FloaterDaily Brief
Thursday, March 21, 1996Regular season · 5 games
← Mar 20CalendarMar 22 →

5 games, none went to overtime. Every winner was ahead or tied at every quarter break.

Final · Box score
Knicks86
Bulls107
Q1 CHI +4; Q2 CHI +20; Q3 CHI +19; Q4 CHI +21
Final · Box score
Cavs98
Rockets85
Q1 CLE +4; Q2 CLE +9; Q3 CLE +9; Q4 CLE +13
Final · Box score
Nuggets89
Nets97
Q1 NJN +6; Q2 NJN +14; Q3 NJN +2; Q4 NJN +8
Final · Box score
Warriors96
Suns104
Q1 PHX +4; Q2 PHX +25; Q3 PHX +13; Q4 PHX +8
Final · Box score
Lakers93
Sonics104
Q1 SEA +1; Q2 SEA +13; Q3 SEA +13; Q4 SEA +11
The lead · Nuggets-Nets

New Jersey beats Denver, 97–89

Michael Jordan goes for 36 points

Game flow · NJN margin at each break
-20-100+10+20TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0+6+14+2+8NJN AHEAD ↑DEN AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
Nuggets2118302089
Nets2726182697
Who led
Armen GilliamPoints, last 10 games: 16, 24, 16, 25, 15, 20, 21, 30, 16, 25NJN25 PTS · 8 REB · 3 AST
Chris ChildsPoints, last 10 games: 20, 0, 18, 24, 13, 8, 18, 15, 7, 21NJN21 PTS · 9 REB · 11 AST
Antonio McDyessPoints, last 10 games: 10, 16, 6, 13, 32, 19, 22, 20, 32, 20DEN20 PTS · 12 REB · 0 AST
Dale EllisPoints, last 10 games: 9, 15, 33, 20, 14, 14, 10, 14, 15, 15DEN15 PTS · 3 REB · 1 AST
The night in charts
Warriors-Suns combined for 200, 3 more than any other game
Points by game
Warriors-SunsWarriors 96, Suns 104
200
Lakers-SonicsLakers 93, Sonics 104
197
Knicks-BullsKnicks 86, Bulls 107
193
Nuggets-NetsNuggets 89, Nets 97
186
Cavs-RocketsCavs 98, Rockets 85
183
NJN won the closest game by 8
Closest finishes
Nuggets-NetsNuggets 89, Nets 97
+8 NJN
Warriors-SunsWarriors 96, Suns 104
+8 PHX
Lakers-SonicsLakers 93, Sonics 104
+11 SEA
Cavs-RocketsCavs 98, Rockets 85
+13 CLE
Knicks-BullsKnicks 86, Bulls 107
+21 CHI
Phills shot 7-of-10 for the night's hottest hand
Hottest shooting · min 10 FGA
PhillsCLE · 14 PTS, 4 AST, 2 STL, 1 REB
70% (7-10)
BrandonCLE · 27 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL
60% (9-15)
HawkinsSEA · 20 PTS, 5 REB, 3 STL
60% (6-10)
MJCHI · 36 PTS, 11 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL
58% (14-24)
GilliamNJN · 25 PTS, 8 REB, 3 AST, 2 BLK
56% (9-16)
Final · Warriors-Suns
Warriors 96Suns 104
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Warriors2511352596
Suns29322320104
The story
Charles Barkley's 22 points carried Phoenix past Golden State, 104-96

For Golden State, Joe Smith had 12 PTS, 8 REB 22 PTS, 9 REB, 3 AST · 9-17 FG, 0-1 3PT

The swing

The second quarter, 32-11, was where the Suns built it.

PHX lead by quarter
300 +4+25+13+8 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle

Kevin Willis was the fantasy play: 54.7 FPTS on 21 PTS, 16 REB, 3 AST

Final · Nuggets-Nets
Nuggets 89Nets 97
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Nuggets2118302089
Nets2726182697
The story
New Jersey beat Denver 97-89 behind 21 points and 11 assists from Chris Childs

Dikembe Mutombo paced Denver: 14 PTS, 10 REB 21 PTS, 11 AST, 9 REB · 5-11 FG, 2-4 3PT

The swing

A 26-18 second quarter did the most damage for the Nets.

NJN lead by quarter
200 +6+14+2+8 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Knicks-Bulls
Knicks 86Bulls 107
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Knicks2516192686
Bulls29321828107
The story
John Salley had 12 points as Chicago beat New York 107-86

Derek Harper led New York with 13 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST 12 PTS, 8 REB, 3 AST · 4-7 FG

The swing

The Bulls won the second 32-16, their biggest quarter edge.

CHI lead by quarter
300 +4+20+19+21 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle
Heating up
+10.0points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
11.6Season avg21.6Last 5

21.6 points a game over his last five games, against 11.6 in 67 earlier games. Today: 25 points in 38 minutes.

Losing minutes
−16.9minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
35.9Season avg19.0Last 3

19.0 minutes a game over his last three games, against 35.9 in 55 earlier games. Today: 14 points in 27 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+17.4minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
27.6Season avg45Today

45 minutes today, against 27.6 a game in 61 earlier games. Line: 21 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists.

Second story · Warriors-Suns

Phoenix leads Golden State wire to wire

Phoenix was ahead at every break and won 104–96. Best quarter: the second, 32–11. Charles Barkley led Phoenix with 22 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists.

The whole night · final margins
NJN over DEN8PHX over GSW8SEA over LAL11CLE over HOU13CHI over NYK21Final margin, points. Pink = PHX over GSW.
Top performances

Michael Jordan leads the day with 36

Michael JordanPoints, last 10 games: 21, 33, 53, 32, 37, 33, 37, 38, 20, 36Bulls-Knicks · W
31.1 PPG season to date · +5.0 vs his regular-season average before tonight
36 PTS · 11 REB · 5 AST
Terrell BrandonPoints, last 10 games: 27, 21, 28, 2, 15, 6, 22, 26, 14, 27Cavs-Rockets · W
19.4 PPG season to date · +7.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
27 PTS · 3 REB · 3 AST
Nick Van ExelPoints, last 10 games: 14, 21, 7, 28, 8, 18, 13, 22, 12, 26Lakers-Sonics · L
15.4 PPG season to date · +10.8 vs his regular-season average before tonight
26 PTS · 3 REB · 2 AST
Armen GilliamPoints, last 10 games: 16, 24, 16, 25, 15, 20, 21, 30, 16, 25Nets-Nuggets · W
19.7 PPG season to date · +5.4 vs his regular-season average before tonight
25 PTS · 8 REB · 3 AST
B.J. ArmstrongPoints, last 10 games: 12, 11, 9, 14, 22, 14, 20, 14, 35, 25Warriors-Suns · L
11.8 PPG season to date · +13.4 vs his regular-season average before tonight
25 PTS · 3 REB · 5 AST
Charles BarkleyPoints, last 10 games: 26, 37, 26, 13, 21, 20, 45, 29, 20, 22Suns-Warriors · W
24.0 PPG season to date · −2.1 vs his regular-season average before tonight
22 PTS · 9 REB · 3 AST
Hot and cold

Last 10 games against the season so far

Hot
Antonio McDyessDEN+6.0 19.0 last 10 · 13.0 season
Hubert DavisNYK+5.9 16.9 last 10 · 11.0 season
B.J. ArmstrongGSW+5.8 17.6 last 10 · 11.8 season
David WesleyBOS+5.5 16.3 last 10 · 10.8 season
Dan MajerleCLE+5.4 15.8 last 10 · 10.4 season
Cold
A.C. GreenPHX−6.9 0.9 last 10 · 7.8 season
Scottie PippenCHI−6.9 13.5 last 10 · 20.4 season
Kevin EdwardsNJN−5.8 5.8 last 10 · 11.6 season
Willie AndersonNYK−5.6 5.3 last 10 · 10.9 season
Greg AnthonyVAN−5.3 9.9 last 10 · 15.2 season