FloaterDaily Brief
Sunday, December 21, 2008Regular season · 4 games
← Dec 20CalendarDec 22 →

4 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: ATL trailed DET by 3 after the first quarter and won 85–78.

Final · Box score
Pistons78
Hawks85
Q1 ATL -3; Q2 ATL +11; Q3 ATL +6; Q4 ATL +7
Final · Box score
Knicks105
Celtics124
Q1 BOS +19; Q2 BOS +8; Q3 BOS +11; Q4 BOS +19
Final · Box score
Mavs97
Wizards86
Q1 DAL +1; Q2 DAL -2; Q3 DAL +2; Q4 DAL +11
Final · Box score
Cavs102
Thunder91
Q1 CLE +2; Q2 CLE +5; Q3 CLE +10; Q4 CLE +11
On this day · 2007–08Dec 21, 2007: 10 games. Top scorer: Carmelo Anthony (Nuggets-Blazers), 34 points.
Dec 21 in other seasons20252024202320222021201920182017201620152014201320122010200920062005200420032002200120001999199719961995
The lead · Pistons-Hawks

Atlanta beats Detroit, 85–78

LeBron James goes for 31 points

Game flow · ATL margin at each break
-20-100+10+20TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0-3+11+6+7ATL AHEAD ↑DET AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
Pistons2516221578
Hawks2230171685
Who led
Mike BibbyPoints, last 10 games: 10, 21, 15, 9, 15, 24, 14, 14, 7, 27ATL27 PTS · 3 REB · 5 AST
Joe JohnsonPoints, last 10 games: 17, 32, 22, 29, 21, 17, 28, 20, 19, 19ATL19 PTS · 5 REB · 7 AST
Rodney StuckeyPoints, last 10 games: 15, 10, 16, 6, 10, 21, 13, 18, 7, 20DET20 PTS · 9 REB · 3 AST
Rasheed WallacePoints, last 10 games: 11, 19, 7, 6, 19, 7, 9, 2, 12, 20DET20 PTS · 5 REB · 4 AST
Second story · Mavs-Wizards

Washington's skid reaches six

Dallas won 97–86; the Wizards fall to 4–21. Jason Terry led Dallas with 25 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists.

Streak strip · WAS
Lvs POR92–98Lvs LAL104–106L@ CHI110–117Wvs DET107–94Lvs BOS88–122L@ PHI89–104Lvs IND98–118L@ DET74–88Lvs PHI103–109Lvs DAL86–97
Lead changes
Mavs-Wizards16
Cavs-Thunder12
Pistons-Hawks3
Knicks-Celtics0
The night in charts
Knicks-Celtics combined for 229, 36 more than any other game
Points by game
Knicks-CelticsKnicks 105, Celtics 124
229
Cavs-ThunderCavs 102, Thunder 91
193
Mavs-WizardsMavs 97, Wizards 86
183
Pistons-HawksPistons 78, Hawks 85
163
ATL won the closest game by 7
Closest finishes
Pistons-HawksPistons 78, Hawks 85
+7 ATL
Cavs-ThunderCavs 102, Thunder 91
+11 CLE
Mavs-WizardsMavs 97, Wizards 86
+11 DAL
Knicks-CelticsKnicks 105, Celtics 124
+19 BOS
ATL rallied from 3 down, the night's biggest comeback
Biggest comebacks, at quarter breaks
Pistons-HawksATL won · Pistons 78, Hawks 85
3 pts
Mavs-WizardsDAL won · Mavs 97, Wizards 86
2 pts
Rondo shot 12-of-14 for the night's hottest hand
Hottest shooting · min 10 FGA
RondoBOS · 26 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL
86% (12-14)
BibbyATL · 27 PTS, 5 AST, 3 REB, 3 STL
77% (10-13)
StuckeyDET · 20 PTS, 9 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL
75% (9-12)
WestCLE · 18 PTS, 4 AST, 2 REB, 2 STL
67% (8-12)
David LeeNYK · 17 PTS, 8 REB, 4 AST, 4 STL
62% (8-13)
Final · Pistons-Hawks
Pistons 78Hawks 85
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Pistons2516221578
Hawks2230171685
The story
Mike Bibby's 27 points carried Atlanta past Detroit, 85-78

For Detroit, Rasheed Wallace had 20 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST 27 PTS, 5 AST, 3 REB, 3 STL · 10-13 FG, 6-6 3PT

The swing

The Hawks trailed by 3 going into the second, then won it 30-16.

ATL lead by quarter
200 −3+11+6+7 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Cavs-Thunder
Cavs 102Thunder 91
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Cavs27253020102
Thunder2522251991
The story
Mo Williams had 20 points as Cleveland beat Oklahoma City 102-91

Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 26 PTS, 5 REB 20 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST, 3 STL · 8-14 FG, 2-3 3PT

The swing

The Cavaliers won the third 30-25, their biggest quarter edge.

CLE lead by quarter
200 +2+5+10+11 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Knicks-Celtics
Knicks 105Celtics 124
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Knicks21372918105
Celtics40263226124
The story
Boston beat New York 124-105 behind 26 points from Rajon Rondo

David Lee paced New York: 17 PTS, 8 REB, 4 AST 26 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST · 12-14 FG

The swing

A 40-21 first quarter did the most damage for the Celtics.

BOS lead by quarter
200 +19+8+11+19 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle
Heating up
+8.4points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
16.2Season avg24.6Last 5

24.6 points a game over his last five games, against 16.2 in 19 earlier games. Today: 23 points in 38 minutes.

Losing minutes
−6.9minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
33.3Season avg26.4Last 3

26.4 minutes a game over his last three games, against 33.3 in 12 earlier games. Today: 17 points in 27 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+24.0minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
15.0Season avg39.0Today

39 minutes today, against 15.0 a game in 13 earlier games. Line: 17 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists.

Top performances

LeBron James leads the day with 31

LeBron JamesPoints, last 10 games: 21, 11, 25, 31, 29, 28, 33, 32, 33, 31Cavs-Thunder · W
27.7 PPG season to date · +3.5 vs his regular-season average before tonight
31 PTS · 4 REB · 7 AST
Quentin RichardsonPoints, last 10 games: 8, 6, 8, 23, 22, 9, 4, 18, 2, 29Knicks-Celtics · L
12.4 PPG season to date · +17.3 vs his regular-season average before tonight
29 PTS · 4 REB · 4 AST
Mike BibbyPoints, last 10 games: 10, 21, 15, 9, 15, 24, 14, 14, 7, 27Hawks-Pistons · W
16.0 PPG season to date · +11.4 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Season high27 PTS · 3 REB · 5 AST
Rajon RondoPoints, last 10 games: 16, 16, 16, 7, 11, 10, 25, 15, 4, 26Celtics-Knicks · W
11.3 PPG season to date · +15.2 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Career high26 PTS · 6 REB · 5 AST
Kevin DurantPoints, last 10 games: 24, 16, 18, 41, 28, 22, 28, 25, 26, 26Thunder-Cavs · L
23.4 PPG season to date · +2.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
26 PTS · 5 REB · 1 AST
Jason TerryPoints, last 10 games: 26, 19, 19, 19, 26, 28, 19, 27, 23, 25Mavs-Wizards · W
21.2 PPG season to date · +3.9 vs his regular-season average before tonight
25 PTS · 1 REB · 2 AST
Hot and cold

Last 10 games against the season so far

Hot
Paul MillsapUTA+4.8 19.9 last 10 · 15.1 season
Brandon RoyPOR+3.9 27.3 last 10 · 23.4 season
Kendrick PerkinsBOS+3.7 12.8 last 10 · 9.1 season
Yao MingHOU+3.6 23.6 last 10 · 20.0 season
Dirk NowitzkiDAL+3.5 29.7 last 10 · 26.2 season
Cold
Ramon SessionsMIL−5.9 6.2 last 10 · 12.1 season
Chris BoshTOR−5.5 17.8 last 10 · 23.3 season
Stephen JacksonGSW−4.0 14.6 last 10 · 18.6 season
Nick YoungWAS−3.5 6.0 last 10 · 9.5 season
Jason ThompsonSAC−3.5 5.8 last 10 · 9.2 season