Basketball Daily

The Sunday early afternoon game between the visiting Dallas Mavericks verse the Cleveland Cavaliers turned out to be an utter blowout in a game where the Mavs were up by 15 points at one time, but the Cavs turned up the defense and put on an offensive clinic, winning the game with ease.  The Cavaliers are the first team this year in the NBA to hit the 60 win mark.  The final score was 102-74.

The leading scorers for Cleveland were Lebron James with 24 points, Mo Williams with 22 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas with 14 points.  The high man off the bench was Joe Smith with 12 points on 4 for 8 field goal shooting.  The Cavaliers sported their throwback jerseys this game and still maintain the best record in the league.

The Phoenix Suns needing all the wins they can get, to try and make it to the Playoffs, got totally crushed against the home team Portland Trail Blazers.  It seemed somewhat competitive the first half, but then the Blazers completely dominated the Suns scoring at will and fighting on defense.  The final score ended at 129-109.

The leading scorers for the Blazers were Lamarcus Aldridge with 29 points, Brandon Roy with 26 points, Rudy Fernandez with 23 points and Steve Blake with 14 points.  Portland shot an impressive 60% field goal shooting as a team.  The Trail Blazers are a team that could be deadly in the Playoffs as they have pure talent with high athleticism players.  They improve their season long record to 45 wins and 27 losses.

The Miami Heat who won the first three meetings this year against the Chicago Bulls got struck down this time around.  The game was very competitive up until the third quarter where the Bulls grit and determination landed them a victory at home.  The final score was 106-87.  With the Pistons losing against the Lakers, the Bulls jumped up to the seventh seed in the East, percentage points ahead of them.

The leading scorers for Chicago were John Salmons with 27 points and Ben Gordon with 18 points.  The Bulls distributed the ball well playing an all around team game where all five of the starters ended up in double figures.  The high man off the bench was Brad Miller with 12 points.  The Bulls improve their year long record to 35 wins and 38 losses.