FloaterDaily Brief
Thursday, December 26, 2002Regular season · 3 games
← Dec 25CalendarDec 27 →

3 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: DET trailed WAS by 8 at halftime and won 87–82.

Final · Box score
Pistons87
Wizards82
Q1 Pistons 0; Q2 DET -8; Q3 DET -2; Q4 DET +5
Final · Box score
Mavs83
Hornets81
Q1 DAL -1; Q2 DAL -2; Q3 DAL +2; Q4 DAL +2
Final · Box score
Raptors88
Sonics97
Q1 SEA +4; Q2 SEA +7; Q3 SEA +9; Q4 SEA +9
On this day · 2001–02Dec 26, 2001: 12 games. Top scorer: Tim Duncan (Spurs-Mavs), 53 points.
Dec 26 in other seasons2025202420232022202120202019201820172016201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004200320001999199719961995
The lead · Pistons-Wizards

Detroit climbs out of an 8-point hole against Washington

Gary Payton goes for 35 points

Game flow · DET margin at each break
-15-10-50+5+10+15TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final00-8-2+5DET AHEAD ↑WAS AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
Pistons2516202687
Wizards2524141982
Who led
Richard HamiltonPoints, last 10 games: 25, 32, 20, 25, 15, 12, 27, 13, 22, 22DET22 PTS · 7 REB · 1 AST
Clifford RobinsonPoints, last 10 games: 10, 21, 11, 9, 4, 13, 15, 19, 11, 16DET16 PTS · 0 REB · 0 AST
Jerry StackhousePoints, last 10 games: 23, 22, 14, 14, 28, 23, 25, 19, 28, 24WAS24 PTS · 3 REB · 1 AST
Michael JordanPoints, last 10 games: 16, 20, 14, 12, 2, 30, 33, 16, 13, 17WAS17 PTS · 4 REB · 1 AST
Second story · Mavs-Hornets

Dallas holds off New Orleans, 83–81

Dallas led 68–66 after three and held on to win by two. Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist.

The whole night · final margins
DAL over NOH2DET over WAS5SEA over TOR9Final margin, points. Pink = DAL over NOH.
The night in charts
Raptors-Sonics combined for 185, 16 more than any other game
Points by game
Raptors-SonicsRaptors 88, Sonics 97
185
Pistons-WizardsPistons 87, Wizards 82
169
Mavs-HornetsMavs 83, Hornets 81
164
2 of 3 games were decided by 5 or fewer
Closest finishes
Mavs-HornetsMavs 83, Hornets 81
+2 DAL
Pistons-WizardsPistons 87, Wizards 82
+5 DET
Raptors-SonicsRaptors 88, Sonics 97
+9 SEA
DET rallied from 8 down, the night's biggest comeback
Biggest comebacks, at quarter breaks
Pistons-WizardsDET won · Pistons 87, Wizards 82
8 pts
Mavs-HornetsDAL won · Mavs 83, Hornets 81
2 pts
Clifford Robinson shot 7-of-11 for the night's hottest hand
Hottest shooting · min 10 FGA
Clifford RobinsonDET · 16 PTS, 1 STL, 1 BLK
64% (7-11)
PaytonSEA · 35 PTS, 7 REB, 7 AST
60% (15-25)
WesleyNOH · 24 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL
60% (9-15)
LenardTOR · 27 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL
56% (10-18)
LewisSEA · 20 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST, 1 BLK
54% (7-13)
Final · Mavs-Hornets
Mavs 83Hornets 81
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Mavs2220261583
Hornets2321221581
The story
Dirk Nowitzki had 23 points as Dallas beat New Orleans 83-81

David Wesley led New Orleans with 24 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST 23 PTS, 7 REB, 4 BLK, 1 AST · 11-22 FG, 1-1 3PT

The swing

Down 2 after the second, the Mavericks took the third 26-22.

DAL lead by quarter
200 −1−2+2+2 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Pistons-Wizards
Pistons 87Wizards 82
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Pistons2516202687
Wizards2524141982
The story
Richard Hamilton's 22 points carried Detroit past Washington, 87-82

For Washington, Larry Hughes had 12 REB, 9 PTS, 3 AST 22 PTS, 7 REB, 1 AST · 6-16 FG, 0-1 3PT

The swing

The Pistons trailed by 2 going into the fourth, then won it 26-19.

DET lead by quarter
200 0−8−2+5 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle

Ben Wallace was the fantasy play: 32.6 FPTS on 13 REB, 11 PTS, 2 AST

Final · Raptors-Sonics
Raptors 88Sonics 97
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Raptors2021212688
Sonics2424232697
The story
Seattle beat Toronto 97-88 behind 15 points and 10 rebounds from Predrag Drobnjak

Morris Peterson paced Toronto: 22 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST 15 PTS, 10 REB, 1 AST · 6-15 FG, 1-2 3PT

The swing

A 24-20 first quarter did the most damage for the SuperSonics.

SEA lead by quarter
200 +4+7+9+9 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle
Heating up
+4.6points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
17.2Season avg21.8Last 5

21.8 points a game over his last five games, against 17.2 in 27 earlier games. Today: 17 points in 41 minutes.

Losing minutes
−9.2minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
34.7Season avg25.5Last 3

25.5 minutes a game over his last three games, against 34.7 in 29 earlier games. Today: 0 points in 21 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+14.2minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
23.8Season avg38Today

38 minutes today, against 23.8 a game in 22 earlier games. Line: 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists.

Top performances

Gary Payton leads the day with 35

Gary PaytonPoints, last 10 games: 20, 20, 21, 24, 23, 25, 15, 12, 12, 35Sonics-Raptors · W
21.6 PPG season to date · +13.9 vs his regular-season average before tonight
35 PTS · 7 REB · 7 AST
Voshon LenardPoints, last 10 games: 23, 7, 24, 9, 18, 23, 13, 19, 12, 27Raptors-Sonics · L
15.5 PPG season to date · +12.0 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Season high27 PTS · 6 REB · 3 AST
David WesleyPoints, last 10 games: 10, 16, 33, 7, 15, 11, 13, 18, 20, 24Hornets-Mavs · L
15.4 PPG season to date · +8.9 vs his regular-season average before tonight
24 PTS · 5 REB · 3 AST
Jerry StackhousePoints, last 10 games: 23, 22, 14, 14, 28, 23, 25, 19, 28, 24Wizards-Pistons · L
22.1 PPG season to date · +2.0 vs his regular-season average before tonight
24 PTS · 3 REB · 1 AST
Dirk NowitzkiPoints, last 10 games: 23, 26, 21, 35, 2, 20, 9, 28, 30, 23Mavs-Hornets · W
21.7 PPG season to date · +1.4 vs his regular-season average before tonight
23 PTS · 7 REB · 1 AST
Morris PetersonPoints, last 10 games: 8, 22, 15, 18, 9, 21, 22, 5, 27, 22Raptors-Sonics · L
15.3 PPG season to date · +6.9 vs his regular-season average before tonight
22 PTS · 7 REB · 3 AST
Hot and cold

Last 10 games against the season so far

Hot
Ricky DavisCLE+6.4 29.9 last 10 · 23.5 season
Yao MingHOU+4.6 17.6 last 10 · 13.0 season
Lucious HarrisNJN+3.8 16.0 last 10 · 12.2 season
Rodney RogersNJN+3.8 12.0 last 10 · 8.2 season
Bonzi WellsPOR+3.7 19.2 last 10 · 15.5 season
Cold
Erick DampierGSW−3.7 5.5 last 10 · 9.2 season
Desmond MasonSEA−3.3 10.1 last 10 · 13.4 season
Tracy McGradyORL−3.3 26.7 last 10 · 30.0 season
Allen IversonPHI−3.3 24.8 last 10 · 28.1 season
Shammond WilliamsBOS−3.0 6.1 last 10 · 9.1 season