FloaterDaily Brief
Friday, December 31, 2010Regular season · 8 games
← Dec 30CalendarJan 1 →

8 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: HOU trailed TOR by 14 after the first quarter and won 114–105.

Final · Box score
Hornets83
Celtics81
Q1 NOH +4; Q2 NOH -2; Q3 NOH +9; Q4 NOH +2
Final · Box score
Warriors96
Bobcats95
Q1 GSW +2; Q2 GSW +6; Q3 GSW +7; Q4 GSW +1
Final · Box score
Nets81
Bulls90
Q1 CHI +2; Q2 CHI +2; Q3 CHI +7; Q4 CHI +9
Final · Box score
Wizards86
Pacers95
Q1 IND +3; Q2 IND +15; Q3 IND +14; Q4 IND +9
Final · Box score
Raptors105
Rockets114
Q1 HOU -14; Q2 HOU +7; Q3 HOU +9; Q4 HOU +9
Final · Box score
Hawks94
Thunder103
Q1 OKC +9; Q2 OKC +7; Q3 OKC +4; Q4 OKC +9
Final · Box score
Pistons75
Suns92
Q1 PHX +10; Q2 PHX +18; Q3 PHX +10; Q4 PHX +17
Final · Box score
Sixers98
Lakers102
Q1 LAL +10; Q2 LAL +8; Q3 LAL +9; Q4 LAL +4
On this day · 2009–10Dec 31, 2009: 5 games. Top scorer: Kevin Durant (Thunder-Jazz), 31 points.
Dec 31 in other seasons2025202420232022202120202019201820172016201520142013201220112008200720062005200420032002200120001997
The lead · Raptors-Rockets

Houston rallies from 14 down to beat Toronto

Chris Paul goes for 20 points

Game flow · HOU margin at each break
-20-100+10+20TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0-14+7+9+9HOU AHEAD ↑TOR AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
Raptors34212030105
Rockets20422230114
Who led
Chase BudingerPoints, last 10 games: 16, 18, 6, 2, 9, 6, 7, 4, 11, 22HOU22 PTS · 5 REB · 4 AST
Kevin MartinPoints, last 10 games: 40, 14, 22, 34, 22, 30, 28, 20, 21, 20HOU20 PTS · 1 REB · 0 AST
DeMar DeRozanPoints, last 10 games: 6, 16, 14, 12, 14, 23, 10, 18, 16, 37TOR37 PTS · 3 REB · 0 AST
Linas KleizaPoints, last 10 games: 26, 11, 9, 4, 18, 26, 19, 22, 16, 17TOR17 PTS · 12 REB · 3 AST
Second story · the whole slate

Three games go down to the wire

Three of 8 games were decided by four points or fewer. Widest margin: Phoenix by 17.

GSW over CHA1NOH over BOS2LAL over PHI4CHI over NJN9IND over WAS9HOU over TOR9OKC over ATL9PHX over DET17Final margin, points. Pink = decided by 4 or fewer.
Lead changes
Nets-Bulls10
Hornets-Celtics8
Pistons-Suns7
Warriors-Bobcats2
Wizards-Pacers1
Raptors-Rockets1
Hawks-Thunder1
Sixers-Lakers0
The night in charts
Raptors-Rockets combined for 219, 19 more than any other game
Points by game
Raptors-RocketsRaptors 105, Rockets 114
219
Sixers-LakersSixers 98, Lakers 102
200
Hawks-ThunderHawks 94, Thunder 103
197
Warriors-BobcatsWarriors 96, Bobcats 95
191
Wizards-PacersWizards 86, Pacers 95
181
Nets-BullsNets 81, Bulls 90
171
Pistons-SunsPistons 75, Suns 92
167
Hornets-CelticsHornets 83, Celtics 81
164
3 of 8 games were decided by 5 or fewer
Closest finishes
Warriors-BobcatsWarriors 96, Bobcats 95
+1 GSW
Hornets-CelticsHornets 83, Celtics 81
+2 NOH
Sixers-LakersSixers 98, Lakers 102
+4 LAL
Hawks-ThunderHawks 94, Thunder 103
+9 OKC
Nets-BullsNets 81, Bulls 90
+9 CHI
Wizards-PacersWizards 86, Pacers 95
+9 IND
Raptors-RocketsRaptors 105, Rockets 114
+9 HOU
Pistons-SunsPistons 75, Suns 92
+17 PHX
HOU erased a 14-point hole
Biggest comebacks, at quarter breaks
Raptors-RocketsHOU won · Raptors 105, Rockets 114
14 pts
Hornets-CelticsNOH won · Hornets 83, Celtics 81
2 pts
Budinger shot 8-of-10 for the night's hottest hand
Hottest shooting · min 10 FGA
BudingerHOU · 22 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL
80% (8-10)
PauLAL · 20 PTS, 8 REB, 2 STL, 2 BLK
75% (9-12)
OkaforNOH · 18 PTS, 13 REB, 3 BLK, 1 AST
69% (9-13)
WallWAS · 25 PTS, 4 AST, 3 REB, 1 STL
67% (10-15)
GrangerIND · 18 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL
67% (8-12)
Final · Warriors-Bobcats
Warriors 96Bobcats 95
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Warriors3022251996
Bobcats2818242595
The story
Monta Ellis' 25 points carried Golden State past Charlotte, 96-95

For Charlotte, Stephen Jackson had 22 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST 25 PTS, 5 AST, 4 REB, 3 STL · 11-23 FG, 2-5 3PT

The swing

The second quarter, 22-18, was where the Warriors built it.

GSW lead by quarter
200 +2+6+7+1 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Hornets-Celtics
Hornets 83Celtics 81
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Hornets2314291783
Celtics1920182481
The story
Emeka Okafor had 18 points and 13 rebounds as New Orleans beat Boston 83-81

Ray Allen led Boston with 18 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST 18 PTS, 13 REB, 3 BLK, 1 AST · 9-13 FG

The swing

Down 2 after the second, the Hornets took the third 29-18.

NOH lead by quarter
200 +4−2+9+2 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Hawks-Thunder
Hawks 94Thunder 103
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Hawks2429261594
Thunder33272320103
The story
Oklahoma City beat Atlanta 103-94 behind 33 points from Kevin Durant

Jamal Crawford paced Atlanta: 26 PTS, 3 AST, 2 REB 33 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST · 11-22 FG, 5-9 3PT

The swing

A 33-24 first quarter did the most damage for the Thunder.

OKC lead by quarter
200 +9+7+4+9 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle

Russell Westbrook topped the game at 55.0 FPTS: 23 PTS, 10 REB, 10 AST

Fantasy angle
Heating up
+10.1points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
8.3Season avg18.4Last 5

18.4 points a game over his last five games, against 8.3 in 30 earlier games. Today: 19 points in 32 minutes.

Losing minutes
−10.2minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
30.2Season avg20.0Last 3

20.0 minutes a game over his last three games, against 30.2 in 33 earlier games. Today: 2 points in 19 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+21.4minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
15.6Season avg37Today

37 minutes today, against 15.6 a game in 19 earlier games. Line: 16 points, 7 rebounds, 0 assists.

Top performances

DeMar DeRozan leads the day with 37

DeMar DeRozanPoints, last 10 games: 6, 16, 14, 12, 14, 23, 10, 18, 16, 37Raptors-Rockets · L
13.8 PPG season to date · +24.0 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Career high37 PTS · 3 REB · 0 AST
Kevin DurantPoints, last 10 games: 25, 32, 24, 28, 32, 26, 44, 28, 27, 33Thunder-Hawks · W
28.3 PPG season to date · +4.9 vs his regular-season average before tonight
33 PTS · 4 REB · 3 AST
Kobe BryantPoints, last 10 games: 32, 24, 31, 9, 20, 21, 17, 21, 20, 33Lakers-Sixers · W
25.3 PPG season to date · +7.9 vs his regular-season average before tonight
33 PTS · 4 REB · 2 AST
Jamal CrawfordPoints, last 10 games: 12, 15, 26, 23, 25, 2, 10, 14, 5, 26Hawks-Thunder · L
14.7 PPG season to date · +11.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Ties season high26 PTS · 2 REB · 3 AST
Monta EllisPoints, last 10 games: 20, 16, 34, 26, 44, 36, 39, 22, 12, 25Warriors-Bobcats · W
25.4 PPG season to date · −0.5 vs his regular-season average before tonight
25 PTS · 4 REB · 5 AST
John WallPoints, last 10 games: 10, 19, 10, 12, 22, 8, 4, 13, 10, 25Wizards-Pacers · L
15.9 PPG season to date · +9.6 vs his regular-season average before tonight
25 PTS · 3 REB · 4 AST
Hot and cold

Last 10 games against the season so far

Hot
Dwyane WadeMIA+5.6 30.1 last 10 · 24.5 season
Linas KleizaTOR+4.8 16.8 last 10 · 12.0 season
Nick YoungWAS+4.5 19.4 last 10 · 14.9 season
Ty LawsonDEN+4.1 15.6 last 10 · 11.5 season
Beno UdrihSAC+4.1 17.9 last 10 · 13.8 season
Cold
Mike ConleyMEM−4.8 8.9 last 10 · 13.7 season
Jason RichardsonORL−4.6 13.1 last 10 · 17.7 season
Taj GibsonCHI−4.1 4.0 last 10 · 8.1 season
Russell WestbrookOKC−4.0 18.3 last 10 · 22.3 season
Roy HibbertIND−3.4 10.2 last 10 · 13.6 season