FloaterDaily Brief
Thursday, December 22, 2005Regular season · 2 games
← Dec 21CalendarDec 23 →

2 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: CLE trailed CHI by 8 after three quarters and won 108–100.

Final · Box score
Cavs108
Bulls100
Q1 CLE +5; Q2 CLE +4; Q3 CLE -8; Q4 CLE +8
Final · Box score
Mavs105
Kings95
Q1 DAL +12; Q2 DAL +5; Q3 DAL +1; Q4 DAL +10
On this day · 2004–05Dec 22, 2004: 12 games. Top scorer: Richard Jefferson (Nets-Cavs), 42 points.
Dec 22 in other seasons202520242023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122010200920082007200620032002200120001999199719961995
The lead · Cavs-Bulls

LeBron James scores 37, Cleveland rallies past Chicago

Dirk Nowitzki goes for 37 points

Game flow · CLE margin at each break
-15-10-50+5+10+15TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0+5+4-8+8CLE AHEAD ↑CHI AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
Cavs31261437108
Bulls26272621100
Who led
LeBron JamesPoints, last 10 games: 34, 30, 30, 32, 52, 39, 26, 41, 25, 37CLE37 PTS · 5 REB · 6 AST
Zydrunas IlgauskasPoints, last 10 games: 29, 10, 20, 14, 22, 20, 16, 11, 18, 25CLE25 PTS · 11 REB · 0 AST
Ben GordonPoints, last 10 games: 20, 13, 26, 11, 9, 10, 2, 13, 11, 22CHI22 PTS · 3 REB · 2 AST
Andres NocioniPoints, last 10 games: 11, 11, 4, 13, 5, 12, 6, 16, 11, 21CHI21 PTS · 10 REB · 3 AST
Second story · Mavs-Kings

Dallas leads Sacramento wire to wire

Dallas was ahead at every break and won 105–95. Best quarter: the first, 33–21. Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 37 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists.

Top-scorer duel · Mavs-Kings
Dirk Nowitzki · DALMike Bibby · SACPTS3722REB102AST40Top scorer on each side. Bars scale within each stat. Pink = the winning side.
Lead changes
Mavs-Kings16
Cavs-Bulls6
The night in charts
Cavs-Bulls combined for 208, 8 more than any other game
Points by game
Cavs-BullsCavs 108, Bulls 100
208
Mavs-KingsMavs 105, Kings 95
200
CLE won the closest game by 8
Closest finishes
Cavs-BullsCavs 108, Bulls 100
+8 CLE
Mavs-KingsMavs 105, Kings 95
+10 DAL
Nocioni shot 9-of-14 for the night's hottest hand
Hottest shooting · min 10 FGA
NocioniCHI · 21 PTS, 10 REB, 3 AST, 1 BLK
64% (9-14)
SongailaCHI · 14 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST
64% (7-11)
TerryDAL · 19 PTS, 4 AST, 2 STL, 1 REB
64% (7-11)
DirkDAL · 37 PTS, 10 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL
61% (14-23)
IlgauskasCLE · 25 PTS, 11 REB, 1 STL, 1 BLK
54% (7-13)
Final · Cavs-Bulls
Cavs 108Bulls 100
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Cavs31261437108
Bulls26272621100
The story
Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 25 points and 11 rebounds as Cleveland beat Chicago 108-100

Andres Nocioni led Chicago with 21 PTS, 10 REB, 3 AST 25 PTS, 11 REB · 7-13 FG

The swing

Down 8 after the third, the Cavaliers took the fourth 37-21.

CLE lead by quarter
200 +5+4−8+8 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Mavs-Kings
Mavs 105Kings 95
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Mavs33211932105
Kings2128232395
The story
Josh Howard's 14 points and 13 rebounds carried Dallas past Sacramento, 105-95

For Sacramento, Mike Bibby had 22 PTS, 2 REB 14 PTS, 13 REB, 6 AST · 5-19 FG, 0-2 3PT

The swing

The first quarter, 33-21, was where the Mavericks built it.

DAL lead by quarter
200 +12+5+1+10 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle
Heating up
+4.9points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
10.5Season avg15.4Last 5

15.4 points a game over his last five games, against 10.5 in 23 earlier games. Today: 10 points in 41 minutes.

Losing minutes
−12.9minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
28.2Season avg15.3Last 3

15.3 minutes a game over his last three games, against 28.2 in 23 earlier games. Today: 6 points in 19 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+21.5minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
14.8Season avg36.3Today

36 minutes today, against 14.8 a game in 20 earlier games. Line: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists.

Top performances

Dirk Nowitzki leads the day with 37

Dirk NowitzkiPoints, last 10 games: 35, 31, 35, 24, 27, 29, 31, 19, 18, 37Mavs-Kings · W
26.2 PPG season to date · +11.2 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Season high37 PTS · 10 REB · 4 AST
LeBron JamesPoints, last 10 games: 34, 30, 30, 32, 52, 39, 26, 41, 25, 37Cavs-Bulls · W
31.0 PPG season to date · +6.3 vs his regular-season average before tonight
37 PTS · 5 REB · 6 AST
Zydrunas IlgauskasPoints, last 10 games: 29, 10, 20, 14, 22, 20, 16, 11, 18, 25Cavs-Bulls · W
15.4 PPG season to date · +10.0 vs his regular-season average before tonight
25 PTS · 11 REB · 0 AST
Ben GordonPoints, last 10 games: 20, 13, 26, 11, 9, 10, 2, 13, 11, 22Bulls-Cavs · L
14.2 PPG season to date · +8.2 vs his regular-season average before tonight
22 PTS · 3 REB · 2 AST
Mike BibbyPoints, last 10 games: 14, 16, 24, 24, 17, 17, 14, 21, 23, 22Kings-Mavs · L
19.0 PPG season to date · +3.2 vs his regular-season average before tonight
22 PTS · 2 REB · 0 AST
Andres NocioniPoints, last 10 games: 11, 11, 4, 13, 5, 12, 6, 16, 11, 21Bulls-Cavs · L
11.8 PPG season to date · +9.6 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Season high21 PTS · 10 REB · 3 AST
Hot and cold

Last 10 games against the season so far

Hot
Wally SzczerbiakMIN+5.3 24.2 last 10 · 18.9 season
Carmelo AnthonyDEN+4.9 28.5 last 10 · 23.6 season
Baron DavisGSW+4.0 21.4 last 10 · 17.4 season
Brevin KnightCHA+3.9 16.2 last 10 · 12.2 season
LeBron JamesCLE+3.6 34.6 last 10 · 31.0 season
Cold
Antawn JamisonWAS−4.5 13.4 last 10 · 17.9 season
Raef LaFrentzBOS−3.7 5.1 last 10 · 8.8 season
Jalen RoseTOR−3.0 6.2 last 10 · 9.2 season
Steven HunterPHI−2.9 3.1 last 10 · 6.0 season
John SalmonsPHI−2.6 5.8 last 10 · 8.4 season