Basketball Daily

The Detroit Pistons headed into Ohio to face off against the number one seeded Eastern Conference team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.  This game was a complete blowout from the onset.  The Cavaliers clamped down on defense and limited the Pistons from scoring the ball.  The Pistons have now lost 6 straight games and look defunct and lifeless.  The final score ended at 99-78.

This was Delonte West’s first game back from the fractured right wrist that put him on the sidelines over a month ago.  West shot lights out scoring 25 points on 8 for 11 shooting and 5 for 5 from downtown.  The King had 20 and Big Z had 16 points.  As a whole the team shot 55% from beyond the arc and only committed 6 turnovers the whole game.  Cleveland improves their record to 43 wins and 11 losses on the season.

The early afternoon game on Sunday proved to be good for the Indiana Pacers who beat the visiting Chicago Bulls at the Conseco Fieldhouse.  The All-Star Danny Granger is set to be out a month or more due to injury along with 2 other key players named Dunleavy and Tinsley.  This didn’t stop the rest of the team, who picked up the slack and came through with a nice win at home.  The final score ended at 98-91.

Leading the Pacers in scoring was Troy Murphy with 27 points on 8 for 16 shooting.  Right behind him was T.J. Ford with 19 points on 8 for 21 shooting.  Both Marquis Daniels and Jarrett Jack contributed 16 points each to the fray.  Surprisingly, the Pacers took care of the ball quite well committing only 10 turnovers as they are one of the worst in the league for turning the ball over.  This was a great win for the team due to all of the injuries suffered.

The Los Angeles Lakers has only lost 4 games this year at home and one of the teams that beat them was the New Orleans Hornets.  They met up once again and the Lakers had to fight tooth and nail to get the win, but they did in overtime.  The Lakers had a commanding lead heading into the fourth quarter but the Hornets shot lights out and held L.A. to only 19 points.  This sent the game into OT where the determination of the Lakers prevailed and they came away with a victory with the final score ending at 115-111.

All 5 starters for the Lakers ended up in double figures with Kobe Bryant leading the way with 39 points on 13 for 30 field goal shooting.  Pau Gasol contributed 20 points and Luke Walton had 14 points.  The high man off the bench was Trevor Ariza with 7 points.  The Lakers continue their dominance in the Western Conference and improve their record to 45 wins and 10 losses.