FloaterDaily Brief
Thursday, December 25, 2008Regular season · 5 games
← Dec 23CalendarDec 26 →

5 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: SAS trailed PHX by 9 after the first quarter and won 91–90.

Final · Box score
Hornets68
Magic88
Q1 ORL +15; Q2 ORL +30; Q3 ORL +19; Q4 ORL +20
Final · Box score
Spurs91
Suns90
Q1 SAS -9; Q2 SAS -6; Q3 SAS -5; Q4 SAS +1
Final · Box score
Celtics83
Lakers92
Q1 LAL -1; Q2 LAL +6; Q3 LAL +4; Q4 LAL +9
Final · Box score
Wizards89
Cavs93
Q1 CLE -3; Q2 CLE +2; Q3 CLE -3; Q4 CLE +4
Final · Box score
Mavs102
Blazers94
Q1 DAL +4; Q2 DAL +4; Q3 DAL -3; Q4 DAL +8
On this day · 2007–08Dec 25, 2007: 3 games. Top scorer: Kobe Bryant (Lakers-Suns), 38 points.
Dec 25 in other seasons2025202420232022202120202019201820172016201520142013201220112010200920062005200420032002200120001999199719961995
The lead · Spurs-Suns

San Antonio climbs out of a 9-point hole against Phoenix

Tony Parker goes for 27 points

Game flow · SAS margin at each break
-15-10-50+5+10+15TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0-9-6-5+1SAS AHEAD ↑PHX AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
Spurs1821322091
Suns2718311490
Who led
Tony ParkerPoints, last 10 games: 29, 6, 17, 22, 20, 9, 24, 18, 36, 27SAS27 PTS · 3 REB · 8 AST
Tim DuncanPoints, last 10 games: 32, 19, 17, 20, 16, 19, 19, 10, 19, 25SAS25 PTS · 17 REB · 3 AST
Amar'e StoudemirePoints, last 10 games: 26, 28, 22, 22, 21, 21, 21, 23, 27, 25PHX25 PTS · 13 REB · 3 AST
Shaquille O'NealPoints, last 10 games: 18, 12, 9, 4, 15, 35, 23, 19, 19, 23PHX23 PTS · 12 REB · 2 AST
Second story · Wizards-Cavs

Cleveland makes it five straight

Cleveland beat Washington 93–89 and moved to 25–4. Mo Williams led Cleveland with 24 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists.

Streak strip · CLE
W@ CHA94–74Wvs TOR114–94W@ PHI101–93Wvs PHI88–72L@ ATL92–97W@ MIN93–70W@ DEN105–88W@ OKC102–91Wvs HOU99–90Wvs WAS93–89
Lead changes
Mavs-Blazers16
Celtics-Lakers13
Wizards-Cavs9
Spurs-Suns5
Hornets-Magic0
Shot of the night

Mason's three at the buzzer puts the Spurs ahead, 91-90 final

The night in charts
Mavs-Blazers combined for 196, 14 more than any other game
Points by game
Mavs-BlazersMavs 102, Blazers 94
196
Wizards-CavsWizards 89, Cavs 93
182
Spurs-SunsSpurs 91, Suns 90
181
Celtics-LakersCeltics 83, Lakers 92
175
Hornets-MagicHornets 68, Magic 88
156
2 of 5 games were decided by 5 or fewer
Closest finishes
Spurs-SunsSpurs 91, Suns 90
+1 SAS
Wizards-CavsWizards 89, Cavs 93
+4 CLE
Mavs-BlazersMavs 102, Blazers 94
+8 DAL
Celtics-LakersCeltics 83, Lakers 92
+9 LAL
Hornets-MagicHornets 68, Magic 88
+20 ORL
SAS rallied from 9 down, the night's biggest comeback
Biggest comebacks, at quarter breaks
Spurs-SunsSAS won · Spurs 91, Suns 90
9 pts
Mavs-BlazersDAL won · Mavs 102, Blazers 94
3 pts
Wizards-CavsCLE won · Wizards 89, Cavs 93
3 pts
Celtics-LakersLAL won · Celtics 83, Lakers 92
1 pt
KG shot 11-of-14 for the night's hottest hand
Hottest shooting · min 10 FGA
KGBOS · 22 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL
79% (11-14)
JamesWAS · 26 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL
71% (10-14)
DirkDAL · 30 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL
67% (12-18)
Grant HillPHX · 16 PTS, 3 REB
64% (7-11)
KobeLAL · 27 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL
57% (13-23)
Final · Spurs-Suns
Spurs 91Suns 90
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Spurs1821322091
Suns2718311490
The story
Tim Duncan had 25 points and 17 rebounds as San Antonio beat Phoenix 91-90

Shaquille O'Neal led Phoenix with 23 PTS, 12 REB, 2 AST 25 PTS, 17 REB, 3 AST · 12-25 FG

The swing

Down 5 after the third, the Spurs took the fourth 20-14.

SAS lead by quarter
200 −9−6−5+1 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Wizards-Cavs
Wizards 89Cavs 93
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Wizards2522241889
Cavs2227192593
The story
LeBron James' 18 points carried Cleveland past Washington, 93-89

For Washington, Antawn Jamison had 28 PTS, 6 REB 18 PTS, 6 AST, 5 REB, 3 STL · 6-13 FG, 0-2 3PT

The swing

The Cavaliers trailed by 3 going into the fourth, then won it 25-18.

CLE lead by quarter
200 −3+2−3+4 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle

Delonte West was the fantasy play: 44.2 FPTS on 18 PTS, 7 AST

Final · Celtics-Lakers
Celtics 83Lakers 92
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Celtics2421221683
Lakers2328202192
The story
Los Angeles beat Boston 92-83 behind 27 points from Kobe Bryant

Kevin Garnett paced Boston: 22 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST 27 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST · 13-23 FG, 1-3 3PT

The swing

A 28-21 second quarter erased a 1-point hole for the Lakers.

LAL lead by quarter
200 −1+6+4+9 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle
Heating up
+10.4points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
6.4Season avg16.8Last 5

16.8 points a game over his last five games, against 6.4 in 15 earlier games. Today: 26 points in 36 minutes.

Losing minutes
−8.9minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
27.4Season avg18.5Last 3

18.5 minutes a game over his last three games, against 27.4 in 17 earlier games. Today: 11 points in 20 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+23.7minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
12.3Season avg36Today

36 minutes today, against 12.3 a game in 23 earlier games. Line: 2 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists.

Top performances

Dirk Nowitzki leads the day with 30

Dirk NowitzkiPoints, last 10 games: 24, 35, 23, 46, 27, 27, 24, 23, 21, 30Mavs-Blazers · W
26.1 PPG season to date · +4.0 vs his regular-season average before tonight
30 PTS · 5 REB · 2 AST
Antawn JamisonPoints, last 10 games: 23, 10, 17, 17, 26, 14, 23, 22, 14, 28Wizards-Cavs · L
20.1 PPG season to date · +8.2 vs his regular-season average before tonight
28 PTS · 6 REB · 1 AST
Kobe BryantPoints, last 10 games: 28, 18, 32, 26, 28, 28, 41, 36, 26, 27Lakers-Celtics · W
26.2 PPG season to date · +0.9 vs his regular-season average before tonight
27 PTS · 9 REB · 5 AST
Tony ParkerPoints, last 10 games: 29, 6, 17, 22, 20, 9, 24, 18, 36, 27Spurs-Suns · W
21.6 PPG season to date · +5.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
27 PTS · 3 REB · 8 AST
Mike JamesPoints, last 10 games: 2, 0, 1, 16, 1, 16, 16, 17, 9, 26Wizards-Cavs · L
7.6 PPG season to date · +19.6 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Season high26 PTS · 4 REB · 3 AST
Tim DuncanPoints, last 10 games: 32, 19, 17, 20, 16, 19, 19, 10, 19, 25Spurs-Suns · W
20.4 PPG season to date · +4.8 vs his regular-season average before tonight
25 PTS · 17 REB · 3 AST
Hot and cold

Last 10 games against the season so far

Hot
Lou WilliamsPHI+5.1 17.0 last 10 · 11.9 season
Rodney StuckeyDET+4.2 16.1 last 10 · 11.9 season
Paul MillsapUTA+4.0 19.0 last 10 · 15.0 season
Yao MingHOU+3.6 23.7 last 10 · 20.1 season
Jameer NelsonORL+3.4 20.3 last 10 · 16.9 season
Cold
Ramon SessionsMIL−4.9 7.3 last 10 · 12.2 season
Nick YoungWAS−4.6 4.5 last 10 · 9.1 season
Chris BoshTOR−4.5 19.1 last 10 · 23.6 season
Maurice EvansATL−4.0 3.5 last 10 · 7.5 season
Stephen JacksonGSW−4.0 14.6 last 10 · 18.6 season