FloaterDaily Brief
Thursday, December 15, 2005Regular season · 3 games
← Dec 14CalendarDec 16 →

3 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: SAS trailed MIN by 7 after the first quarter and won 90–88.

Final · Box score
Nuggets85
Cavs94
Q1 CLE +5; Q2 CLE +4; Q3 CLE +1; Q4 CLE +9
Final · Box score
Spurs90
Wolves88
Q1 SAS -7; Q2 SAS +10; Q3 SAS +5; Q4 SAS +2
Final · Box score
Rockets104
Sonics98
Q1 HOU -2; Q2 HOU -3; Q3 HOU +2; Q4 HOU +6
On this day · 2004–05Dec 15, 2004: 10 games. Top scorer: Paul Pierce (Celtics-Nuggets), 31 points.
Dec 15 in other seasons20252024202320222021201920182017201620152014201320122010200920082007200620032002200120001999199719961995
The lead · Spurs-Wolves

San Antonio holds off Minnesota, 90–88

Kevin Garnett goes for 24 points

Game flow · SAS margin at each break
-20-100+10+20TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0-7+10+5+2SAS AHEAD ↑MIN AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
Spurs1425242790
Wolves218293088
Who led
Michael FinleyPoints, last 10 games: 12, 12, 15, 5, 7, 8, 11, 9, 21, 21SAS21 PTS · 4 REB · 2 AST
Tim DuncanPoints, last 10 games: 24, 16, 13, 16, 26, 28, 20, 12, 27, 13SAS13 PTS · 9 REB · 6 AST
Kevin GarnettPoints, last 10 games: 26, 29, 29, 11, 21, 16, 30, 19, 22, 24MIN24 PTS · 21 REB · 6 AST
Wally SzczerbiakPoints, last 10 games: 16, 10, 34, 18, 26, 19, 25, 23, 25, 23MIN23 PTS · 6 REB · 3 AST
Second story · Rockets-Sonics

Houston makes it five straight

Houston beat Seattle 104–98 and moved to 9–12. Tracy McGrady led Houston with 34 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists.

Streak strip · HOU
Lvs PHX88–100L@ MEM81–86Lvs CHI89–94Wvs ATL100–85Lvs MEM75–90Wvs BOS91–73W@ SAC106–95W@ POR100–86W@ GSW111–105W@ SEA104–98
The night in charts
Rockets-Sonics combined for 202, 23 more than any other game
Points by game
Rockets-SonicsRockets 104, Sonics 98
202
Nuggets-CavsNuggets 85, Cavs 94
179
Spurs-WolvesSpurs 90, Wolves 88
178
SAS won the closest game by 2
Closest finishes
Spurs-WolvesSpurs 90, Wolves 88
+2 SAS
Rockets-SonicsRockets 104, Sonics 98
+6 HOU
Nuggets-CavsNuggets 85, Cavs 94
+9 CLE
SAS rallied from 7 down, the night's biggest comeback
Biggest comebacks, at quarter breaks
Spurs-WolvesSAS won · Spurs 90, Wolves 88
7 pts
Rockets-SonicsHOU won · Rockets 104, Sonics 98
3 pts
Howard shot 8-of-10 for the night's hottest hand
Hottest shooting · min 10 FGA
HowardHOU · 16 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST
80% (8-10)
YaoHOU · 26 PTS, 10 REB, 1 AST
70% (7-10)
LeBronCLE · 26 PTS, 9 AST, 4 REB, 1 STL
61% (11-18)
IlgauskasCLE · 16 PTS, 4 REB, 3 BLK
60% (6-10)
FinleySAS · 21 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL
54% (7-13)
Final · Spurs-Wolves
Spurs 90Wolves 88
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Spurs1425242790
Wolves218293088
The story
Michael Finley had 21 points as San Antonio beat Minnesota 90-88

Wally Szczerbiak led Minnesota with 23 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST 21 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST · 7-13 FG, 3-4 3PT

The swing

Down 7 after the first, the Spurs took the second 25-8.

SAS lead by quarter
200 −7+10+5+2 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Rockets-Sonics
Rockets 104Sonics 98
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Rockets20282531104
Sonics2229202798
The story
Yao Ming's 26 points and 10 rebounds carried Houston past Seattle, 104-98

For Seattle, Rashard Lewis had 15 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST 26 PTS, 10 REB, 1 AST · 7-10 FG

The swing

The Rockets trailed by 3 going into the third, then won it 25-20.

HOU lead by quarter
200 −2−3+2+6 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Nuggets-Cavs
Nuggets 85Cavs 94
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Nuggets1921252085
Cavs2420222894
The story
Cleveland beat Denver 94-85 behind 26 points and 9 assists from LeBron James

Carmelo Anthony paced Denver: 23 PTS, 5 REB 26 PTS, 9 AST, 4 REB · 11-18 FG, 1-4 3PT

The swing

A 28-20 fourth quarter did the most damage for the Cavaliers.

CLE lead by quarter
200 +5+4+1+9 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle
Heating up
+7.9points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
22.9Season avg30.8Last 5

30.8 points a game over his last five games, against 22.9 in 21 earlier games. Today: 23 points in 42 minutes.

Losing minutes
−8.4minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
21.4Season avg13.0Last 3

13.0 minutes a game over his last three games, against 21.4 in 11 earlier games. Today: 0 points in 5 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+14.5minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
21.4Season avg35.9Today

36 minutes today, against 21.4 a game in 21 earlier games. Line: 15 points, 3 rebounds, 0 assists.

Top performances

Tracy McGrady leads the day with 34

Tracy McGradyPoints, last 10 games: 25, 27, 6, 25, 12, 35, 28, 35, 23, 34Rockets-Sonics · W
24.8 PPG season to date · +10.0 vs his regular-season average before tonight
34 PTS · 6 REB · 8 AST
Ray AllenPoints, last 10 games: 19, 15, 32, 21, 25, 25, 19, 24, 35, 30Sonics-Rockets · L
24.6 PPG season to date · +5.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
30 PTS · 8 REB · 4 AST
LeBron JamesPoints, last 10 games: 19, 38, 28, 34, 30, 30, 32, 52, 39, 26Cavs-Nuggets · W
30.5 PPG season to date · −4.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
26 PTS · 4 REB · 9 AST
Yao MingPoints, last 10 games: 8, 15, 30, 25, 29, 12, 21, 9, 30, 26Rockets-Sonics · W
19.8 PPG season to date · +6.5 vs his regular-season average before tonight
26 PTS · 10 REB · 1 AST
Kevin GarnettPoints, last 10 games: 26, 29, 29, 11, 21, 16, 30, 19, 22, 24Wolves-Spurs · L
22.0 PPG season to date · +2.1 vs his regular-season average before tonight
24 PTS · 21 REB · 6 AST
Wally SzczerbiakPoints, last 10 games: 16, 10, 34, 18, 26, 19, 25, 23, 25, 23Wolves-Spurs · L
18.3 PPG season to date · +4.9 vs his regular-season average before tonight
23 PTS · 6 REB · 3 AST
Hot and cold

Last 10 games against the season so far

Hot
Wally SzczerbiakMIN+3.6 21.9 last 10 · 18.3 season
Marquis DanielsDAL+3.1 16.1 last 10 · 13.0 season
Andre MillerDEN+3.0 16.2 last 10 · 13.2 season
Desmond MasonNOK+2.9 12.5 last 10 · 9.6 season
Brevin KnightCHA+2.9 15.1 last 10 · 12.2 season
Cold
Peja StojakovicSAC−4.1 13.3 last 10 · 17.4 season
Kobe BryantLAL−3.6 27.6 last 10 · 31.2 season
Jalen RoseTOR−3.4 6.4 last 10 · 9.8 season
Raef LaFrentzBOS−2.8 6.5 last 10 · 9.3 season
Eddie JonesMEM−2.4 10.2 last 10 · 12.6 season