Ballin': Blake Griffin Put on a Dunking Exhibition vs. Chicago, and Anderson Varejao Posterized Jordan Hill
By Jason McIntyre
Cleveland 100, LA Lakers 94: It’s scoring one night, lack of defense the next. The constant? LA is strugglin‘. Coming into this game, the Cavaliers had lost 17 of 21 games. It helped to get Kyrie Irving (28 points, 11 assists) back, and CJ Miles kicked in an unexpected 28 points, but how do the Lakers lose this game? No wonder Mike D’Antoni was so pissed off. Kobe scored 42, and Dwight Howard scored 19 points and collected 20 rebounds, but nobody else did anything. LA is 9-13, currently 12th in the West.
New York 100, Brooklyn 97: The Nets lost their fifth straight – all without Brook Lopez – and Jason Kidd was the hero. Melo scored 45 points on an efficient 24 shots. This is turning into quite a rivalry. Andray Blatche continues his torrid offensive play (23 points). He’s been a major surprise (11.8 ppg) for the Nets after flopping in Washington.
Denver 101, Detroit 94: “You can’t throw it too high,” for Javale McGee, said the announcer. That appears to be a factual statement. McGee scored 12 points in 18 minutes and blocked four shots. Bouncy Pistons rookie Andre Drummond grabbed 11 rebounds in 21 minutes.
New Orleans 70, Washington 77: The Wizards scored just 11 points in the first quarter, but the Pelicans Hornets could only muster 10 in the 4th. Washington, in winning its first road game of the season, improved to 3-15. Jordan Crawford scored 26 for the Wizards. The Hornets shot 32 percent from the field and had more turnovers (15) than assists (14). Anthony Davis, in his first game back from injury, scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
[Varejao dunk video via SI.com]