NBA Round-up: Leading Scorers for December 23, 2010 Matchups
Thursday night witnessed some hot-shooting from six players who led their teams towards victory or at least did all they could to keep their team up to the mark. In a nutshell, the top scorers provided an exciting flavor to the big games that will unearth
on Christmas Day. Following are the sizzling leading scorers of the day.
Dwight Howard - Orlando Magics
In the first match, the Orlando Magics played fantastically and snapped the red-hot winning streak of the San Antonio Spurs, 123-101, at the Amway Center.
Orlando’s center Dwight Howard continued to play like an MVP (Most Valuable Player), finishing with 29 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 blocks for the new-look Magics in their season’s 17th victory.
Tony Parker and rookie Gary Neal led seven Spurs in double figures with 16 points each, in just their fourth defeat of the season. San Antonio, playing for the sixth time in nine days, were so far behind that Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili sat out
the fourth quarter.
Earl Boykins - Milwaukee Bucks
The second match of the day witnessed the Sacramento Kings struggle again as they coughed against the Milwaukee Bucks, 84-79, at ARCO Arena in Sacramento.
Backup guard Earl Boykins scored a game-high 19 points for the Bucks, who won two straight to finish a three-game road trip 2-1.
"My teammates have confidence in me. They were willing to give me the ball, they were setting great screens for me and that's how I was getting open. Coach is going to play guys who are playing well. Tonight I just happened to be playing well, but the difference
was defense." - - Boykins said.
Beno Udrih did all he could as he led the Kings with 17 points. In addition, he grabbed 5 assists and 7 rebounds. Udrih got the sluggish Kings going offensively in the third quarter but even that couldn't save them from an inevitable defeat.
LeBron James - Miami Heat
In the third and final event of the day, Miami Heat put in another solid effort and trounced the hosts Phoenix Suns, 95-83 at US Airways Center.
Miami provided the night a befitting end as NBA watched LeBron James "King James" produce one of his most free flowing games this season. James finished with 36 points on 13-of-22 shooting, grabbed 6 rebounds, and had 4 assists to go with 3 steals.
James met up with boxing legend Muhammad Ali and posed for a picture with the champ, who made a special visit to the game.
"I have (met him before). But it feels like the first time every time you get the opportunity to see him or shake hands with him," James said. "He's by far one of the top two greatest athletes to ever walk the face of the Earth. I think you could put (Michael)
Jordan or whoever in there." - -LeBron James
Forward Jared Dudley provided a spark off the bench for the Sun's, chipping in team-high 33 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 steals for the Phoenix's 15th defeat of the season.
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