FloaterDaily Brief
Thursday, December 31, 2015Regular season · 6 games
← Dec 30CalendarJan 1 →

6 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: DET trailed MIN by 7 after the first quarter and won 115–90.

Final · Box score
Wolves90
Pistons115
Q1 DET -7; Q2 DET +8; Q3 DET +8; Q4 DET +25
Final · Box score
Bucks120
Pacers116
Q1 MIL +9; Q2 MIL +7; Q3 MIL +12; Q4 MIL +4
Final · Box score
Warriors114
Rockets110
Q1 GSW +3; Q2 GSW +2; Q3 GSW +8; Q4 GSW +4
Final · Box score
Clippers95
Pelicans89
Q1 LAC -5; Q2 LAC +2; Q3 LAC +8; Q4 LAC +6
Final · Box score
Suns106
Thunder110
Q1 OKC +2; Q2 OKC +1; Q3 OKC +7; Q4 OKC +4
Final · Box score
Blazers96
Jazz109
Q1 Jazz 0; Q2 UTA +18; Q3 UTA +15; Q4 UTA +13
On this day · 2014–15Dec 31, 2014: 7 games. Top scorer: Kevin Durant (Thunder-Suns), 44 points.
Dec 31 in other seasons2025202420232022202120202019201820172016201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001997
The lead · Wolves-Pistons

Detroit routs Minnesota by 25

Russell Westbrook goes for 36 points

Game flow · DET margin at each break
-35-25-15-5+5+15+25+35TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0-7+8+8+25DET AHEAD ↑MIN AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
Wolves2215332090
Pistons15303337115
Who led
Andre DrummondPoints, last 10 games: 18, 8, 20, 16, 33, 11, 25, 22, 13, 23DET23 PTS · 18 REB · 1 AST
Kentavious Caldwell-PopePoints, last 10 games: 13, 18, 19, 31, 17, 14, 12, 6, 9, 22DET22 PTS · 4 REB · 3 AST
Karl-Anthony TownsPoints, last 10 games: 18, 25, 15, 24, 25, 10, 24, 10, 25, 22MIN22 PTS · 9 REB · 3 AST
Andrew WigginsPoints, last 10 games: 23, 23, 32, 16, 26, 10, 19, 18, 17, 21MIN21 PTS · 3 REB · 1 AST
Second story · the whole slate

Three close finishes and one Pistons rout

Three of 6 games were decided by four points or fewer. Detroit beat Minnesota by 25.

MIL over IND4GSW over HOU4OKC over PHX4LAC over NOP6UTA over POR13DET over MIN25Final margin, points. Pink = decided by 4 or fewer, plus the widest win.
Lead changes
Suns-Thunder16
Blazers-Jazz4
Warriors-Rockets3
Clippers-Pelicans3
Wolves-Pistons1
The night in charts
Bucks-Pacers combined for 236, 12 more than any other game
Points by game
Bucks-PacersBucks 120, Pacers 116
236
Warriors-RocketsWarriors 114, Rockets 110
224
Suns-ThunderSuns 106, Thunder 110
216
Wolves-PistonsWolves 90, Pistons 115
205
Blazers-JazzBlazers 96, Jazz 109
205
Clippers-PelicansClippers 95, Pelicans 89
184
3 of 6 games were decided by 5 or fewer
Closest finishes
Warriors-RocketsWarriors 114, Rockets 110
+4 GSW
Suns-ThunderSuns 106, Thunder 110
+4 OKC
Bucks-PacersBucks 120, Pacers 116
+4 MIL
Clippers-PelicansClippers 95, Pelicans 89
+6 LAC
Blazers-JazzBlazers 96, Jazz 109
+13 UTA
Wolves-PistonsWolves 90, Pistons 115
+25 DET
DET rallied from 7 down, the night's biggest comeback
Biggest comebacks, at quarter breaks
Wolves-PistonsDET won · Wolves 90, Pistons 115
7 pts
Clippers-PelicansLAC won · Clippers 95, Pelicans 89
5 pts
Monroe shot 10-of-12 for the night's hottest hand
Hottest shooting · min 10 FGA
MonroeMIL · 23 PTS, 3 REB, 1 STL, 1 BLK
83% (10-12)
DrummondDET · 23 PTS, 18 REB, 1 AST
79% (11-14)
TuckerPHX · 22 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST, 3 STL
71% (10-14)
Jabari ParkerMIL · 14 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL
70% (7-10)
MiddletonMIL · 33 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL
67% (12-18)
Final · Warriors-Rockets
Warriors 114Rockets 110
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Warriors33282924114
Rockets30292328110
The story
Draymond Green had a 10-11-16 triple-double as Golden State beat Houston 114-110

Dwight Howard led Houston with 21 PTS, 13 REB, 5 AST 16 AST, 11 REB, 10 PTS · 3-7 FG, 1-2 3PT

The swing

The Warriors won the third 29-23, their biggest quarter edge.

GSW lead by quarter
200 +3+2+8+4 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Suns-Thunder
Suns 106Thunder 110
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Suns26272726106
Thunder28263323110
The story
Kevin Durant's 23 points carried Oklahoma City past Phoenix, 110-106

For Phoenix, PJ Tucker had 22 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST 23 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST · 9-21 FG, 2-8 3PT

The swing

The third quarter, 33-27, was where the Thunder built it.

OKC lead by quarter
200 +2+1+7+4 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Bucks-Pacers
Bucks 120Pacers 116
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Bucks33263031120
Pacers24282539116
The story
Milwaukee beat Indiana 120-116 behind 33 points from Khris Middleton

Paul George paced Indiana: 31 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST 33 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST · 12-18 FG, 4-6 3PT

The swing

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

MIL lead by quarter
200 +9+7+12+4 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle
Heating up
+9.2points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
15.8Season avg25.0Last 5

25.0 points a game over his last five games, against 15.8 in 33 earlier games. Today: 33 points in 37 minutes.

Losing minutes
−9.8minutes, last 2 vs 2014–15 avg
Minutes per game
28.62014–15 avg18.8Last 2

18.8 minutes a game over his last two games, against 28.6 in 2014–15 (41 games). Today: 7 points in 21 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+23.8minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
15.2Season avg39.0Today

39 minutes today, against 15.2 a game in 28 earlier games. Line: 12 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists.

Top performances

Klay Thompson leads the day with 38

Klay ThompsonPoints, last 10 games: 21, 39, 12, 43, 27, 20, 18, 29, 10, 38Warriors-Rockets · W
19.9 PPG season to date · +18.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
38 PTS · 7 REB · 0 AST
Russell WestbrookPoints, last 10 games: 25, 13, 27, 13, 33, 23, 26, 30, 27, 36Thunder-Suns · W
25.9 PPG season to date · +10.4 vs his regular-season average before tonight
36 PTS · 1 REB · 12 AST
Khris MiddletonPoints, last 10 games: 7, 16, 15, 16, 26, 21, 20, 15, 36, 33Bucks-Pacers · W
16.3 PPG season to date · +17.2 vs his regular-season average before tonight
33 PTS · 5 REB · 4 AST
CJ McCollumPoints, last 10 games: 22, 16, 24, 27, 20, 19, 16, 35, 29, 32Blazers-Jazz · L
21.0 PPG season to date · +11.3 vs his regular-season average before tonight
32 PTS · 7 REB · 6 AST
Paul GeorgePoints, last 10 games: 16, 19, 23, 29, 7, 12, 18, 9, 19, 31Pacers-Bucks · L
24.3 PPG season to date · +6.9 vs his regular-season average before tonight
31 PTS · 6 REB · 5 AST
James HardenPoints, last 10 games: 24, 33, 25, 18, 36, 31, 20, 25, 26, 30Rockets-Warriors · L
28.4 PPG season to date · +1.6 vs his regular-season average before tonight
30 PTS · 5 REB · 5 AST
Hot and cold

Last 10 games against the season so far

Hot
Klay ThompsonGSW+5.8 25.7 last 10 · 19.9 season
Will BartonDEN+5.5 22.2 last 10 · 16.7 season
Khris MiddletonMIL+4.2 20.5 last 10 · 16.3 season
Michael Carter-WilliamsMIL+4.0 16.1 last 10 · 12.1 season
Garrett TempleWAS+3.9 10.7 last 10 · 6.8 season
Cold
Paul GeorgeIND−6.0 18.3 last 10 · 24.3 season
Mo WilliamsCLE−4.7 6.7 last 10 · 11.4 season
Victor OladipoORL−4.3 8.0 last 10 · 12.3 season
Markieff MorrisPHX−3.6 6.9 last 10 · 10.5 season
Brandon KnightPHX−3.4 16.0 last 10 · 19.4 season