FloaterDaily Brief
Thursday, December 21, 2000Regular season · 4 games
← Dec 20CalendarDec 22 →

4 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: ORL trailed CHI by 7 after the first quarter and won 99–88.

Final · Box score
Bulls88
Magic99
Q1 ORL -7; Q2 ORL +1; Q3 ORL +8; Q4 ORL +11
Final · Box score
Nets78
Bucks80
Q1 MIL +8; Q2 MIL +22; Q3 MIL +23; Q4 MIL +2
Final · Box score
Celtics92
Knicks86
Q1 BOS -4; Q2 BOS +7; Q3 BOS +11; Q4 BOS +6
Final · Box score
Lakers99
Rockets94
Q1 LAL +2; Q2 LAL +5; Q3 Lakers 0; Q4 LAL +5
On this day · 1999–00Dec 21, 1999: 6 games. Top scorer: Mitch Richmond (Wizards-Pistons), 33 points.
Dec 21 in other seasons20252024202320222021201920182017201620152014201320122010200920082007200620052004200320022001199719961995
The lead · Bulls-Magic

Chicago's skid reaches four

Kobe Bryant goes for 45 points

Game flow · ORL margin at each break
-20-100+10+20TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0-7+1+8+11ORL AHEAD ↑CHI AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
Bulls2219272088
Magic1527342399
Who led
Tracy McGradyPoints, last 10 games: 28, 31, 40, 29, 36, 14, 20, 39, 27, 31ORL31 PTS · 5 REB · 9 AST
Pat GarrityPoints, last 10 games: 2, 5, 12, 12, 7, 8, 5, 8, 7, 19ORL19 PTS · 2 REB · 0 AST
Ron MercerPoints, last 10 games: 16, 34, 16, 18, 26, 27, 22, 20, 15, 25CHI25 PTS · 5 REB · 2 AST
Elton BrandPoints, last 10 games: 16, 22, 26, 23, 23, 18, 19, 20, 17, 19CHI19 PTS · 10 REB · 2 AST
Second story · Celtics-Knicks

Boston takes care of New York

A 6-point win, 92–86. Paul Pierce led Boston with 31 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

The whole night · final margins
MIL over NJN2LAL over HOU5BOS over NYK6ORL over CHI11Final margin, points. Pink = BOS over NYK.
The night in charts
Lakers-Rockets combined for 193, 6 more than any other game
Points by game
Lakers-RocketsLakers 99, Rockets 94
193
Bulls-MagicBulls 88, Magic 99
187
Celtics-KnicksCeltics 92, Knicks 86
178
Nets-BucksNets 78, Bucks 80
158
2 of 4 games were decided by 5 or fewer
Closest finishes
Nets-BucksNets 78, Bucks 80
+2 MIL
Lakers-RocketsLakers 99, Rockets 94
+5 LAL
Celtics-KnicksCeltics 92, Knicks 86
+6 BOS
Bulls-MagicBulls 88, Magic 99
+11 ORL
ORL rallied from 7 down, the night's biggest comeback
Biggest comebacks, at quarter breaks
Bulls-MagicORL won · Bulls 88, Magic 99
7 pts
Celtics-KnicksBOS won · Celtics 92, Knicks 86
4 pts
Kobe shot 20-of-26 for the night's hottest hand
Hottest shooting · min 10 FGA
KobeLAL · 45 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL
77% (20-26)
Maurice TaylorHOU · 19 PTS, 10 REB, 3 AST, 1 BLK
64% (9-14)
T-MacORL · 31 PTS, 9 AST, 5 REB, 1 BLK
63% (10-16)
PierceBOS · 31 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL
62% (13-21)
RiceNYK · 32 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST
55% (12-22)
Final · Nets-Bucks
Nets 78Bucks 80
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Nets1712183178
Bucks2526191080
The story
Ray Allen's 16 points carried Milwaukee past New Jersey, 80-78

For New Jersey, Lucious Harris had 12 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST 16 PTS, 9 REB, 5 STL, 4 AST · 5-16 FG, 0-4 3PT

The swing

The second quarter, 26-12, was where the Bucks built it.

MIL lead by quarter
300 +8+22+23+2 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Lakers-Rockets
Lakers 99Rockets 94
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Lakers2824222599
Rockets2621272094
The story
Shaquille O'Neal had 25 points and 12 rebounds as Los Angeles beat Houston 99-94

Steve Francis led Houston with 14 PTS, 8 REB, 5 AST 25 PTS, 12 REB, 6 AST · 9-17 FG

The swing

The Lakers won the fourth 25-20, their biggest quarter edge.

LAL lead by quarter
200 +2+50+5 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Celtics-Knicks
Celtics 92Knicks 86
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Celtics2126222392
Knicks2515182886
The story
Boston beat New York 92-86 behind 23 points and 15 rebounds from Antoine Walker

Glen Rice paced New York: 32 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST 23 PTS, 15 REB, 5 AST, 3 STL · 8-20 FG, 2-8 3PT

The swing

A 26-15 second quarter erased a 4-point hole for the Celtics.

BOS lead by quarter
200 −4+7+11+6 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle
Heating up
+8.3points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
12.3Season avg20.6Last 5

20.6 points a game over his last five games, against 12.3 in 26 earlier games. Today: 32 points in 40 minutes.

Losing minutes
−12.7minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
23.7Season avg11.0Last 3

11.0 minutes a game over his last three games, against 23.7 in 24 earlier games. Today: 6 points in 8 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+17.5minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
19.4Season avg36.9Today

37 minutes today, against 19.4 a game in 18 earlier games. Line: 10 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists.

Top performances

Kobe Bryant leads the day with 45

Kobe BryantPoints, last 10 games: 36, 51, 19, 26, 25, 35, 17, 40, 23, 45Lakers-Rockets · W
29.6 PPG season to date · +16.0 vs his regular-season average before tonight
45 PTS · 4 REB · 3 AST
Glen RicePoints, last 10 games: 10, 21, 0, 19, 8, 10, 6, 32, 23, 32Knicks-Celtics · L
13.0 PPG season to date · +19.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Ties season high32 PTS · 9 REB · 2 AST
Tracy McGradyPoints, last 10 games: 28, 31, 40, 29, 36, 14, 20, 39, 27, 31Magic-Bulls · W
25.8 PPG season to date · +5.4 vs his regular-season average before tonight
31 PTS · 5 REB · 9 AST
Paul PiercePoints, last 10 games: 25, 23, 29, 28, 9, 14, 19, 30, 25, 31Celtics-Knicks · W
23.3 PPG season to date · +8.0 vs his regular-season average before tonight
31 PTS · 4 REB · 3 AST
Shaquille O'NealPoints, last 10 games: 25, 27, 25, 26, 26, 26, 19, 28, 22, 25Lakers-Rockets · W
25.5 PPG season to date · −0.5 vs his regular-season average before tonight
25 PTS · 12 REB · 6 AST
Ron MercerPoints, last 10 games: 16, 34, 16, 18, 26, 27, 22, 20, 15, 25Bulls-Magic · L
18.8 PPG season to date · +6.5 vs his regular-season average before tonight
25 PTS · 5 REB · 2 AST
Hot and cold

Last 10 games against the season so far

Hot
Jason TerryATL+7.4 22.6 last 10 · 15.2 season
Howard EisleyDAL+4.6 14.5 last 10 · 9.9 season
Antonio McDyessDEN+4.5 24.9 last 10 · 20.4 season
Antawn JamisonGSW+4.3 28.4 last 10 · 24.1 season
Allen IversonPHI+3.8 29.4 last 10 · 25.6 season
Cold
Shawn MarionPHX−4.8 10.8 last 10 · 15.6 season
Stephon MarburyNJN−3.8 20.8 last 10 · 24.6 season
Chauncey BillupsMIN−3.1 11.8 last 10 · 14.9 season
Reggie MillerIND−2.9 18.0 last 10 · 20.9 season
Tim HardawayMIA−2.7 12.3 last 10 · 15.0 season