bjtheman1
Bench Warmer
WASHINGTON (AP)—John Wall(notes) had 29 points, 13 assists, nine steals and eight turnovers in his home debut, outshining fellow rookie Evan Turner(notes) as Washington beat Philadelphia 116-115 in overtime Tuesday night in the first matchup of the top two picks in this year’s draft.
No. 1 choice Wall’s eventful game gave the Wizards their first win of the season. Cartier Martin(notes) caught Wall’s inbounds pass and hit a 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime.
No. 2 pick Turner, who came off the bench and wasn’t a factor until the second half, scored all of his nine points in the fourth quarter and finished with six rebounds for the 76ers, who are 0-4 for the first time since 2001-02.
Lou Williams led the 76ers with 30 points, one shy of his career-high.
Celtics 109, Pistons 86
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP)—Rajon Rondo(notes) had nine points and 17 assists to lead Boston.
Kevin Garnett(notes) scored 22 points and Paul Pierce(notes) added 21 for Boston, which won easily despite Shaquille O’Neal’s(notes) absence because of a bruised knee. The Celtics hardly missed him against the undersized Pistons, who are off to their first 0-4 start since November 1999.
Charlie Villanueva(notes) scored 17 points for Detroit, which played without Richard Hamilton(notes), who was out with a sore right foot.
Rondo, who had a triple-double with 24 assists Friday night against New York, has 67 assists through Boston’s first four games.
Lakers 124, Grizzlies 105
LOS ANGELES (AP)—Kobe Bryant(notes) scored all of his 23 points in the first half and Pau Gasol(notes) had 21 points and 13 rebounds for Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
Lamar Odom(notes) had 17 points and eight rebounds for unbeaten Los Angeles, while Bryant fell one minute short of matching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the Lakers’ franchise leader in minutes played because he sat out the fourth quarter.
Rudy Gay(notes) scored 30 points and Mike Conley(notes) had 16 points and eight assists after agreeing to a five-year, $40 million contract extension earlier Tuesday with the Grizzlies, who opened a four-game road trip with their fourth straight road loss to the two-time champions.
Hawks 100, Cavaliers 88
CLEVELAND (AP)—Marvin Williams(notes) scored 22 points, Al Horford(notes) added 16 and 12 rebounds for Atlanta, the only undefeated team in the Eastern Conference after their fourth straight win.
Jamal Crawford(notes) added 16 points and Joe Johnson(notes) and Mike Bibby(notes) had 15 apiece for the Hawks, who improved to 3-0 on the road and snapped a six-game losing streak in Cleveland.
J.J. Hickson(notes) scored a career-high 31 points and Mo Williams(notes) scored 12 in his season debut for the Cavs, who have dropped three straight since knocking off Boston in their season opener.
Heat 129, Timberwolves 97
MIAMI (AP)—Dwyane Wade(notes) had 26 points, LeBron James(notes) added 20 points and a game-high 12 assists—the most ever by a Heat forward, according to STATS LLC— and Miami rolled to its fourth straight win.
Wade made 12 of 17 shots in just 24 minutes for Miami, which has outscored opponents by 22.8 points per game since losing the season-opener in Boston last week.
James Jones(notes) hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points for the Heat, who got 15 from Eddie House(notes), 13 from Chris Bosh(notes) and 11 from Udonis Haslem(notes).
Kevin Love(notes) led Minnesota with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting.
It was Miami’s highest-scoring non-overtime game since beating Phoenix 135-129 on March 4, 2009.
Trail Blazers 90, Bucks 76
MILWAUKEE (AP)—Wes Matthews scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half to help Portland end its four-game road trip with a victory.
Brandon Roy(notes) added 17 points, LaMarcus Aldridge(notes) 14, Dante Cunningham(notes) 14, Andre Miller(notes) 12 and Armon Johnson(notes) 10 for Portland, which was playing its third game in four nights.
Corey Maggette(notes) led the Bucks with 16 points.
Leading 47-45 at halftime, Portland capitalized on the Bucks’ poor shooting and porous defense to outscore Milwaukee 26-17 and take a 73-62 lead into the final quarter. It was the first time that the Blazers led going into the final period this season.
Magic at Knicks, ppd.
NEW YORK (AP)—The Orlando-New York game at Madison Square Garden was postponed because of safety concerns after debris fell into the arena during overnight cleaning of asbestos-related materials.
The work was done by maintenance staff in the attic above the ceiling following the New York Rangers’ game and prevented workers from laying down the hardwood floor. The ice surface was still down as of Tuesday afternoon.
Saying it was using “an abundance of caution,” MSG released a statement saying it consulted with the NBA and decided to postpone the game, and wouldn’t reopen the building until it was assured the arena was safe.
No. 1 choice Wall’s eventful game gave the Wizards their first win of the season. Cartier Martin(notes) caught Wall’s inbounds pass and hit a 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime.
No. 2 pick Turner, who came off the bench and wasn’t a factor until the second half, scored all of his nine points in the fourth quarter and finished with six rebounds for the 76ers, who are 0-4 for the first time since 2001-02.
Lou Williams led the 76ers with 30 points, one shy of his career-high.
Celtics 109, Pistons 86
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP)—Rajon Rondo(notes) had nine points and 17 assists to lead Boston.
Kevin Garnett(notes) scored 22 points and Paul Pierce(notes) added 21 for Boston, which won easily despite Shaquille O’Neal’s(notes) absence because of a bruised knee. The Celtics hardly missed him against the undersized Pistons, who are off to their first 0-4 start since November 1999.
Charlie Villanueva(notes) scored 17 points for Detroit, which played without Richard Hamilton(notes), who was out with a sore right foot.
Rondo, who had a triple-double with 24 assists Friday night against New York, has 67 assists through Boston’s first four games.
Lakers 124, Grizzlies 105
LOS ANGELES (AP)—Kobe Bryant(notes) scored all of his 23 points in the first half and Pau Gasol(notes) had 21 points and 13 rebounds for Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
Lamar Odom(notes) had 17 points and eight rebounds for unbeaten Los Angeles, while Bryant fell one minute short of matching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the Lakers’ franchise leader in minutes played because he sat out the fourth quarter.
Rudy Gay(notes) scored 30 points and Mike Conley(notes) had 16 points and eight assists after agreeing to a five-year, $40 million contract extension earlier Tuesday with the Grizzlies, who opened a four-game road trip with their fourth straight road loss to the two-time champions.
Hawks 100, Cavaliers 88
CLEVELAND (AP)—Marvin Williams(notes) scored 22 points, Al Horford(notes) added 16 and 12 rebounds for Atlanta, the only undefeated team in the Eastern Conference after their fourth straight win.
Jamal Crawford(notes) added 16 points and Joe Johnson(notes) and Mike Bibby(notes) had 15 apiece for the Hawks, who improved to 3-0 on the road and snapped a six-game losing streak in Cleveland.
J.J. Hickson(notes) scored a career-high 31 points and Mo Williams(notes) scored 12 in his season debut for the Cavs, who have dropped three straight since knocking off Boston in their season opener.
Heat 129, Timberwolves 97
MIAMI (AP)—Dwyane Wade(notes) had 26 points, LeBron James(notes) added 20 points and a game-high 12 assists—the most ever by a Heat forward, according to STATS LLC— and Miami rolled to its fourth straight win.
Wade made 12 of 17 shots in just 24 minutes for Miami, which has outscored opponents by 22.8 points per game since losing the season-opener in Boston last week.
James Jones(notes) hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points for the Heat, who got 15 from Eddie House(notes), 13 from Chris Bosh(notes) and 11 from Udonis Haslem(notes).
Kevin Love(notes) led Minnesota with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting.
It was Miami’s highest-scoring non-overtime game since beating Phoenix 135-129 on March 4, 2009.
Trail Blazers 90, Bucks 76
MILWAUKEE (AP)—Wes Matthews scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half to help Portland end its four-game road trip with a victory.
Brandon Roy(notes) added 17 points, LaMarcus Aldridge(notes) 14, Dante Cunningham(notes) 14, Andre Miller(notes) 12 and Armon Johnson(notes) 10 for Portland, which was playing its third game in four nights.
Corey Maggette(notes) led the Bucks with 16 points.
Leading 47-45 at halftime, Portland capitalized on the Bucks’ poor shooting and porous defense to outscore Milwaukee 26-17 and take a 73-62 lead into the final quarter. It was the first time that the Blazers led going into the final period this season.
Magic at Knicks, ppd.
NEW YORK (AP)—The Orlando-New York game at Madison Square Garden was postponed because of safety concerns after debris fell into the arena during overnight cleaning of asbestos-related materials.
The work was done by maintenance staff in the attic above the ceiling following the New York Rangers’ game and prevented workers from laying down the hardwood floor. The ice surface was still down as of Tuesday afternoon.
Saying it was using “an abundance of caution,” MSG released a statement saying it consulted with the NBA and decided to postpone the game, and wouldn’t reopen the building until it was assured the arena was safe.
