FloaterDaily Brief
Thursday, December 20, 2012Regular season · 3 games
← Dec 19CalendarDec 21 →

3 games, none went to overtime. Every winner was ahead or tied at every quarter break.

Final · Box score
Thunder93
Wolves99
Q1 MIN +12; Q2 MIN +9; Q3 MIN +7; Q4 MIN +6
Final · Box score
Heat110
Mavs95
Q1 MIA +11; Q2 MIA +16; Q3 MIA +30; Q4 MIA +15
Final · Box score
Nuggets93
Blazers101
Q1 POR +11; Q2 POR +10; Q3 POR +8; Q4 POR +8
The lead · Thunder-Wolves

Minnesota upsets OKC

Kevin Love goes for 28 points

Game flow · MIN margin at each break
-20-100+10+20TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0+12+9+7+6MIN AHEAD ↑OKC AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
Thunder1826252493
Wolves3023232399
Who led
Kevin LovePoints, last 10 games: 19, 15, 6, 19, 36, 8, 14, 23, 11, 28MIN28 PTS · 11 REB · 7 AST
Nikola PekovicPoints, last 10 games: 14, 6, 14, 4, 22, 31, 21, 19, 18, 24MIN24 PTS · 10 REB · 0 AST
Kevin DurantPoints, last 10 games: 25, 20, 32, 36, 27, 35, 31, 19, 41, 33OKC33 PTS · 7 REB · 6 AST
Russell WestbrookPoints, last 10 games: 23, 18, 25, 33, 21, 14, 13, 22, 27, 30OKC30 PTS · 11 REB · 9 AST
Lead changes
Heat-Mavs1
Thunder-Wolves0
Nuggets-Blazers0
The night in charts
Heat-Mavs combined for 205, 11 more than any other game
Points by game
Heat-MavsHeat 110, Mavs 95
205
Nuggets-BlazersNuggets 93, Blazers 101
194
Thunder-WolvesThunder 93, Wolves 99
192
MIN won the closest game by 6
Closest finishes
Thunder-WolvesThunder 93, Wolves 99
+6 MIN
Nuggets-BlazersNuggets 93, Blazers 101
+8 POR
Heat-MavsHeat 110, Mavs 95
+15 MIA
LeBron shot 9-of-13 for the night's hottest hand
Hottest shooting · min 10 FGA
LeBronMIA · 24 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL
69% (9-13)
JamesDAL · 12 PTS, 9 REB, 3 BLK, 1 AST
60% (6-10)
KDOKC · 33 PTS, 7 REB, 6 AST, 3 STL
57% (12-21)
BoshMIA · 17 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST, 3 STL
57% (8-14)
PekovicMIN · 24 PTS, 10 REB, 2 BLK, 1 STL
56% (10-18)
Final · Thunder-Wolves
Thunder 93Wolves 99
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Thunder1826252493
Wolves3023232399
The story
Nikola Pekovic had 24 points and 10 rebounds as Minnesota beat Oklahoma City 99-93

Serge Ibaka led Oklahoma City with 14 PTS, 9 REB 24 PTS, 10 REB · 10-18 FG

The swing

The Timberwolves won the first 30-18, their biggest quarter edge.

MIN lead by quarter
200 +12+9+7+6 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Nuggets-Blazers
Nuggets 93Blazers 101
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Nuggets1426213293
Blazers25251932101
The story
JJ Hickson's 18 points and 18 rebounds carried Portland past Denver, 101-93

For Denver, Andre Miller had 12 PTS, 9 REB, 7 AST 18 PTS, 18 REB, 3 BLK · 7-16 FG

The swing

The first quarter, 25-14, was where the Trail Blazers built it.

POR lead by quarter
200 +11+10+8+8 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Heat-Mavs
Heat 110Mavs 95
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Heat31273319110
Mavs2022193495
The story
Miami beat Dallas 110-95 behind 24 points from LeBron James

Jae Crowder paced Dallas: 15 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST 24 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST · 9-13 FG, 3-5 3PT

The swing

A 33-19 third quarter did the most damage for the Heat.

MIA lead by quarter
300 +11+16+30+15 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle
Heating up
+7.0points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
15.6Season avg22.6Last 5

22.6 points a game over his last five games, against 15.6 in 21 earlier games. Today: 24 points in 38 minutes.

Losing minutes
−16.9minutes, last 3 vs 2011–12 avg
Minutes per game
34.22011–12 avg17.3Last 3

17.3 minutes a game over his last three games, against 34.2 in 2011–12 (41 games). Today: 0 points in 18 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+18.9minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
6.1Season avg25Today

25 minutes today, against 6.1 a game in 12 earlier games. Line: 4 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists.

Second story · Nuggets-Blazers

Portland leads Denver wire to wire

Portland was ahead at every break and won 101–93. Best quarter: the fourth, 32–32. Nicolas Batum led Portland with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

The whole night · final margins
MIN over OKC6POR over DEN8MIA over DAL15Final margin, points. Pink = POR over DEN.
Top performances

Kevin Durant leads the day with 33

Kevin DurantPoints, last 10 games: 25, 20, 32, 36, 27, 35, 31, 19, 41, 33Thunder-Wolves · L
27.9 PPG season to date · +5.3 vs his regular-season average before tonight
33 PTS · 7 REB · 6 AST
Russell WestbrookPoints, last 10 games: 23, 18, 25, 33, 21, 14, 13, 22, 27, 30Thunder-Wolves · L
21.4 PPG season to date · +8.9 vs his regular-season average before tonight
30 PTS · 11 REB · 9 AST
Kevin LovePoints, last 10 games: 19, 15, 6, 19, 36, 8, 14, 23, 11, 28Wolves-Thunder · W
19.6 PPG season to date · +9.0 vs his regular-season average before tonight
28 PTS · 11 REB · 7 AST
LeBron JamesPoints, last 10 games: 23, 21, 26, 31, 24, 27, 31, 23, 22, 24Heat-Mavs · W
25.2 PPG season to date · −1.2 vs his regular-season average before tonight
24 PTS · 9 REB · 5 AST
Nikola PekovicPoints, last 10 games: 14, 6, 14, 4, 22, 31, 21, 19, 18, 24Wolves-Thunder · W
16.0 PPG season to date · +8.4 vs his regular-season average before tonight
24 PTS · 10 REB · 0 AST
Nicolas BatumPoints, last 10 games: 7, 20, 9, 22, 17, 5, 5, 11, 11, 22Blazers-Nuggets · W
16.0 PPG season to date · +6.2 vs his regular-season average before tonight
22 PTS · 6 REB · 3 AST
Hot and cold

Last 10 games against the season so far

Hot
Marco BelinelliCHI+5.2 14.5 last 10 · 9.3 season
CJ MilesCLE+5.1 15.2 last 10 · 10.1 season
David LeeGSW+4.4 24.2 last 10 · 19.8 season
Kobe BryantLAL+4.3 33.8 last 10 · 29.5 season
Jared DudleyPHX+4.1 14.8 last 10 · 10.7 season
Cold
Nicolas BatumPOR−3.1 12.9 last 10 · 16.0 season
Andre IguodalaDEN−3.1 10.6 last 10 · 13.7 season
Al-Farouq AminuNOH−3.1 5.1 last 10 · 8.2 season
Chris BoshMIA−3.0 15.0 last 10 · 18.0 season
Ramon SessionsCHA−2.7 11.4 last 10 · 14.1 season