San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers and New Jersey Nets, all win: NBA Round-up 5
April Part 1
San Antonio Spurs 97– Atlanta Hawks 90
The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Atlanta Hawks by 97-90 at Philips Arena, Atlanta on Tuesday night. With this particular win the Spurs ended their four-game losing streak.
The Spurs’ Tony Parker posted a game high 26 points, placing his team in a decisive position in the second half of the game. Manu Ginobili scored 18 points, Tim Duncan added 17 points and George Hill scored 13 points for the Spurs’ victory.
The Atlanta Hawks led the first quarter of the game with 21-16. The Spurs picked up the pace in the next quarter and decreased the deficit to just two points early in the second quarter at 20-22. When the game jumped into the third quarter, San Antonio were
leading by 68-65. From there onwards the Spurs continued their aggressive pace until the fourth quarter end finished off the match by 97-90
Joe Johnson posted 21, Jamal Crawford added 20, Kirk Hinrich gathered 13, and Al Horford scored 12 points for the Atlanta Hawks.
Cleveland Cavaliers 99 – Charlotte Bobcats 89
The Cleveland Cavaliers crushed the Charlotte Bobcats’ hopes for making it into the play-offs. The Quicken Loans Arena witnessed the Bobcats’ defeat of 99-89 by a comfortable margin of 10 points. The Bobcats are currently at 9th in the Eastern
Conference and virtually need every game to win to qualify for the final play-off spot.
Bobcats’ Coach, Paul Silas, also admits the fact of their qualification chances, “Quite frankly, we just don't have enough (healthy players) right now. We're short-handed. We almost have to play perfect basketball, which is almost impossible to do.”
Alonzo Gee scored 13 points, Ryan Hollins and J.J. Hickson added 16 points each for the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers’ Ramon Sessions gathered 18, Luke Harangody and Baron Davis posted 11 points each.
The Cavaliers took the control of the game early in the first quarter leading by 34-16. The second quarter was also proved similar for Cleveland as they never allowed the Charlotte to threaten their strong position. The third quarter ended at 74-66 in the
Cavaliers’ favour as the Clevelnad continued this quick pace and entered into the fourth quarter when they finally gave a killer-blow to the Bobcats and won the match by 99-89.
The Bobcats’ Dante Cunningham and Kwame Brown scored 10 points each, while D.J. Augustin posted 22 points.
New Jersey Nets 107 – Minnesota Timberwolves 105
The New Jersey Nets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves by 107-105 at Prudential Centre, Newark. The stunning performance by Deron Williams proved blessing for his team as he scored 18 points, four rebounds and a final seconds’ tie-breaker jumper which resulted
in a tremendous win for the Nets.
Brook Lopez also played a huge part in New Jersey’s win as he posted a match high 30 points for the Nets. Sasha Vujacic scored 17 and Travis Outlaw added 13 points.
The Nets led the first quarter by six points at 23-29 and started the second with more zeal. Brook Lopez, Sasha Vujacic and Johan Petro all contributed and the Nets were able to extend their lead to 11 points at the end of the second quarter 50-61. The Timberwolves
combined themselves in the third quarter and started a pretty fine run until they levelled the score at 105-105 late in the final quarter. The decisive moment came in the game when Williams converted a two points’ shot and won the game for the New Jersey Nets
with 105-107.
Anthony Randolph and Michael Beasley scored 20 points each, while Martell Webster gathered 16 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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