FloaterDaily Brief
Thursday, December 9, 2004Regular season · 3 games
← Dec 8CalendarDec 10 →

3 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: HOU trailed SAS by 4 after three quarters and won 81–80.

Final · Box score
Spurs80
Rockets81
Q1 HOU +6; Q2 HOU +4; Q3 HOU -4; Q4 HOU +1
Final · Box score
Sonics107
Mavs102
Q1 SEA +9; Q2 SEA +10; Q3 SEA +7; Q4 SEA +5
Final · Box score
Celtics87
Blazers89
Q1 POR -1; Q2 POR -2; Q3 POR +1; Q4 POR +2
On this day · 2003–04Dec 9, 2003: 10 games. Top scorer: Kevin Garnett (Wolves-Warriors), 33 points.
Dec 9 in other seasons20252024202320222021201920182017201620152014201320122010200920082007200620052002200120001999199719961995
The lead · Spurs-Rockets

Tracy McGrady scores 33, Houston holds off San Antonio

Tim Duncan goes for 26 points

Game flow · HOU margin at each break
-15-10-50+5+10+15TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0+6+4-4+1HOU AHEAD ↑SAS AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
Spurs1222242280
Rockets1820162781
Who led
Tracy McGradyPoints, last 10 games: 32, 16, 25, 17, 14, 16, 48, 17, 18, 33HOU33 PTS · 8 REB · 2 AST
Yao MingPoints, last 10 games: 10, 19, 29, 9, 8, 19, 13, 20, 21, 27HOU27 PTS · 10 REB · 1 AST
Tim DuncanPoints, last 10 games: 27, 23, 12, 20, 24, 18, 20, 12, 39, 26SAS26 PTS · 18 REB · 3 AST
Devin BrownPoints, last 10 games: 1, 3, 14, 16, 24, 5, 13, 14, 4, 20SAS20 PTS · 4 REB · 0 AST
Second story · Celtics-Blazers

Portland holds off Boston, 89–87

Portland led 66–65 after three and held on to win by two. Zach Randolph led Portland with 22 points, 17 rebounds and 3 assists.

The whole night · final margins
HOU over SAS1POR over BOS2SEA over DAL5Final margin, points. Pink = POR over BOS.
Lead changes
Celtics-Blazers26
Spurs-Rockets8
Sonics-Mavs7
Shot of the night

Abdur-Rahim's three at the buzzer puts the Blazers ahead, 89-87 final

The night in charts
Sonics-Mavs combined for 209, 33 more than any other game
Points by game
Sonics-MavsSonics 107, Mavs 102
209
Celtics-BlazersCeltics 87, Blazers 89
176
Spurs-RocketsSpurs 80, Rockets 81
161
3 of 3 games were decided by 5 or fewer
Closest finishes
Spurs-RocketsSpurs 80, Rockets 81
+1 HOU
Celtics-BlazersCeltics 87, Blazers 89
+2 POR
Sonics-MavsSonics 107, Mavs 102
+5 SEA
HOU rallied from 4 down, the night's biggest comeback
Biggest comebacks, at quarter breaks
Spurs-RocketsHOU won · Spurs 80, Rockets 81
4 pts
Celtics-BlazersPOR won · Celtics 87, Blazers 89
2 pts
Yao shot 9-of-15 for the night's hottest hand
Hottest shooting · min 10 FGA
YaoHOU · 27 PTS, 10 REB, 2 BLK, 1 AST
60% (9-15)
RadmanovicSEA · 18 PTS, 4 REB, 2 STL, 1 AST
55% (6-11)
Devin BrownSAS · 20 PTS, 4 REB
55% (6-11)
BlountBOS · 14 PTS, 6 REB, 1 BLK
50% (5-10)
PaytonBOS · 14 PTS, 5 AST, 3 REB, 1 STL
50% (5-10)
Final · Spurs-Rockets
Spurs 80Rockets 81
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Spurs1222242280
Rockets1820162781
The story
Yao Ming had 27 points and 10 rebounds as Houston beat San Antonio 81-80

Manu Ginobili led San Antonio with 13 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST 27 PTS, 10 REB, 1 AST · 9-15 FG

The swing

The Rockets won the first 18-12, their biggest quarter edge.

HOU lead by quarter
200 +6+4−4+1 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Celtics-Blazers
Celtics 87Blazers 89
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Celtics2527132287
Blazers2426162389
The story
Zach Randolph's 22 points and 17 rebounds carried Portland past Boston, 89-87

For Boston, Raef LaFrentz had 12 PTS, 9 REB 22 PTS, 17 REB, 3 AST · 8-25 FG

The swing

The Trail Blazers trailed by 2 going into the third, then won it 16-13.

POR lead by quarter
200 −1−2+1+2 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Sonics-Mavs
Sonics 107Mavs 102
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Sonics35271827107
Mavs26262129102
The story
Seattle beat Dallas 107-102 behind 25 points from Rashard Lewis

Dirk Nowitzki paced Dallas: 27 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST 25 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST · 9-21 FG, 2-5 3PT

The swing

A 35-26 first quarter did the most damage for the SuperSonics.

SEA lead by quarter
200 +9+10+7+5 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle
Heating up
+6.5points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
27.7Season avg34.2Last 5

34.2 points a game over his last five games, against 27.7 in 19 earlier games. Today: 27 points in 39 minutes.

Losing minutes
−10.8minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
21.8Season avg11.0Last 3

11.0 minutes a game over his last three games, against 21.8 in 20 earlier games. Today: 0 points in 9 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+18.8minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
5.6Season avg24.4Today

24 minutes today, against 5.6 a game in 7 earlier games. Line: 11 points, 1 rebounds, 3 assists.

Top performances

Tracy McGrady leads the day with 33

Tracy McGradyPoints, last 10 games: 32, 16, 25, 17, 14, 16, 48, 17, 18, 33Rockets-Spurs · W
22.2 PPG season to date · +11.5 vs his regular-season average before tonight
33 PTS · 8 REB · 2 AST
Yao MingPoints, last 10 games: 10, 19, 29, 9, 8, 19, 13, 20, 21, 27Rockets-Spurs · W
18.4 PPG season to date · +9.1 vs his regular-season average before tonight
27 PTS · 10 REB · 1 AST
Dirk NowitzkiPoints, last 10 games: 11, 23, 23, 32, 21, 53, 30, 27, 34, 27Mavs-Sonics · L
27.7 PPG season to date · −0.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
27 PTS · 7 REB · 3 AST
Tim DuncanPoints, last 10 games: 27, 23, 12, 20, 24, 18, 20, 12, 39, 26Spurs-Rockets · L
23.3 PPG season to date · +2.9 vs his regular-season average before tonight
26 PTS · 18 REB · 3 AST
Rashard LewisPoints, last 10 games: 12, 27, 27, 9, 22, 29, 23, 20, 16, 25Sonics-Mavs · W
21.1 PPG season to date · +4.1 vs his regular-season average before tonight
25 PTS · 9 REB · 2 AST
Zach RandolphPoints, last 10 games: 22, 28, 24, 27, 16, 23, 19, 16, 24, 22Blazers-Celtics · W
21.3 PPG season to date · +0.8 vs his regular-season average before tonight
22 PTS · 17 REB · 3 AST
Hot and cold

Last 10 games against the season so far

Hot
Mike MillerMEM+2.2 14.2 last 10 · 12.0 season
Josh HowardDAL+1.9 13.2 last 10 · 11.3 season
Luke RidnourSEA+0.9 10.4 last 10 · 9.5 season
Tony ParkerSAS+0.9 14.1 last 10 · 13.2 season
Udonis HaslemMIA+0.8 12.4 last 10 · 11.6 season
Cold
Brent BarrySAS−3.2 3.6 last 10 · 6.8 season
Rasho NesterovicSAS−2.5 3.4 last 10 · 5.9 season
Rafer AlstonTOR−2.3 11.4 last 10 · 13.7 season
Maurice TaylorHOU−2.0 5.7 last 10 · 7.8 season
Manu GinobiliSAS−2.0 13.0 last 10 · 15.0 season