Iguodala scored 25 points and Andre Miller added 21, leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a 101-84 victory over the short-handed Miami Heat.