Atlanta pick up impressive win in Houston against the Rockets…
With their star-studded starting five teaming up for the first time, the Dallas Mavericks did not disappoint as they defeated the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
Ahead of Rajon Rondo’s arrival at the franchise, there were sceptics who questioned how he would be able to link with Monta Ellis in the backcourt.
Ellis likes having the ball in his hands a lot while Rondo had shown the same tendency in Boston, but the pair teamed up well as Ellis put up a season-high 38 points, including 11 in the final four minutes, to help the Mavs rally and beat the Spurs.
San Antonio have now dropped four straight games, but coach Gregg Popovich will be looking at the bigger picture and will hope to get a fully healthy roster together after going into this game without Parker, Duncan, Ginobili, Leonard, Green or Splitter.
Marco Belinelli led the visitors with 21 points while Aron Baynes had a career-high 16 points along with 10 rebounds, however the spotlight was on Rondo who finished with six points on 3-for-11 shooting with nine assists and seven rebounds.
Staying in the West, the Atlanta Hawks secured an impressive road win at the Houston Rockets with Al Horford and Kyle Korver leading the charge.
Horford filled up the stat sheet with 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists while Korver added 22 points to help the Hawks win for the 12th time in their last 13 games.
Dwight Howard had 19 points and 11 rebounds while James Harden added 18 points and a season-high 14 assists, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Rockets from slipping to their second straight loss.
In the early tip-off on Saturday, the New York Knicks’ misery continued with another home loss, this time against the Phoenix Suns.
The Knicks were competitive throughout the game with Carmelo Anthony leading the hosts with 25 points and 11 rebounds. However, it didn’t last in the fourth quarter as the back-court duo of Eric Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas carried the visitors to the win.
Bledsoe finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and three assists while Thomas added 22 points with Markieff Morris scoring 19 points for the Suns who won their second straight game after a six-game skid.
New York rested Amar’e Stoudemire and were without the injured pair Iman Shumpert and JR Smith and coach Derek Fisher was left to rue another poor stretch of a key period of the game as the Knicks have now slipped to a 5-24 record.
NBA Results
Phoenix Suns 99-90 New York Knicks
Portland Trail Blazers 114-88 New Orleans Pelicans
Utah Jazz 86-104 Charlotte Hornets
Atlanta Hawks 104-97 Houston Rockets
San Antonio Spurs 93-99 Dallas Mavericks
Indiana Pacers 73-76 Denver Nuggets
Milwaukee Bucks 102-106 Los Angeles Clippers
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