The 2012-13 Basketball Season Is Here

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Ginobili powers Spurs past Nuggets 126-100


SAN ANTONIO (AP) Manu Ginobili had 20 points and the San Antonio Spurs set a season high for points in a 126-100 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night.

DeJuan Blair added 19 points and Danny Green had 15 for San Antonio (8-2). Tony Parker and Tim Duncan each scored 14 points while playing 25 and 23 minutes, respectively.

Danilo Gallinari scored 15 and Kenneth Faried finished with 14 for Denver (4-6), which has lost three straight games for the second time this season.

The Spurs shot 54 percent from the field, including a 16-for-20 performance from 3-point range. San Antonio never trailed by less than 18 points in the second half.

With the outcome in little doubt, one of the few second-half highlights came when Tiago Splitter dunked over JaVale McGee with 7 minutes remaining. The dunk caused Duncan to leap out of his chair in celebration.

Duncan gave San Antonio its largest lead at 74-42 on a pair of free throws with 7:49 left in the third.

Stephen Jackson made his first start of the season for the Spurs, and Blair was in the starting lineup for the second time this season. They combined to score 12 straight points after Green opened the game with a dunk for a 14-9 lead.

Jackson finished with nine points. Blair also had eight rebounds and three assists.

Denver finished with 21 turnovers.

NOTES: Spurs F Kawhi Leonard, hampered by quadriceps tendinitis above his left knee, missed his first game of the season. He is expected to miss at least 10 days. ... Spurs G Gary Neal missed his second game after he cut his right index finger when he picked up his luggage. Neal sported a small bandage around the index finger. ... The Spurs wore their silver alternate jersey, which features their traditional Spur logo on the front. It's the first jersey in NBA history without any writing on the front of the jersey. ... Nuggets F Wilson Chandler (hip) missed his second straight game.

 

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Rondo has 20 assists, Celtics beat Raptors 107-89


BOSTON (AP) Rajon Rondo made up for lost time in a big way for the Boston Celtics after missing a game because of a sprained right ankle.

Rondo had 20 assists for the second time this season and added six points to help the Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors 107-89 on Saturday.

Jason Terry scored 20 points, Paul Pierce added 19 points and six rebounds before sitting out the fourth quarter, and Kevin Garnett scored 15 points in 17 minutes of playing time.

The Celtics held big leads early and late, but had to survive several surges in between while winning for the fourth time in five games. And any worries Boston fans might have had about Rondo's ankle were quickly washed away when he had seven assists in the first quarter.

"We have an offense and then he creates another offense at times,'' Boston coach Doc Rivers said.

Rondo appeared at full strength after sitting out a loss at Brooklyn on Thursday night. He had 11 assists at halftime, extending his streak of consecutive games with double-digit assists to 33.

"Something I look forward to every game is just trying to make my teammates happy. And somehow I keep getting to 10,'' Rondo said. "Tonight it was a collective team effort as far as assists.''

The Celtics had assists on 37 of 43 field goals, with Rondo leading the way and finishing just four shy of his career high.

Rondo, who played only 1:26 in the fourth quarter, is within four games of tying John Stockton for the second-longest streak in NBA history for consecutive games with 10 or more assists. Magic Johnson holds the record at 46.

"I'm making some OK passes - just taking what the defense gives me,'' Rondo said. "It means my teammates are making shots.''

Garnett was 6 for 7 from the field, and Terry 7 of 10, including four 3-pointers in his highest- scoring game as a member of the Celtics. Rookie Jared Sullinger had his first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Andrea Bargnani and John Lucas led Toronto with 15 points apiece. DeMar DeRozan, Jose Calderon, Terrence Ross and Linas Kleiza added 10 each for Toronto.

Boston shot 56.6 percent against the struggling Raptors, who are off to a 2-7 start, and all 10 Celtics who played had at least two field goals.

"We can't afford to play such bad defense - especially against this type of team,'' Bargnani said. "One day we play good defense and then there are games like today where we play very bad defense, so I can't say it's getting better. We have to focus more and give a better effort.''

The Celtics scored 11 straight over the end of the third quarter and first few minutes of the fourth to go up by 21 points.

Chris Wilcox dunked an alley-oop on Rondo's 19th assist, then Terry made another 3-pointer to put Boston up 79-64 entering the fourth.

Rondo left the game shortly after reaching 20 assists early in the fourth. He also had 20 assists against Philadelphia on Nov. 9.

After trailing by as much as 17 in the first quarter, Toronto regrouped in the second and chipped into the lead with a 13-4 run. Lucas' 3-pointer with 2:35 left pulled the Raptors to 42-39, but Pierce had a three-point play and the Celtics led 47-42 at halftime.

Boston was still out of sync early in the third and a few fans started booing when DeRozan's layup pulled Toronto to 55-53 with 6:38 left in the quarter.

Bargnani got Toronto close again with a pair of free throws, 63-61, with 3:30 left in the third. But Terry hit two 3-pointers as Boston went on an 11-1 run.

Notes: Toronto was coming off a win at Indiana on Tuesday night and has yet to win back-to-back games this season. ... Boston was playing for the third time in four days and has a game at Detroit on Sunday night. ... Sullinger's previous highs in his brief career were six points and seven rebounds. ... Calderon had nine of Toronto's 22 assists. ... Boston tied its season high for points, matching its total in a 120-107 loss to Miami in the opener.

 

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Mavericks hold off Cavaliers for 103-95 victory


CLEVELAND (AP) O.J. Mayo scored 19 points and the Dallas Mavericks used a pair of 9-0 runs in the fourth quarter to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-95 on Saturday night.

Chris Kaman scored 15 points while Vince Carter and Darren Collison added 14 apiece for Dallas, which won on the road for the second time in six games.

Kyrie Irving, who left briefly in the third quarter with a finger injury, led Cleveland with 26 points, but the Cavaliers lost their fifth straight game.

Mayo hit a 3-pointer and a layup down the stretch to spark Dallas, which outscored the Cavaliers 28-22 in the final period. The Mavericks had six players score in double figures.

Dion Waiters and Daniel Gibson had 16 points apiece for Cleveland.

Dallas used its first 9-0 run in the fourth to build an 87-80 lead, but five straight points by Irving cut the lead to two. Irving's basket off a steal tied it at 89 before the Mavericks scored the next nine points.

A basket by Kaman, a 3-pointer from the corner by Mayo, a lay-in by Collison and Shawn Marion's jumper gave Dallas a 98-89 lead.

Irving was forced out with 6:54 remaining in the third quarter. He squeezed his left hand and walked to the bench where he was examined by trainer Max Benton during a timeout. The two then walked to the locker room.

X-rays of Irving's hand were negative, and he was diagnosed with a contusion on his index finger.

Marion, who scored 10 points, made his second straight start after sitting out five games with a sprained left medial collateral ligament. He had two points and seven rebounds in Dallas' 103-83 loss at Indiana on Friday.

The Cavaliers dropped the last four and five of six on an 11-day road trip. Cleveland was coming off a 114-101 loss at Brooklyn on Tuesday night, a defensive effort that disappointed coach Byron Scott. Anderson Varejao (35) and Irving (34) both set a career high for points in that setback.

The Cavaliers were 29th in the NBA in points allowed (104.8) entering the game.

Cavaliers rookie center Tyler Zeller returned after missing four games because of a fractured left orbital bone and a concussion. Wearing a mask to protect the broken bone, he had three points and two rebounds in 25 minutes.

NOTES: Mavericks starting F Elton Brand was scoreless in 11 minutes. He missed both shots from the field and had four rebounds. ... Dallas opens a three-game homestand Monday against Golden State. ... Cavaliers F Alonzo Gee missed a free throw in the first quarter after making his first 20 to start the season. ... Cavaliers F C.J. Miles, the team's top free-agent signing, didn't play for the third straight game on a coach's decision.

 

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Jazz drop Wizards to 0-8 with 83-76 victory


WASHINGTON (AP) The Washington Wizards had the perfect opportunity for a first victory, facing a struggling and tired Utah Jazz team ready to go home after nearly a week on the road.

Instead, the night ended with another demoralizing loss that turned awkward and surreal in the final minute - when the home crowd started cheering wildly for a chicken sandwich giveaway.

The Jazz pulled away in the fourth quarter and capped a four-game road trip with an 83-76 win Saturday, making the Wizards only the second team in NBA history to start 0-8 in back-to-back seasons.

"It's tough,'' Washington coach Randy Wittman said. "I don't know how else to put it.''

Al Jefferson scored 21 points, Gordon Hayward added 15 in his first game as a reserve this season, and the Jazz put on a sloppy performance that included 19 turnovers - and got away with it because they were playing the Wizards.

"We didn't play our best basketball,'' Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said. "But it's good to see the guys gut it out there when things weren't going particularly well for us.''

The game was tied at 65 early in the fourth when the Wizards went cold, shooting only 4 for 19 from the field in the final period. The Jazz held Washington scoreless for more than 4 minutes while building their first double-digit lead of the game. Utah had nine offensive rebounds in the quarter.

Then, in the final minute, the marketing atmosphere of the NBA game experience hit a new low when the fans roared because Marvin Williams missed two free throws to guarantee everyone a free chicken sandwich - even as Utah's Paul Millsap was grabbing the offensive rebound to help put the game out of reach.

"You kind of notice it, but the fans pay their money,'' Millsap said. "They didn't get a win; at least they got some sandwiches.''

Fed up with recent slow starts, both coaches shuffled their lineups with two new starters. Corbin went with Randy Foye and Derrick Favors instead of Hayward and Williams, hoping Hayward would get more shots with the second unit.

The strategy had mixed results. The Jazz again started slowly - looking like a team that couldn't wait to get on the plane. They missed nine of their first 10 shots to trail 15-2 midway through the first quarter. Players said they were adjusting to the new lineup.

But Hayward and Williams came in and provided a spark, with Hayward scoring six points in a quarter-ending 13-2 spurt. The game then stayed close into the fourth quarter, with Jefferson asserting himself along the way with 17 of Utah's 27 third-quarter points.

Corbin said he's not sure whether he'll stick with the new starting five for another game.

"I didn't feel too comfortable with it,'' Millsap said. "It was tough, especially starting out. ... Nothing worked at the beginning of the game, but when we're clicking, when everything is flowing, that's a pretty good starting lineup.''

Wittman made his first lineup change of the season, with Jordan Crawford and Jan Vesely on the floor at tipoff instead of Trevor Booker and rookie Bradley Beal. The Wizards have yet to play this season with John Wall (knee) or Nene (foot), although Nene has resumed practicing with the team.

"That's not an excuse,'' Wittman said. "We've got enough here to win games, and we do - and we've got to believe that. I've got to help them believe in themselves right now. We're low on confidence right now from an offensive standpoint.''

The changes didn't alter the final result for the Wizards, who remain overmatched and inconsistent as the only winless team in the NBA. The Jazz entered the game 1-6 on the road and were playing the second half of a back-to-back following a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, but Washington was outrebounded 60-44, outhustled too often, and again couldn't get to the free-throw line nearly enough. Utah also took 27 free throws to Washington's 12.

And, no, not all of the Wizards fans were cheering for sandwiches at the end. There weren't that many left in the arena. Most had already departed after booing their team.

"It's acceptable,'' Crawford said. "We are 0-8.''

NOTES: Crawford scored 20 points to lead the Wizards. ... The teams combined for the same number of turnovers as made baskets (12) in the first quarter. ... The Memphis Grizzlies are the only other franchise with back-to-back 0-8 starts, accomplishing the dubious feat in 2001-02 and 2002-03, according to STATS, LLC. ... Shaun Livingston, signed on Thursday, made his Wizards season debut, scoring four points in 17 minutes.

 

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Monta Ellis helps Bucks hold off Hornets, 117-113


MILWAUKEE (AP) Monta Ellis scored six of his 22 points in the final 2 minutes to help the Milwaukee Bucks hold off the New Orleans Hornets 117-113 on Saturday night.

Brandon Jennings also had 22 points, and Mike Dunleavy added 17 for Milwaukee, 6-2 in its best start since opening 9-1 in 2001-02.

Top overall draft pick Anthony Davis had a season-high 28 points and tied his season high with 11 rebounds for New Orleans. Ryan Anderson added 20 points for the Hornets.

Davis had consecutive three-point plays to pull the Hornets to 110-108 with 2:02 to play, but Ellis hit a 20-footer falling away from the basket for Milwaukee.

Anderson tipped in a miss for New Orleans, and Ellis hit another jumper for the Bucks. After Anderson missed a shot from in close, Milwaukee's Larry Sanders missed a layup, then made up for it when he blocked Anderson's driving shot. The Bucks controlled the ball, forcing Roger Mason to foul Jennings, who made one of two free throws for a 115-110 lead with 12.3 seconds to go.

After a timeout, Anderson hit a tough 3 with 4.8 seconds left. Greivis Vasquez immediately fouled Ellis and he made both free throws to cap the scoring. The last chance for the Hornets came when Davis' inbound pass went across the court and off Mason's hands as time expired.

Anderson's 3 gave the Hornets a 94-91 lead to start the fourth, but the Bucks answered with an 11-2 run sparked by two three-pointers from Beno Udrih and one from Jennings for a 102-96 lead with 8:12 to play.

The Bucks were coming off a 99-85 victory over Indiana on Wednesday night, while the Hornets were beaten 110-95 by Oklahoma City on Friday night. The Hornets have lost four of five.

Ellis and Jennings each had nine assists in Milwaukee's rare win against the Hornets. Milwaukee had dropped 11 of the last 12 meetings dating to Jan. 30, 2006. Their last victory was Feb. 24, 2010, 115-95.

NOTES: Milwaukee scored 60 points or more in the first half for the third consecutive game. ... The Hornets shot 64.7 percent (11 of 17) in the first quarter. ... The Hornets shot 60 percent through three quarters, then shot 38 percent in the fourth.

 

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Ailing James, Heat end long trip by beating Suns


PHOENIX (AP) LeBron James under the weather is better than no LeBron James at all.

That was James' thinking when he decided to play despite flu-like symptoms, and he scored 21 points to help the depleted Miami Heat close out a six-game road trip with a 97-88 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.

"Me at 50 percent or 60 percent is better than me not playing at all,'' he said.

The Heat, playing without Dwyane Wade for the second game in a row because of a left foot injury, led by as many as 15 in the third quarter and were up by nine with 5 1/2 minutes to play. The Suns cut it to two before Miami scored the game's final seven points.

Chris Bosh scored 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting for the Heat.

James, who missed the morning shootaround, made only 8 of 20 shots but still reached 20 points for the 11th time in 11 games this season. In the first quarter, he went to the locker room, where he said he got sick, then received some fluids that helped.

"I can't remember the last time he missed practice or a shootaround so when he missed today, obviously that makes you wonder and you know that it's pretty serious,'' coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We knew yesterday that he hadn't had any food and he went the whole day and in the late afternoon he was able to down some Gatorade, but that was about it.''

Markieff Morris scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half for Phoenix, which was coming off a loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Friday night. Shannon Brown and Michael Beasley had 14 points apiece.

James may have been sick, but he had enough energy to lead the final surge that lifted Miami to its fifth straight win in Phoenix.

"I set my shooters up as much as possible,'' he said, "but if the game is close down the stretch I feel like I can make plays individually, to help us win.''

Morris' tip-in with 8:39 to go tied it at 79, but Ray Allen banked in an 8-footer, Brown was called for an offensive foul, and Mario Chalmers stole the ball from Sebastian Telfair, leading to James' fast-break layup. The Heat were off on a 9-0 run, capped by James' reverse dunk with 5 1/2 minutes to go.

Phoenix then rallied again. Telfair sank a 3-pointer, then Goran Dragic knocked the ball loose and gathered it in for a layup to cut it to 90-88 with 2:11 remaining. Phoenix had a chance to tie but Beasley missed an open 14-footer.

Bosh made a pair of free throws, James hit a driving layup, then Miami made three of four free throws in the final 30 seconds to finally put it away and finish the trip 4-2.

Bosh said he knew he had to up his scoring with Wade out.

"I know that my role has changed a bit and I have to be a lot more aggressive so it's just a matter of making shots when I'm open,'' he said.

After his starters got off to another sluggish start, Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said there would be a change in the lineup, although he didn't say what that would be.

"We have to make some adjustment,'' he said. "We can't keep playing like this. We have to do something where we can make an adjustment and we'll see what can happen from here.''

Dragic said the team will follow Gentry's lead.

"I mean, he's the coach so whatever he says, he is going to run this team,'' Dragic said. "You know, something is not clicking for us and we have to find some solution. If that is he has to change some players in the starting lineup then we have to do that.''

James had a dunk on a lob pass from Mike Miller and sank a 3-pointer in a 19-4 outburst that broke a 56-56 tie and put the Heat up 75-60 after Norris Cole's steal and layup with 2:52 left in the third quarter. But James went to the bench and the Suns' reserves brought Phoenix back with an 11-0 run to end the quarter, reducing Miami's lead to four entering the fourth.

Morris scored the first six points of the run. Miami committed two turnovers in the final minute of the quarter, leading to Brown and Telfair each sinking a pair of free throws.

Bosh had 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the first half. Beasley had 12 points and five first-half rebounds.

NOTES: Dragic had eight points, four assists, three steals and no turnovers in the first quarter. ... The Heat have one more six-game road trip, Jan. 1-17, a journey that concludes with a game against the Lakers in Los Angeles. ... This was Miami's first trip to Phoenix in two seasons. The teams played only once, in Miami, in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season. ... Miami had 19 turnovers, compared to 17 for Phoenix.

 

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Celtics vs Raptors highlights

Rondo has 20 assists to lead Celtics past Raptors.

 

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Clippers vs Bulls highlights

Griffin leads Clippers over Bulls.

 

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Durant's triple-double leads Thunder over Warriors


OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Three-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant is determined to become known as more than a one-dimensional player.

He took a big step in that direction Sunday night.

Durant notched his first career triple-double with 25 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Golden State Warriors 119-109.

"I really didn't care, to be honest. If it came, then that's cool. If it didn't, then just keep playing,'' Durant said. "It feels good to get one. Now, I guess I've got a little monkey off my back. I can just go out there and play.''

Durant has endured some growing pains this season trying to improve his floor game, with a bump in his assist numbers coinciding with an increase in his turnovers, too. He came in averaging four turnovers per game, the fourth-worst in the league.

But after ending up with more turnovers than assists in each of his first five NBA seasons, Durant is starting to reverse that trend this season. He's also grabbing about two more rebounds per game than any other time in his career.

"There's going to be nights where I have to score 30. There's going to be nights where I have to have seven or eight assists,'' Durant said. "So, I'm just trying to be an all-around player and just continue to help my team win.''

Durant turned it over just twice in this one and pumped his right fist after he set up Kevin Martin's 3-pointer with 4:57 to play for his 10th assist. The play also helped the Thunder hold on after Golden State cut a 21-point deficit to seven in the fourth quarter.

Russell Westbrook scored 30 points and Martin had 23 off the bench as Oklahoma City had a season-high 31 assists for the second straight game and a season high in points. Durant, Westbrook and Martin also combined for 22 assists.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 22 points, and David Lee chipped in 19 points and 10 rebounds.

"Durant's a pretty good passer to begin with and we decided we were going to load up a lot on him and Russell when they got the ball and make other guys beat us,'' Lee said. "The problem with loading up sometimes on him is that he's 6-11 and can see over it and make passes.

"I always considered him a pretty unselfish player, considering the amount of talent he has to score the basketball. I don't think that you would call him a selfish scorer by any means.''

It looked for a while as though Durant might be stuck on nine assists - matching his previous career best from a double-overtime game against Denver during his rookie season in Seattle.

Durant and Westbrook teamed up to score eight straight points late in the third quarter, with Westbrook's 3-pointer from the top of the key extending Oklahoma City's lead to 86-67. Durant had a chance to pick up his 10th assist before the end of the third period, but instead kept the ball on a fast break and wound up with a three-point play that put the Thunder ahead 94-73.

He started the fourth quarter on the bench, but got a chance to come back in when Oklahoma City's reserves let the lead start slipping away.

Coach Scott Brooks put his All-Stars back in with 8:18 left, after Curry's 3-pointer drew Golden State to 101-88. Nick Collison used a nifty touch pass off an offensive rebound to set up Serge Ibaka's layup, and Durant assisted on Martin's 3 on the next trip as Oklahoma City stemmed the tide.

"Some guys can just pass, some guys can just shoot, some guys can just rebound. Obviously, with Kevin, he can do many things on the floor and we always have to challenge him because we don't know how good he will end up being,'' Brooks said.

Brooks said he doesn't want Durant to become a passer, but rather a play-maker.

"Every year for the next 100 years, he's going to be an MVP-type caliber player, and this is what MVP players do,'' Brooks said. "They make your team better, you win games and you do everything. You fill the stat sheet.

"You don't want to be a guy that just scores 35 and the team doesn't have success.''

Carl Landry had 14 points and Jarrett Jack scored 12 for Golden State, which lost despite shooting 52 percent from the field. Warriors reserve Richard Jefferson pulled himself out of the game late in the first quarter after straining his right calf, and he did not return.

The Warriors wiped away an early seven-point deficit to go up 32-31 in the second quarter but Eric Maynor answered with a 3-pointer to start a 19-6 response that put Oklahoma City ahead to stay.

"They're the reigning Western Conference champions playing at home, playing well. You want to compete and find a way to beat them and in the end they shoot the ball 13-for-20 from 3. You give up 119 points,'' Curry said. "That's not going to cut it.''

Notes: Asked before the game how he would have defended Westbrook during his playing days, Warriors coach Mark Jackson responded: "Chapel first, and then stay late when all the guys leave to get some extra prayer in.'' ... Oklahoma City had held its opponents below 44 percent shooting in each of its first seven wins this season. ... Golden State had also held seven opponents below 44 percent this season, tying Chicago and Oklahoma City for the NBA lead.

 

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Knicks bounce back from 1st loss, beat Pacers


NEW YORK (AP) This was ugly, even before Jason Kidd's unfortunate headband style.

That's fine with the New York Knicks, who are winning even when they don't look good doing it.

Carmelo Anthony had 26 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks bounced back from their first loss of the season, beating the Indiana Pacers 88-76 on Sunday.

"Last year we let this game slip away,'' center Tyson Chandler said. "It's definitely the maturity of the team and obviously the maturity of the players. We got a lot of vets around here that understand that these games add up. These are the games at the end of the year when you are in that dog fight and jockeying for position, these are the games that put you over or under.''

JR Smith added 13 points and Raymond Felton had 11 for the Knicks in their only home game in a span of seven games. After falling 105-95 at Memphis on Friday, the Knicks (7-1) go right back on the road to start another three-game trip Tuesday in New Orleans.

Neither team shot 40 percent, but the Knicks, perhaps sluggish after a quick turnaround following Saturday morning's return home, built a big early lead, went up by as much as 20 and were never challenged.

"Today was one of them days where we had to do it on the defensive end,'' Anthony said. "Offensively we were trying to find it, shots that we missed that we normally make. But on the defensive end for us to be in sync the way we are right now, especially this early in the season, that's a good thing. We want to keep building on that.''

The only thing they want to change is Kidd's wardrobe, after watching a cut on his head force him into the headband that had its own Twitter account by the end of the game.

"Not a good look,'' Anthony said. "Today he had to do what he had to do, but we're not going to allow that.''

Paul George scored 20 points for the Pacers, who remained inept offensively as they played without leading scorer Danny Granger. They hoped they had broken out with an impressive 103-point performance against Dallas on Friday, but managed only 30 first-half points and committed 19 turnovers in the game.

"We turned the ball over way too much,'' George said. "When you look at it, we got 71 attempts and they got 90 attempts and when you are playing a team as dangerous as New York is, you give them 20 more shots, of course you are going to get the results you got.''

David West added 14 points in Indiana's sixth straight road loss.

The Pacers came in allowing an NBA-low 90.3 points per game but often wasting that without Granger, who is expected to miss three months with a sore left knee. They were averaging 87.8 points, 28th in the league, but were nowhere near that against a Knicks team that's also good defensively.

"Our defense, you know, we've been No. 1 in the NBA right now defensively. We knew we could rely on that, but again, we've got to get more shots, better looks, more attempts and take care of the ball,'' George added.

The Knicks led 21-18 after one behind 12 points from Anthony, whose 5-of-9 shooting looked even more impressive next to the Pacers' 7 of 22 or the 3 of 15 the rest of his teammates combined to hit.

Kidd played only 3 minutes before he was hit in the head by Lance Stephenson's teeth after a pump fake and bloodied while attempting a 3-pointer. He put a headband over the wound so he could shoot the free throws, wearing it in a lopsided manner that was angled more like a bonnet, even laughing himself at how ugly it looked.

"Yeah, that's not my style,'' said the 39-year-old Kidd, wearing a bandage on the right side of his head. "I'll leave that to the guys who like the headband.''

He made the shots, then went to the back to get seven stitches.

New York then held Indiana to 3-of-16 shooting (19 percent) and 12 points in the second. The Knicks led by as much as 12 in the period when Chandler threw down a lob pass from Felton and it was 41-30 at the break.

Kidd had a lane open for him in the third but botched the layup, adjusting the headband after the miss. The Pacers later had consecutive possessions with their own blown layup followed by an airball on a jumper.

Still, the Pacers made 10 of 14 shots in the third and trimmed what had been a 16-point deficit to nine late in the period. But Rasheed Wallace made a 3-pointer to end the third-quarter scoring, then opened the fourth with a basket and a dunk before Smith's jumper restored the 16-point advantage at 74-58 two minutes into the period.

Notes: Knicks coach Mike Woodson said the Knicks planned to send the NBA video of the flagrant foul that was assessed on Smith on Friday in hopes of getting it rescinded. Woodson said he "didn't think there was much there.'' Woodson was then hit with a technical foul 90 seconds into Sunday's game. ... Donnie Walsh, who has rejoined the Pacers, his longtime franchise, after spending three years as Knicks president from 2008-11, said the Knicks have put themselves in good position after the rebuilding process that he started. "I've already said they're a contending team, but to go any further you've got to do it. You can't talk about it, you've got to do it, and that's kind of where all the teams are,'' he said before the game.

 

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Lakers rip Rockets 119-108 for 4th win in 5 games


LOS ANGELES (AP) After just two practices and two games together, Kobe Bryant already can see Mike D'Antoni's ideas and schemes improving the Los Angeles Lakers.

Although a triple-double isn't usually part of Bryant's game plan, he happily picked it up along with another win for a team that has been revitalized before their new coach has even taken the court.

Bryant had 22 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his 18th career triple-double, and the Lakers ran past the Houston Rockets 119-108 Sunday night for their fourth victory in five games since firing coach Mike Brown.

Dwight Howard had 28 points and 13 rebounds, and Pau Gasol scored his 15,000th career point among his 17 as the Lakers returned to .500 by running away from their second straight opponent since D'Antoni took over their practices. Although D'Antoni and his surgically replaced knee haven't even appeared on Los Angeles' bench yet, his new team is already playing with passion and fluidity it hadn't showed during a miserable start to the season.

"We're just picking apart the defense,'' said Bryant, who also had three of Los Angeles' 10 steals. "We're putting the defense in predicaments where they have to choose, and we're making them pay.''

D'Antoni watched his second straight game from the Lakers' locker room while interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff ran the bench. D'Antoni decided earlier Sunday to delay his debut, giving him at least a few more days to recover from surgery.

Bickerstaff improved to 4-1 while filling in for Brown and D'Antoni, who announced the longtime NBA coach and executive will remain on his staff - as long as the Lakers beat Houston, D'Antoni joked.

Bickerstaff's job is secure after the Lakers ran away from the Rockets in the second half. From Bryant's sharp passes to Howard's rim-rocking, two-handed slams, Los Angeles played with flair, even while point guard Steve Nash missed his eighth straight game with a small fracture in his leg.

"Every day, there's a little more'' of D'Antoni's system in the Lakers, Bickerstaff said. "It's best to do a few things well and get it down, because all of those things, they have options off them.''

The Lakers already are running a significant portion of D'Antoni's playbook, and it showed in a second straight free-flowing victory for a team that followed an 0-8 preseason with a 1-4 start, leading to Brown's dismissal just nine days ago. The Lakers scored 114 points while beating Phoenix two days ago.

Chandler Parsons scored 24 points and James Harden had 20 for the Rockets, who have lost six of eight. Coach Kevin McHale missed his fourth straight game during a leave of absence to deal with a family matter.

"It's tough, man. That's our leader,'' Parsons said. "We can't do much except pray for his family and him, and hope he comes back soon. We love playing for him. But at the same time, Coach Sampson has done a good job. We have the same offense, same system, same principles on defense. So it's not like we're a different team. We still need to be playing a lot better, so there's no excuse.''

Darius Morris scored a career-high 12 points for the Lakers while doing a decent defensive job on Jeremy Lin, who had 10 assists but just five points on 2-of-9 shooting. Lin visited with D'Antoni after the game, recalling their remarkable few months together last season in New York.

"He's the ultimate players' coach, very similar to Coach McHale,'' Lin said. "I think he just gets it. He knows how to get the most out of his players. They'll be just fine. What you saw tonight, they'll probably be able to do pretty consistently, in terms of moving the ball and spacing. And with Dwight Howard down low, it's tough because he has that whole key to roam in.''

With an offensive rebound with 5 1/2 minutes to play, Bryant recorded his first triple-double since Nov. 3, 2010, at Sacramento. The NBA's fifth-leading career scorer was in top form, breaking down defenders and hitting acrobatic shots with the flair of his best games.

But Bryant doesn't have to win games by himself, and the rest of the Lakers were sharp as well. Howard attacked the basket relentlessly while his teammates set him up for high-percentage shots, and Metta World Peace contributed 15 points.

With a smooth jumper in the second half, Gasol became the 10th foreign-born player and the first Spaniard to score 15,000 NBA points. The four-time All-Star has won two titles with the Lakers, and the Staples Center fans gave him an ovation when his achievement was announced.

"I think it's something to be proud of,'' said Gasol, who joins a list of foreign-born scorers including Nash, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dirk Nowitzki and Dominique Wilkins. "I'm happy to reach this milestone, but I want to continue to be as productive as I've been throughout my career.''

NOTES: Houston concludes its three-game trip Monday at Utah. ... Shortly after D'Antoni confirmed Bickerstaff is staying with the team, the Lakers formally announced Dan D'Antoni will join the staff as an assistant. Mike D'Antoni's older brother has been in practice with the Lakers since Thursday. ... Houston C Omer Asik left the game in the first half with a cut over his right eye, but returned for the second half after getting five stitches.

 

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Blatche scores 22 to lead Nets over Kings 99-90


SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) It's not often that Andray Blatche plays a pivotal offensive role for a talented Nets team loaded with scorers.

Yet it was Brooklyn's reserve center who got things going against Sacramento on Sunday when the starters were shooting poorly.

Blatche scored 22 points to lead the Nets to their fifth straight victory, 99-90 over the struggling Kings.

Blatche was part of a huge effort by an extremely productive Brooklyn bench. He made his first 10 shots and finished 11 of 12 in 19 minutes subbing for starter Brook Lopez.

"I got to open spots and my teammates were looking for me,'' Blatche said. "When the double team came I was able to make the open shots. Our starters believe in the second group because we play with energy and effort. They know we've got their back.''

Coming to Brooklyn has been a nice change for Blatche, who spent his first six seasons with the Wizards and grew tired of Washington's frequent losses over the past few seasons.

"I'm not sure, but I think this is the first time in my career that I've been on a team that's won five straight,'' Blatche said. "I'm at a loss for words right now. It's a good feeling to be on a team that has a good chance of winning every game.''

The Nets (6-2) matched the team's best start since the 2002-03 season when they went to the NBA finals, losing to San Antonio in six games. Brooklyn can thank its reserves, who combined for 52 points and shot 21 of 30 against the Kings.

Deron Williams had 14 points and 10 assists for the Nets, whose longest winning streak last season was three games. MarShon Brooks had nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, Brook Lopez had 13 points and four blocks, and C.J. Watson had 13 points.

Joe Johnson, a key pickup in an offseason trade, never got it going offensively. He missed 9 of 10 shots and finished with 10 points for the Nets.

"It doesn't have to be Deron and me having a great game for us to win,'' said Johnson, who helped seal the victory by making 8 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter. "We can come at you offensively in a lot of different ways. I'm not worried about it (my shot) at this point, it will come.''

DeMarcus Cousins had 23 of his 29 points in the second half for the Kings, who have dropped five straight. Tyreke Evans had 21 points and seven rebounds and Marcus Thornton added 12 points.

Struggling to find a cohesive lineup, Kings head coach Keith Smart started Aaron Brooks at point guard and John Salmons at small forward. The move paid off early with the Kings jumping out to a 16-8 lead, but they trailed 21-20 after one quarter.

"Overall, when you make some changes like we have it's hard, but they were smiling for the most part,'' Kings coach Keith Smart said. "This is an adjustment period. That's something we have to go through to get out team turned around.''

The Kings got to within three early in the fourth when Thornton connected on back-to-back 3-pointers. Brooklyn never lost the lead and increased it to 84-74 with six unanswered points, the final two on a driving hoop by Brooks at the 4:42 mark.

"MarShon came on strong in the second half for us and was making some really good plays,'' Nets coach Avery Johnson said. "That's probably the most composed I've seen him play since I've been here. I'm really proud of our young guys MarShon, Blatche and C.J.''

Brooklyn cooled off in the third quarter after shooting nearly 54 percent in the opening half. But the Nets still maintained a 74-65 lead and closed the third with a 7-0 run which included a three-point play by Reggie Evans.

"Brooklyn is playing great right now,'' Thornton said. "They have a great point guard, a great shooting guard, and are solid all around. The rest of the guys fit in and play their roles well.''

After a poor first half where he shot 3 of 12, Cousins got going in the third quarter to keep the Kings close. The Kings center made 5 of 5 shots from close range and had 12 points, and Evans contributed seven.

Blatche exceeded his previous season high of 15 points in the first half. He was 9 of 9 and had 18 points in the opening half, helping the Nets take a 54-42 lead at the break. Lopez scored 12 points and Watson also gave Brooklyn a huge lift off the bench with 11.

"We got him (Blatche) three easy layups in the first quarter, that's how you get in a rhythm,'' Williams said. "After that he had that feeling that he couldn't miss.''

Notes: Sacramento is last in NBA attendance and has drawn crowds of 12,000 or less in four of its six home games this season. The attendance was 11,965 for the rare Sunday matinee. . Brooklyn's reserves outscored the starters 34-20 in the first half. . Gerald Wallace started for the Nets after missing the last five games with a sprained left ankle. . Johnson went scoreless until making a jumper at the 10:03 mark of the third quarter.

 

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Pistons beat Celtics 103-83 for first home victory


AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) The Detroit Pistons have had double-digit leads in all four of their home games this season.

The finally held on to one Sunday night.

After blowing late leads to Phoenix, Oklahoma City and Orlando, the Pistons (2-9) pulled away down the stretch to beat the Boston Celtics 103-83.

The Celtics, playing their fourth game in five nights, hit only four 3-pointers and trailed by as many as 22 points.

"We knew what their schedule situation was, and we wanted to take advantage,'' Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said. "Boston was still ultra-competitive tonight, but we were able to get key stops, and that opened everything up for us. We've gotten both of our wins with a tough defensive mindset. That's the only way this team is going to consistently win games.''

Greg Monroe led the Pistons with 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Jason Maxiell added 15 points. Detroit had six players in double figures and shot 54.5 percent for the night.

"I think those (home) games opened our eyes,'' Monroe said. "Those were all games we should have won, and we could have controlled them. I wouldn't say losing them was a good thing, but it was an eye-opener.''

Jared Sullinger led the Celtics with 16 points, while Kevin Garnett had 15.

"We can't use the schedule as an excuse - this is the NBA and you have to play stretches like this,'' Garnett said. "But when you see as many shots hit the front of the rim as we had tonight, you know that you don't have your legs. You just have to fight through it, and we didn't do that tonight.''

The only consolation for the Celtics was that, due to a concentrated effort in the fourth quarter, Rajon Rondo finished with 10 assists. That extended his double-digit streak to 34 games, the third longest in league history, but required Boston running a bizarre small-ball offense for the last several minutes designed strictly to get him assists.

"Why not?'' Boston coach Doc Rivers asked. "The press keeps talking about it, so I figured I would give him a shot at it. The funny thing was that the harder we tried, the worse we got at it.''

Sullinger finally made the effort pay off, hitting a jumper with 51 seconds left to give Rondo his tenth assist, although Boston still trailed 101-81. Leandro Barbosa immediately went to the scorer's table to take Rondo out of the game. Magic Johnson holds the NBA record with a 46-game streak in 1983-84 and John Stockton had a 37-game run in 1989.

Rondo acknowledged that the end of the game had been a bit strange, but didn't feel bad about it.

"I don't think that much about the streak, but I know that down the road, it will be something that I'm very proud that I accomplished,'' he said. "People will probably talk about what happened tonight, but I don't know. I wasn't born when Magic had his streak, and I wasn't watching yet when Stockton had his. There might have been games when they stayed in with a 30-point lead to get their streak going, but there wasn't as much attention paid back then.''

Frank laughed off the issue.

"I guess the basketball gods were on his side tonight,'' he said. "I wasn't worried. I just know he's a great basketball player.''

The Celtics dominated early, but the effects of the schedule had a clear impact in the second period. Boston missed 12 of its first 16 shots in the quarter, and only a series of Detroit turnovers kept the Pistons' lead down to 48-43 at the half.

Things didn't get any better in the third quarter for Boston, as the Pistons kept up the defensive pressure. Detroit outscored them 23-14 in the period, as Boston shot just 31.3 percent and turned the ball over seven times.

"We were dead men walking,'' Rivers said. "That is what it felt like. Give Detroit credit, they played extremely hard, but we just had no legs.''

NOTES: Garnett was matched up with Pistons rookie Andre Drummond for long periods in each half. When Garnett was drafted in 1995, Drummond was still a month short of his second birthday. ... Rondo wasn't the only Celtic struggling to get assists. The rest of Boston's team combined for just two... Rondo's last single-digit assist game was March 9 against Portland.

 

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Blazers beat Bulls 102-94 for third straight win


PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Wesley Matthews was kind of taken aback when he was told that Portland's last three-game winning streak came in the Trail Blazers' first three games of last season.

The Blazers had been unable to string a trio of wins together since then until Sunday night, when they beat the Chicago Bulls 102-94.

"It feels good, getting our juices going, our confident going,'' said Matthews, who had 21 points. "We're finally playing like a team that knows how to win.''

The other two wins, a 103-89 victory at Sacramento before a 119-117 overtime victory over Houston at the Rose Garden on Friday, came after a three-game losing streak.

As for it being the longest winning streak since the Blazers opened last season with three wins, Matthews shook his head. Portland finished the lockout season 28-39, capped by a seven-game losing streak.

"Last season was such a debacle,'' he said. "I don't want to talk about it for the rest of my life.''

Nicolas Batum also scored 21 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points and 13 rebounds as all of Portland's starters were in double figures.

After trailing by as many as 15 in the third quarter, the Bulls came back to tie it at 73 early in the fourth. But Portland pulled back in front 87-75 on Matthews' pull-up jumper with 5:04 left.

Matthews appeared to seal it with a 3-pointer that made it 93-81 with 1:26 left, but Nate Robinson hit a 3 to narrow it to 98-94 with 13.9 seconds to go. Batum and Aldridge each hit a pair of free throws and rookie Damian Lillard dunked to help the Blazers hang on.

Joakim Noah had 16 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists for Chicago, which lost its second straight after falling 101-80 to the Clippers in Los Angeles on Saturday night. The Bulls (5-5) had not lost two straight this season.

"The defense right now, the intensity, we've got to get that part right,'' Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "The defense, the rebounds and the turnovers, all three are a problem right now, so we've got to correct that. Those three things put you in a position to win.''

The Blazers have won five straight games against the Bulls at the Rose Garden.

Portland improved to 5-5 in coach Terry Stotts' first season with the team.

"It's good to be .500, but we didn't go into the game saying "Let's be .500,''' Stotts said. "The important thing is winning at home and playing well. The record takes care of itself.''

Chicago pulled ahead 30-23 with about 10 seconds left in the first quarter on Luol Deng's layup. Matthews' pullup jumper tied it at 32 before Aldridge made a jumper to put the Blazers in front.

Batum's dunk with 3:59 left in the half gave Portland a 43-39 lead. The Blazers went on to lead 51-43 at the break. Batum opened the second half with a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 54-43. Another Batum 3 put Portland ahead 61-47 and yet another one made it 67-53.

Taj Gibson got the Bulls within 69-64 with a layup with 2:31 left in the quarter. Chicago pulled even closer on Deng's layup to open the final quarter, then evened it at 73 at Gibson made a layup and a free throw.

Ronnie Price's long jumper prevented the Bulls from taking the lead, and Batum's 3-pointer and Price's layup extended it. Price also hit a free throw, making him the first Blazers reserve to score in double digits this season.

Price, who has been hampered this season by a right ankle injury, finished with 10 points and five assists. The Blazers could use his help to spell Lillard, the sixth overall pick in the June NBA draft.

"I'm not completely 100 percent by any means, but I'm able to contribute,'' he said.

Lillard finished with 16 points and J.J. Hickson had 10.

Notes: Portland won the only meeting against the Bulls last season, a 100-89 victory in Chicago. It was the first game under interim head coach Kaleb Canales following the dismissal of Nate McMillan. Canales was retained as an assistant after the Blazers hired coach Terry Stotts in the offseason. ... Chicago's Luol Deng and Portland's Joel Freeland were teammates on Britain's Olympic basketball team. ... Lillard is the first player to average 19 points and six assists through his first 10 games since Isiah Thomas in 1981. ... It was Portland's first game of the season with six total players in double figures.

 

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Thunder vs Warriors highlights

Kevin Durant gets his first ever triple double.

 

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Cavaliers’ Irving to miss four weeks with finger fracture


You knew something had to be wrong when one of the NBA’s most promising young point guards didn’t register a single assist for the first time in his NBA career.

The Cavaliers announced Monday that Kyrie Irving will miss four weeks with a hairline fracture in his left index finger. If his absence is exactly four weeks, Irving will miss Cleveland’s next 15 games.

“Freak injury, minor setback but ill be back soon everybody, love the support,” Irving wrote on his Twitter account Monday.

Irving, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 Draft, missed 15 games for the Cavaliers last season and sat out for an extended period of time due to a concussion. He also broke his hand this summer, an injury that prevented him from participating in the Las Vegas Summer League. A toe injury also caused him to miss a majority of his one and only season at Duke.

Cleveland.com reported on Saturday that X-rays on the finger were negative, but that Irving reported pain and discomfort after he failed to record an assist in 34 minutes of playing time in a loss to the Mavericks.


The Cavaliers’ star point guard trotted off the court and into the locker room clutching his left hand during the third quarter. He emerged just in time for the start of the fourth quarter with his left index finger wrapped and a report that X-rays on the bruised digit were negative.

Irving later reported that he somehow caught his left hand on Mavericks guard Darren Collison’s foot, and that the injury affected how he performed in the fourth quarter — when he had 10 of his game-high 26 points, but when the Mavericks sank 59 percent of their field goals and outscored Cleveland, 28-22.

“I’m just not feeling comfortable with my left hand,” said Irving, who had zero assists for what he said was the first time in his life. “Attacking the rim, I only had one hand, so I was trying to force shots over [Mavericks center] Chris Kaman, and he did a good job of trying to block my shot. It still doesn’t defeat the fact that we need to get stops on the defensive end.”

Irving played 37 minutes in a Sunday loss to the 76ers, scoring a season-low nine points on 4-for-14 shooting.

Irving, 21, is far and away Cleveland’s most valuable player. Through 10 games, Irving was averaging 22.9 points, 5.6 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 steal. Those marks made him Cleveland’s leading scorer and assist man.

The 2-8 Cavaliers, currently on a six-game losing streak, are not equipped to deal with an extended absence from Irving, who was tracking towards a likely All-Star appearance. Going from Irving to reserve guards Donald Sloan and Jeremy Pargo is about as steep of a drop off as you will find. Last season, the Cavaliers were 17-34 (.333) with Irving and 4-11 (.267) without him.

 

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Paul and Griffin lead Clippers over Spurs 92-87


SAN ANTONIO (AP) The San Antonio Spurs had rallied within a basket of the Los Angeles Clippers with less than 30 seconds remaining and the crowd was buzzing.

Some would call it a tense situation. Chris Paul calls it "winning time.''

Paul had 19 points and eight assists and the Clippers beat San Antonio 92-87 on Monday night for their second win against the Spurs this season.

Paul's 10-foot jumper in the lane with 24.6 seconds left gave the Clippers a 91-87 lead.

"Yeah, I wanted to shoot; I didn't know how, I just needed a little space,'' Paul said. "I love those situations - when it's winning time. We're up two with 24 seconds left, I want it.''

Spurs guard Gary Neal missed a 3-point attempt on the subsequent possession, which Eric Bledsoe gathered for his fifth rebound. Bledsoe, who had nine points, made one of two free throws for the final margin.

Matt Barnes added 14 points, DeAndre Jordan 13 and Blake Griffin had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers (8-2).

Tim Duncan had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Spurs (8-3), who suffered their second home loss this season. Manu Ginobili added 15 points and Tony Parker 11.

The Spurs rallied when Matt Bonner made a pair of 3s sandwiched around one from Parker to pull to 88-85 with 2 minutes remaining.

Bonner, who did not play in the first three periods, finished with 10 points.

San Antonio needed the late rally after losing a lead and Stephen Jackson after the first quarter. Jackson, who suffered a non-displaced fracture to his right pinkie finger late in the first quarter, is expected to miss four to six weeks.

Jackson finished with two points and two rebounds, but the team missed his toughness most.

"Of all our games, this game was in the soft category,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We never had five guys that competed hard enough to win the basketball games. The Clippers took it with their aggressiveness and their toughness, both mentally and physically. For a portion of that game, we were an embarrassment.''

The Spurs were outscored 29-14 in the second quarter while shooting 3 for 18 from the field. It was a season low for points in a quarter by San Antonio.

Neal, returning to the lineup after missing two games with a cut on his right index finger, made a runner on his first attempt to give San Antonio a 30-20 lead. That runner with 11:19 left in the half was the last basket for 8 minutes for the Spurs, who missed 11 shots and had six turnovers in the drought.

"We know we're a handful on the offensive end,'' Barnes said. "If we can start controlling the defensive end, that's when we're really going to start winning games and making an imprint in this league. We have the talent to do it. We have the athleticism to do it. It's just the heart and hunger to do it.''

Jackson's injury didn't muster any sympathy from Paul during or after the game.

"Injuries happen,'' he said. "We're without Chauncey (Billups, left Achilles rehab) and Grant (Hill, right knee bone bruise).''

Paul's jumper gave the Clippers a 34-33 lead with 5:31 left in the first half that they extended to 45-36 on Paul's 22-foot jumper.

Danny Green's 3-pointer pulled the Spurs to 67-63 with 1:29 remaining in the third, but Paul responded again with another jumper on the ensuing possession.

NOTES: Jackson was starting his second game in place of Kawhi Leonard, who is out with quadriceps tendinitis in his left knee. Jackson is averaging 8.3 points this season while making 10 of 34 3-point attempts. . Leonard missed his second game after missing only two last season in his rookie year. .. Clippers F Caron Butler suffered a right shoulder strain in the first half and did not return. His status was unknown. . The Spurs open a six-game road trip Friday at Boston. It is San Antonio's fourth road trip of four games or more to start the season. . Popovich said the team will likely activate G Cory Joseph to replace Jackson on the roster. . The Spurs opened the season with four straight wins before losing 101-79 to the Clippers on Nov. 5 in Los Angeles.

 

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The Fundamentals: Lin facing new challenges during his second act


By Rob Mahoney

When Jeremy Lin was at the height of his fame back in February, he was billed first and foremost as a great story, his meteoric rise creating a cyclone of narrative power. As an undrafted, twice-waived Taiwanese-American putting up All-Star numbers for one of the most visible basketball teams on the planet, Lin’s career launch was prime for packaging and widespread consumption.

But in condensing Lin’s 2011-12 tale into a self-contained drama sold through headlines or products, many ignored the fact that the Knicks were merely his first act. He was quickly established as an unlikely protagonist and showed early and massive success in his nationally televised call to action. It made for good basketball and better television, but his first real NBA tour was far too saccharine (and later much too unfortunate) to be a real, complete narrative. No career is without struggles. The madness of “Linsanity” eventually faded, and this offseason, Lin made a high-profile move from New York to Houston, where he is being challenged like never before.

A capable prospect of a point guard, Lin now stands disconnected from his fairy-tale roots, as all principal characters are when the tone begins to shift in Act 2.

Lin hasn’t been horrible this season (10.3 points, 7.0 assists, 2.2 steals and a 13.8 Player Efficiency Rating in 34.3 minutes a game), but he also hasn’t yet mustered the kind of production or efficiency that made his rise in New York so staggering. Opposing defenses — through concentrated scouting and a more standard NBA schedule — have made him look entirely mortal.

That attention has revealed certain limitations in Lin’s game. His ability to function as a team’s primary playmaker was overstated by his 2011-12 performance — misrepresented not by a small sample size, but by defenders who at first underestimated and then overcompensated for his potential impact. Lin was more than capable of exploiting the lack of public familiarity with his game and equally good at attacking defenses that paid a bit too much attention to his drives and lost track of Tyson Chandler, Steve Novak and Landry Fields in the process. Yet with all of that balanced out in Houston, Lin is left to work against informed defenses that understand how to best challenge him.

Lin’s great secret is that he was able to average 19.6 points and 8.3 assists per 36 minutes a season ago without much aptitude for reading help defense. Even in his brightest moments, he still played like a summer league standout, with straight-line drives and good finishes at the rim building the foundation of his game. Lin lacked the kind of spatial creativity or elite athleticism demonstrated by the league’s best point guards. This isn’t to say that Lin’s success was some kind of mirage, but merely that it offered a less stable base for immediate growth than initially thought. He handles the ball well, can get by his defender consistently and makes an effort to attack the basket. But Lin doesn’t yet have a firm grip of how his opponents might counter his initial move, leaving him blind to an opposing big man castling across the lane or the instant checkmate often brought on by his jump passing.

And about that jump passing: Lin has the annoying habit of leaving his feet without the slightest idea of where he’s going, which is a drag on both his turnover rate and shooting percentage. Typically, this kind of move is the crutch of the athletically dominant, but Lin appears to have repurposed it to his own detriment, likely for the exact opposite reason. Nothing that Lin does is particularly explosive, and as a result, the 24-year-old point guard works toward the rim by way of some unconventional timing. He tends to lift off for layup attempts far earlier than he probably should — a move that allows him to get the best of some defenders, but also leaves him incredibly vulnerable to disciplined opponents. Essentially, Lin creates a very slim advantage by giving up his dribble and forcing himself to make a judgment call within a single-second window. In that second, Lin isn’t going through progressions; he’s forcing himself to fully analyze a situation that he seemingly failed to properly measure up beforehand.

The idea behind that move isn’t entirely wrong, but it almost completely erases Lin’s margin for error and eliminates the possibility of forcing opponents to defend anything more than basic drive-and-kick sequences. Those kinds of plays can create a quick reward for skilled players, but they forsake the offense’s position of power. The best thing that an offense can do is dictate the game in a way that forces opponents to make decision after decision after decision. The most stingy team defenses, after all, need to be torn from within by continuous stretching in uncomfortable ways. Lin hasn’t yet shown the capacity to execute that kind of persistent operation.

That limitation is only accented by the fact that Lin struggles to create any positive impact when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands — a scenario made all the more frequent by Houston’s acquisition of James Harden. An erratic shooting stroke makes Lin (who is hitting 25.8 percent from three-point range and 34.3 percent overall) an unreliable weak-side option, and yet when Harden initiates from the perimeter, the Rockets have few other options in terms of placement. And so Lin stands ready on the opposite wing, poised to hoist up a shot that the defense wants him to take or ready to counter-drive with the hope that the D doesn’t rotate in time. Despite his shooting limitations, there’s little actual cutting to speak of in Lin’s game and no contribution to the offense’s spacing through off-ball movement. Lin simply waits to be called on, as if the leather on his fingertips transforms him from witness into ballplayer.

Some of that falls on Lin, but Kevin McHale, Kelvin Sampson and the rest of the Rockets’ coaching staff aren’t excused from the blame for this kind of off-ball inactivity. Defenses are far too sophisticated for a non-shooter to take the floor without any cutting directives, and based on the way that Lin has played without the ball, it seems fair to assume that he hasn’t exactly been put in a position to succeed. Houston isn’t a bad offensive team, but merely an unimaginative (and possibly under-structured) one in need of more strategic synergy between its two primary ball-handlers.

That said, only so much can be done to account for the fact that Lin has been relatively useless away from the ball, but isn’t yet good enough to demand control of it. That makes Harden both the better high-usage ball-handler and the better weak-side option – a tilt of the backcourt that creates a tactical quandary every trip down the floor. A resolution to that particular issue is certainly within Lin’s grasp, provided that his development propels him forward in a matter befitting the lead in any successful second act. Lin’s narrative, however unique it may seem, is bound by a very traditional structure. After all, what great story is without its mid-course hardship?

 

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Spurs vs Clippers highlights

Chris Paul has 19 points and Blake Griffin has a double-double to lead the Clippers over the Spurs.

 

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Lakers hold off Nets 95-90, win D'Antoni's debut



LOS ANGELES (AP) Although Mike D'Antoni still can't jump, pivot or move on his surgically replaced knee with his usual enthusiasm, he felt plenty strong enough to start work with the Los Angeles Lakers.

D'Antoni also knows it's usually quite comfortable to be Kobe Bryant's coach.

Bryant scored six of his 25 points in the final two minutes, and the Lakers hung on for a 95-90 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night in D'Antoni's sideline debut.

Although D'Antoni is still unsteady after knee surgery earlier this month, he coached Los Angeles to a narrow victory that snapped Brooklyn's five-game winning streak. Eight months after leaving the New York Knicks, he seemed thrilled to be in his rightful place on an NBA bench - and to watch his talented new team do its thing.

"With this team, there's no reason not to win every game,'' D'Antoni said. "That's our goal. It's not, "Let's get two out of three.' We can win every game we play. ... I feel like we're the best team in the league. We've got the most talent, so they can do what they want. We've just got to keep perfecting things.''

D'Antoni clearly isn't at full strength: He hobbled slowly on the sideline on the rare occasions he left his chair during play in the first half. He moved around with more vigor after halftime, protesting foul calls with his usual theatrical vehemence despite a slight limp in his step.

"I was a little peg-legged, but it was good,'' D'Antoni said with a laugh. "Adrenalin is a great thing. I'm good, (but) jumping is a thing of the past.''

Dwight Howard had 23 points and 15 rebounds despite a horrific 7-for-19 performance at the free-throw line for the Lakers, who have won five of six and moved above .500 since firing Mike Brown. Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace scored 17 points apiece. Gasol contributed 11 rebounds and seven assists as the Lakers wrapped up a tumultuous six-game homestand that began with Brown's unexpected firing 11 days ago.

"We're definitely playing with better flow,'' Gasol said. "We're playing with more confidence, looser out there.''

The Lakers went 4-1 under interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff, but D'Antoni finally took over the bench nine days after he was hired. Los Angeles largely couldn't play at his favored tempo, but D'Antoni quickly learned the benefits of coaching Bryant, who took over in the final minutes.

Bryant has played for D'Antoni on various U.S. national teams

"It's the same as it's always been,'' Bryant said. "He's always very calm, but he still has an undertone edge to him. He's the same D'Antoni. ... We're just getting more in sync with each other. For the most part, we're doing a pretty good job taking care of the ball.''

Brook Lopez scored 23 points and Deron Williams had 22 for the Nets, who missed five of their last six shots in their ninth consecutive loss to the Lakers.

"It was definitely frustrating,'' Williams said. "We were right there and we battled the whole game. We had control of the game at one point, but we didn't make shots down the stretch. We had plenty of chances to tie it. We were getting the stops we needed, and put them on the free throw line a couple of times, but we just didn't make enough plays down the stretch and we didn't convert.''

After taking a narrow lead through three quarters, the Lakers missed their first seven shots in the fourth and fell behind mostly due to their All-Star center's incompetence at the line. Brooklyn deliberately fouled Howard in the fourth quarter, when he went 3 for 10.

Los Angeles still took the lead on Gasol's free throw with 2:37 to play, and Bryant hit a running hook shot after Joe Johnson airballed a jumper moments later. Johnson cut the lead to one point on a fast-break layup with 36 seconds left, but Bryant hit four free throws in the final 17.1 seconds while Williams missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 4 seconds left.

Johnson scored 14 points for the Nets, who finish their three-game California road trip at Golden State on Wednesday night.

"I thought Deron did a great job of quarterbacking the team and getting it to our pace,'' Nets coach Avery Johnson said. "We wish we could have had a few more shots fall in the fourth quarter, but our team laid it all out on the floor. They showed a lot of heart, something that we didn't see early in the season - especially in a road game at Miami.''

NOTES: The Nets haven't won six straight games or been more than five games over .500 since 2006. .. Before the game, D'Antoni said Steve Blake and Steve Nash will miss at least four more games, which means they won't play on the Lakers' three-game road trip over the next four days starting in Sacramento on Wednesday night. The Lakers' next home game is against Indiana on Nov. 27. ... The Lakers have won their last five road meetings with the Nets, last losing in New Jersey on March 17, 2006. They'll visit Barclays Center on Feb. 5.