The big two win again in the NBA
As each day passes in the 2008-09 NBA season it is looking more likely that the LA Lakers and the Boston Celtics will again fight it out for the NBA championship. Both teams have the best record in their conference.
On Sunday night the Celtics (13-2) were in action against Toronto (6-7) on the Raptors home court. The Boston team took control early as they opened with a 32-20 first quarter. At one stage the current NBA champions were ahead 21-6.
The Raptors got the margin down to 10 going into the halftime break but then Boston again outscored their opponents by 12 points in the third quarter. The score going into the fourth quarter was 95-73.
Ray Allen scored 21 points as Boston completed a start to finish 118-103 victory, this made it five wins straight. Allen’s backcourt partner Rajon Rondo also made a good contribution, and along with Keven Garnett scored 15 points. Chris Bosh scored 24 for Toronto.
The LA Lakers played the Sacramento Kings in LA. The Lakers lead early only to see the Kings take the lead in the second quarter. The Lakers then had to do some work to shake off the Kings. It was mid-way through the third quarter that the Lakers pulled away before recording a 118-108 win.
It is getting boring, but Kobe Bryant top scored for the Lakers with 24, Pau Gasol provided good backup with 16 points. For Sacramento it was John Salmons that matched Kobe’s 24 points. The Lakers were sloppy and committed 18 turnovers but still got the win.
In other games Detroit were beaten by the Timberwolves in Detroit. The Timberwolves were way too good for the Piston and ran out 106-80 winners. Randy Foye starred for Minnesota with 23 points and a career high 14 assists. Foye had been told by his coach to be more aggressive and with this at the back of his mind he delivered for the Timberwolves.
Allen Iverson by his own admission had a stinker of a game, he shot just 3-11 and scored 9 points. Tayshun Prince was best for Detroit with 20 points. Since Iverson has joined the Pistons they have been hot and cold. The highlights have been the victories over LA in Los Angeles and the Cavaliers.
The 76ers were lead by Elton Brand as he scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help his team to a 89-81 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
The Denver Nuggets have outscored the Chicago Bulls 31-16 to charge away from the Bulls in the final quarter. The Bulls after starting slow came back to lead the match 99-96 with 5:17 to play. From there the Nuggets came alive with a 13-0 run, thanks to 10 points in the last five minutes from Kenyon Martin. He shot an amazing 10-10 from the field including one 3-pointer on the way to 26 points.
Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro said the Bulls’ fourth quarter collapse was simply due to an offense that got out of sync, something that can happen with a young squad. For the Bulls it was Ben Gordon who starred as he scored 28 points, hitting 5-of-7 3-pointers.
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