Dragic powers Heat in win over Pelicans

MIAMI -- Goran Dragic showed no ill effects from an eye injury, scoring 33 points to power the Miami Heat to a 120-112 NBA win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.

Dragic, of Slovenia, suffered an injury to his right eye last week when he was elbowed by Cory Joseph of the Toronto Raptors. He had to miss Sunday's Heat loss to Indiana because his eye was swollen shut.

The 30-year-old however proved to be a quick healer, making 11 of 18 shots from the field including five of nine from beyond the arc against the Pelicans at AmericanAirlines Arena.

"My eye is fine," he said, "as long as I don't get hit."

Dragic did get popped in the final quarter. But he took the blow on the mouth and spit up some blood.

"Even the ref said, 'I saw it,'" Dragic said. "I said, 'Why didn't you call it?'"

Dragic finished just one point shy of his season-high total and compiled his sixth 30-plus performance of the season.

Heat center Hassan Whiteside had a double-double with 20 points and 17 points, while reserve guard Wayne Ellington had 19 points.

Miami wasn't the only team battling injuries to key players on Wednesday. Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis, who injured his right ankle in New Orleans' Tuesday contest, had 27 points and eight rebounds Wednesday.

He suffered a bloody left arm in the second quarter but managed to get treatment and play through it.

The Heat improved to 22-5 in their past 27 games, continuing their bid for an Eastern Conference postseason spot.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

NBA: Heat down short-handed Pelicans, Hornets beat Nets

Heat 113, Pelicans 99

Reserve center Hassan Whiteside scored a team-high 24 points and Dwayne Wade and Goran Dragic added 23 each to power the Miami Heat to a 113-99 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday night at the Smoothie King Center.

In addition to his 10-of-11 shooting for the game, Hassan had 14 rebounds and three blocks to improve the Heat's record to 41-29.

The Heat shot 50 percent from the field after having shot 54.8 percent in a 122-101 victory over Cleveland on Saturday. Amar'e Stoudemire also had 16 points for the Heat.

The short-handed Pelicans (26-44) were led by Jrue Holiday with 24 points and Luke Babbitt with 23.

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Hornets 105, Nets 100

Nicolas Batum scored 23 points and Jeremy Lin added 21 as the Charlotte Hornets blew a 17-point lead before holding on for a 105-100 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

Batum and Lin combined for 20 points in the fourth quarter when the Hornets withstood a comeback attempt by the Nets. The two made 15 of 28 shots from the field and 5 of 6 in the fourth quarter, helping the Hornets win for the 11th time in 13 games.

Rookie Frank Kaminsky added 14 points in his first career start and Kemba Walker also had 14. Walker didn't score until the last possession of the first half and went 4 of 14 from the floor.

Brook Lopez helped the Nets mount a comeback bid by scoring 10 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter.

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Lakers 107, Grizzlies 100

Jordan Clarkson scored 22 points and Kobe Bryant added 20 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers ended a four-game skid by defeating the Memphis Grizzlies.

Lakers forward Brandon Bass contributed 18 points and converted some clutch baskets in the last three minutes of the game, including a reverse dunk that gave Los Angeles a 105-98 edge with 1:02 remaining.

That was too much for the Grizzlies, who missed an opportunity to pick up a 1/2 game in the Western Conference race for the No. 4 spot with the idle Los Angeles Clippers. Memphis now trails the Clippers by 3 1/2 games.

Julius Randle had 13 points and 14 rebounds for Los Angeles (15-55), which snapped a nine-game losing streak to Memphis. Lou Williams also scored 13 for the Lakers.

Tony Allen scored a game-high 27 points, hitting all 12 of his field-goal attempts for the Grizzlies (41-31).

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Wade weighs in to lead Heat past Magic

Dwyane Wade had 24 points, including 12 in the final five minutes, to lead the Miami Heat to a 108-101 victory over the Orlando Magic on Saturday.

Forward Chris Bosh, who had 30 points in an overtime victory against New Orleans on Friday, also had 24 points along with 10 rebounds. Goran Dragic added 22 points.

The Magic (17-13) were led by center Nikola Vucevic, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds. Point guard Elfrid Payton had 16 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.


Heat reserve Gerald Green had 15 points, making a pair of three-pointers during the fourth-quarter rally. Wade hit the jumper for a 91-89 lead the Heat retained into the final buzzer.

Tobias Harris had 13 points and six rebounds for the Magic. Evan Fournier had 12 points and seven assists.

The Magic were hurt by poor free-throw shooting (6-of-13), while the Heat made 22-of-23 free throws.

The Heat took their first lead, 82-81, since early in the game on a three-pointer by Gerald Green with 8:32 remaining.

Bosh had scored seven points earlier in the fourth quarter. Green hit another three-pointer for the 87-85 lead.

After trailing almost the entire first half -- and down by 12 at intermission -- the Heat used an 11-0 run early in the third period to pull within 66-64. Bosh scored six points in the run.

Victor Oladipo hit a three-pointer just before the third period ended for a 76-69 Magic lead.

Fournier scored the last five points before intermission, giving the Magic 56-44 lead. He had 12 points and hit a pair of three-pointers before halftime. Vucevic had 10 points and eight rebounds in the first two periods.

Dragic had 12 point and four rebounds in the first half but the Heat made only 15-of-39 shots (38.5 percent). The Magic hit 23-of-44 shots (52.3 percent) and made 6-of-12 from three-point range to control the game early.

Heat center Hassan Whiteside, who leads the NBA in blocked shots (4.0 per game), got two fouls in the first five minutes and struggled through the first half.

Whiteside, who also was averaging 12.6 points and 11.3 rebounds, had no points, two blocks and one rebound in 13 first-half minutes.

Magic rookie Mario Hezonja provided a spark with a pair of three-pointers in the second quarter. (Editing by John O'Brien)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Dragic leads red-hot Suns past Pacers

Point guard Goran Dragic scored 28 points and made seven assists to lead the high-flying Phoenix Suns to a 102-94 win over the Indiana Pacers.

Phoenix (28-18) swept a four-game road trip against the Eastern Conference and beat the league-leading Pacers for the second time in eight days.

Indiana (35-10) fell behind by 19 points in the first half, missed 14 of 15 three-point shots and committed 15 turnovers as their 10-game winning streak at home was snapped.

Pacers' guard Lance Stephenson scored 14 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, giving him an NBA-best four triple-doubles.

Center Roy Hibbert scored 26 points and pulled down six rebounds as all five Indiana starters scored in double figures.

Former Indiana guard Gerald Green scored 16 points for the Suns, who received boosts off the bench from twin brothers Marcus (16 points) and Markieff Morris (15).

Warriors 111, Clippers 92

The Golden State Warriors used a 12-2 burst early in the second quarter to open a 19-point lead, then blew the game open by holding the Los Angeles Clippers to a franchise-worst one field goal in the third period en route to a 111-92 thrashing of the Pacific Division leaders.

In beating the Clippers for the second time this season, Golden State (28-19) put a happy ending on a five-game homestand that had already featured losses to Indiana, Minnesota and Washington.

Power forward David Lee and All-Star point guard Stephen Curry led six Warriors in double figures with 22 points apiece as the Warriors got 29 points from the league's least productive bench in easily disposing of a tired Clippers squad.

Shooting guard Klay Thompson (16), center Andrew Bogut (14), backup big man Marreese Speights (12) and reserve forward Harrison Barnes (10) also scored in double figures for the Warriors.

Bogut (17 rebounds) and Lee (11) both recorded double-doubles for Golden State. The Clippers' (33-16) All-Star power forward Blake Griffin had 27 points. (Editing by Ben Everill/Sudipto Ganguly)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com