NBA Roundup: Sunday 30 January, 2011 - (Part 3)
New York Knicks 124 – Detroit Pistons 106
Amar'e Stoudemire registered a team-high 33 points as the New York Knicks overcame the visiting Detroit Pistons 124-106 at Madison Square Garden.
Danilo Gallinari added 29 off the bench for the Knicks, who won their 25th game of the 2010-11 season. Rookie centre Timofey Mozgov put up career-highs of 23 points and 14 rebounds in the home victory. Mozgov is now the first Knicks rookie centre
to post 20 points and 10 rebounds in a game since Patrick Ewing.
Timofey Mozgov was excited about the chants of "Moz-gov, Moz-gov" throughout the game as he said, "I was really excited. Really good to listen. They were really nice. I don't know how to say it in English, but it's great."
Ben Gordon led the Pistons with a game-high 35 points, while rookie Greg Monroe had 15 points and 17 rebounds in the defeat. New York and Detroit opened the game with efficient shots to take an early lead. However, the Pistons successfully maintained a one-point
(31-30) lead going into the second quarter.
The second quarter was more or less the same, as the Pistons added 31 more points to restrict the Knicks to 30 points again. Detroit took a 62-60 lead into the locker room. New York turned it on in the third quarter, and continued their balanced scoring
attack. The game was tied a 91-91 after three quarters.
With the game tied at 91, New York opened the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run to seize a 103-93 lead. The Knicks outscored the Pistons 33-15 in the final quarter.
Pistons Guard Ben Gordon said after the game, "It's our defence. Obviously it's a great scoring team, but I felt like they got way too many uncontested layups, shots. We did not show up defensively. That's the most frustrating part."
Phoenix Suns 104 – New Orleans Hornets 102
Centre Marcin Gortat netted a team-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, as the Phoenix Suns downed the New Orleans Hornets 104-102, at the US Airways Centre.
Grant Hill played well as he contributed 16 points, while Vince Carter registered 12 points for Phoenix, who won their 22nd game of the season. Steve Nash had 15 assists and 10 points for his 26th double-double of the 2010-11 season to lead all
NBA guards.
Chris Paul paced the Hornets with a game-high 26 points and 12 assists in the defeat. David West added 17 points while Trevor Ariza totaled 16 points for New Orleans, who lost their 18th game of the season.
The Suns controlled the first quarter, leading by as many as seven points on their way to a 27-25 lead at the buzzer. However, the momentum turned in the second quarter and remained in the Hornet’s favour the rest of the way. New Orleans tied the game at
53 at half time.
The Suns were on the right track as they scored 35 third-quarter points to turn a half time tie into an 88-80 lead at the end of third. Paul did all he could as he made a three-pointer with 17.2 seconds left to cut the deficit to 104-99. However, the Hornets
got the ball back with 10 seconds left to seal another home victory.
Suns coach Alvin Gentry said after the game, "Obviously, I wish we could have closed the game out in the end. They made a couple of shots and we fouled them on a three-point shot. That got the game close... It was a great win against a really good basketball
team."
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