FloaterDaily Brief
Wednesday, December 15, 2004Regular season · 10 games
← Dec 14CalendarDec 16 →

10 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: DET trailed NYK by 16 at halftime and won 94–93.

Final · Box score
Nuggets100
Celtics99
Q1 DEN -2; Q2 DEN +7; Q3 DEN +4; Q4 DEN +1
Final · Box score
Blazers88
Cavs112
Q1 CLE -1; Q2 CLE +6; Q3 CLE +16; Q4 CLE +24
Final · Box score
Wolves90
Raptors96
Q1 TOR -2; Q2 TOR -5; Q3 TOR -3; Q4 TOR +6
Final · Box score
Heat98
Wizards93
Q1 MIA -3; Q2 MIA -4; Q3 MIA -4; Q4 MIA +5
Final · Box score
Bulls96
Grizzlies88
Q1 CHI -4; Q2 CHI -4; Q3 CHI +1; Q4 CHI +8
Final · Box score
Warriors89
Hornets98
Q1 NOH +4; Q2 NOH -2; Q3 NOH +2; Q4 NOH +9
Final · Box score
Pistons94
Knicks93
Q1 DET -5; Q2 DET -16; Q3 DET -2; Q4 DET +1
Final · Box score
Hawks69
Rockets92
Q1 HOU +7; Q2 HOU +5; Q3 HOU +15; Q4 HOU +23
Final · Box score
Magic91
Spurs94
Q1 Spurs 0; Q2 SAS +6; Q3 SAS -10; Q4 SAS +3
Final · Box score
Jazz86
Suns108
Q1 PHX -7; Q2 PHX +11; Q3 PHX +17; Q4 PHX +22
On this day · 2003–04Dec 15, 2003: 5 games. Top scorer: Kevin Garnett (Wolves-Celtics), 27 points.
Dec 15 in other seasons20252024202320222021201920182017201620152014201320122010200920082007200620052002200120001999199719961995
The lead · Pistons-Knicks

Detroit erases 16-point lead, steals one from New York

LeBron James goes for 25 points

Game flow · DET margin at each break
-25-15-5+5+15+25TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0-5-16-2+1DET AHEAD ↑NYK AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
Pistons2317312394
Knicks2828172093
Who led
Richard HamiltonPoints, last 10 games: 24, 14, 19, 8, 21, 19, 19, 24, 18, 29DET29 PTS · 2 REB · 4 AST
Rasheed WallacePoints, last 10 games: 11, 8, 20, 10, 10, 7, 13, 16, 22, 18DET18 PTS · 7 REB · 1 AST
Jamal CrawfordPoints, last 10 games: 24, 9, 23, 41, 17, 8, 10, 31, 30, 25NYK25 PTS · 4 REB · 5 AST
Stephon MarburyPoints, last 10 games: 32, 26, 28, 10, 9, 22, 18, 25, 12, 18NYK18 PTS · 5 REB · 7 AST
Second story · the whole slate

Three close finishes and one Cavaliers rout

Three of 10 games were decided by four points or fewer. Cleveland beat Portland by 24.

DEN over BOS1DET over NYK1SAS over ORL3MIA over WAS5TOR over MIN6CHI over MEM8NOH over GSW9PHX over UTA22HOU over ATL23CLE over POR24Final margin, points. Pink = decided by 4 or fewer, plus the widest win.
Lead changes
Wolves-Raptors13
Magic-Spurs10
Warriors-Hornets8
Blazers-Cavs3
Pistons-Knicks2
Hawks-Rockets1
Jazz-Suns1
The night in charts
Blazers-Cavs combined for 200, 1 more than any other game
Points by game
Blazers-CavsBlazers 88, Cavs 112
200
Nuggets-CelticsNuggets 100, Celtics 99
199
Jazz-SunsJazz 86, Suns 108
194
Heat-WizardsHeat 98, Wizards 93
191
Warriors-HornetsWarriors 89, Hornets 98
187
Pistons-KnicksPistons 94, Knicks 93
187
Wolves-RaptorsWolves 90, Raptors 96
186
Magic-SpursMagic 91, Spurs 94
185
Bulls-GrizzliesBulls 96, Grizzlies 88
184
Hawks-RocketsHawks 69, Rockets 92
161
4 of 10 games were decided by 5 or fewer
Closest finishes
Pistons-KnicksPistons 94, Knicks 93
+1 DET
Nuggets-CelticsNuggets 100, Celtics 99
+1 DEN
Magic-SpursMagic 91, Spurs 94
+3 SAS
Heat-WizardsHeat 98, Wizards 93
+5 MIA
Wolves-RaptorsWolves 90, Raptors 96
+6 TOR
Bulls-GrizzliesBulls 96, Grizzlies 88
+8 CHI
Warriors-HornetsWarriors 89, Hornets 98
+9 NOH
Jazz-SunsJazz 86, Suns 108
+22 PHX
Hawks-RocketsHawks 69, Rockets 92
+23 HOU
Blazers-CavsBlazers 88, Cavs 112
+24 CLE
DET erased a 16-point hole
Biggest comebacks, at quarter breaks
Pistons-KnicksDET won · Pistons 94, Knicks 93
16 pts
Magic-SpursSAS won · Magic 91, Spurs 94
10 pts
Jazz-SunsPHX won · Jazz 86, Suns 108
7 pts
Wolves-RaptorsTOR won · Wolves 90, Raptors 96
5 pts
Heat-WizardsMIA won · Heat 98, Wizards 93
4 pts
Newble shot 8-of-10 for the night's hottest hand
Hottest shooting · min 10 FGA
NewbleCLE · 18 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST, 3 STL
80% (8-10)
Joe JohnsonPHX · 30 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL
71% (12-17)
MurphyGSW · 25 PTS, 12 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL
69% (9-13)
YaoHOU · 23 PTS, 8 REB, 5 BLK, 1 STL
67% (8-12)
Andre MillerDEN · 19 PTS, 7 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL
67% (8-12)
Final · Pistons-Knicks
Pistons 94Knicks 93
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Pistons2317312394
Knicks2828172093
The story
Richard Hamilton's 29 points carried Detroit past New York, 94-93

For New York, Stephon Marbury had 18 PTS, 7 AST, 5 REB 29 PTS, 4 AST, 2 REB · 12-19 FG

The swing

The Pistons trailed by 16 going into the third, then won it 31-17.

DET lead by quarter
200 −5−16−2+1 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle

Jamal Crawford was the fantasy play: 47.3 FPTS on 25 PTS, 5 AST, 4 REB

Final · Nuggets-Celtics
Nuggets 100Celtics 99
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Nuggets24242923100
Celtics2615322699
The story
Denver beat Boston 100-99 behind 18 points and 11 rebounds from Kenyon Martin

Gary Payton paced Boston: 11 PTS, 10 AST, 2 REB 18 PTS, 11 REB, 6 AST, 4 BLK, 3 STL · 8-19 FG, 0-1 3PT

The swing

A 24-15 second quarter erased a 2-point hole for the Nuggets.

DEN lead by quarter
200 −2+7+4+1 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Magic-Spurs
Magic 91Spurs 94
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Magic2523281591
Spurs2529122894
The story
Tim Duncan had 24 points and 14 rebounds as San Antonio beat Orlando 94-91

Steve Francis led Orlando with 20 PTS, 9 AST, 2 REB 24 PTS, 14 REB, 4 BLK, 1 AST · 10-21 FG

The swing

Down 10 after the third, the Spurs took the fourth 28-15.

SAS lead by quarter
200 0+6−10+3 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle
Heating up
+8.0points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
7.2Season avg15.2Last 5

15.2 points a game over his last five games, against 7.2 in 10 earlier games. Today: 23 points in 25 minutes.

Losing minutes
−14.3minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
20.6Season avg6.3Last 3

6.3 minutes a game over his last three games, against 20.6 in 22 earlier games. Today: 0 points in 2 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+20.0minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
21.2Season avg41.2Today

41 minutes today, against 21.2 a game in 20 earlier games. Line: 14 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assists.

Top performances

Paul Pierce leads the day with 31

Paul PiercePoints, last 10 games: 17, 24, 23, 20, 16, 26, 6, 22, 33, 31Celtics-Nuggets · L
22.5 PPG season to date · +8.9 vs his regular-season average before tonight
31 PTS · 6 REB · 4 AST
Joe JohnsonPoints, last 10 games: 13, 15, 18, 4, 15, 20, 25, 12, 18, 30Suns-Jazz · W
16.3 PPG season to date · +14.3 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Season high30 PTS · 6 REB · 1 AST
Dwyane WadePoints, last 10 games: 25, 22, 15, 26, 23, 17, 26, 20, 0, 29Heat-Wizards · W
23.0 PPG season to date · +6.3 vs his regular-season average before tonight
29 PTS · 5 REB · 9 AST
Richard HamiltonPoints, last 10 games: 24, 14, 19, 8, 21, 19, 19, 24, 18, 29Pistons-Knicks · W
20.6 PPG season to date · +8.8 vs his regular-season average before tonight
29 PTS · 2 REB · 4 AST
Antawn JamisonPoints, last 10 games: 27, 15, 18, 13, 14, 27, 25, 17, 12, 26Wizards-Heat · L
21.8 PPG season to date · +4.5 vs his regular-season average before tonight
26 PTS · 5 REB · 1 AST
LeBron JamesPoints, last 10 games: 26, 22, 15, 17, 27, 27, 19, 23, 31, 25Cavs-Blazers · W
25.1 PPG season to date · −0.1 vs his regular-season average before tonight
25 PTS · 11 REB · 7 AST
Hot and cold

Last 10 games against the season so far

Hot
Quentin RichardsonPHX+4.5 18.8 last 10 · 14.3 season
Eric WilliamsNJN+4.5 17.1 last 10 · 12.6 season
Matt HarpringUTA+4.4 16.6 last 10 · 12.2 season
Clifford RobinsonGSW+3.4 12.2 last 10 · 8.8 season
Andre MillerDEN+3.0 17.0 last 10 · 14.0 season
Cold
Chris WilcoxLAC−4.3 7.3 last 10 · 11.6 season
Stromile SwiftMEM−3.0 7.4 last 10 · 10.4 season
Hedo TurkogluORL−2.9 10.2 last 10 · 13.1 season
Maurice TaylorHOU−2.9 4.5 last 10 · 7.4 season
Damon StoudamirePOR−2.8 7.4 last 10 · 10.2 season