NBA Weekend Roundup: Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers win matches - Part 1
Eight NBA franchises went head-to-head on Sunday, 6 February, 2011. The Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, and Boston Celtics managed to come out on top in their respective games. Here is a crux of the matchups:
Miami Heat 97 – Los Angeles Clippers 79
Dwyane Wade scored a game-high 28 points as the Miami Heat extended their winning streak to six games, by easing past the Los Angeles Clippers 97-79 at the American Airlines Arena on Sunday night. Wade also contributed eight rebounds and as many assists in the victory.
Forward Chris Bosh came off the bench to score 16 points and seven rebounds while LeBron James had a season-low 12 points for the victors. Blake Griffin did all he could as he managed his 42nd double-double of the 2010-11 season. Griffin registered a team-high 21 points for Los Angeles, who shot just 32 percent from the field.
Randy Foye ended with 15 points while Baron Davis added 14 points rebounds for the Clippers, who fell to a 3-17 record away from home. The performance of the Clippers bench was not up to the mark as they shot just 32.5 percent in the game.
Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro criticised his side after the game. He said "We just were not sharp and were not good offensively. The guys battled. Our bench was poor today. We did not get anything from the bench, which really hurt us. We are just not deep enough now to go through those lulls."
Miami controlled the first quarter, leading by as many as four points on the way to a 20-19 lead at the buzzer. The Heat extended their offensive play to the second quarter and carried a 47-36 advantage into half time.
The Clippers fought hard to cut the deficit by as many points as they could but Miami got some sizzling shots from Bosh to pull to within 70-61 heading into the third. Miami got off to a quick start in the fourth quarter as they went on a 9-0 run to seal their 37thvictory of the season.
Indiana Pacers 105 – New Jersey Nets 86
Dahntay Jones scored a season-high 18 points, as the Indiana Pacers remained unbeaten in four consecutive games with a 105-86 win over the New Jersey Nets, at Prudential Centre on Sunday night.
The Pacers are now 4-0 in the 2010-11 season with Frank Vogel as interim head coach. However, Vogel said that the credit of the sizzling performance went to his entire team.
Vogel said after the game, “It is nothing I am doing, it is our guys, they understand how good they are. They understand how good they can be this year, right now. We have a good basketball team. It was a good day for us."
Mike Dunleavy added 17 points, while Paul George chipped in with 14 points and six rebounds for the Pacers, who have won five of their last six games. Devin Harris and Brook Lopez added 13 points each for New Jersey, who lost their third straight and five of the last six games.
The Pacers, who led by nine points (33-24) at the end of the first quarter went on a 13-2 run, which included three three-pointers to take a 56-43 advantage into half time. The Nets tried hard to get back in the game during the third quarter as they went on an 8-0 burst to cut a 17-point deficit down to nine. However, Indiana took an 81-67 lead after three quarters.
Leading by 14 points, the Pacers maintained a double-digit lead throughout the final stanza to seal a 105-86 win.
Tags: