Utah Jazz Vs. NY Knickerbockers

Quick Quick who leads the league in Double Doubles. I Know I Know it's Dwight Howard. You are absolutely wrong, it's David Lee(who I would love to sign) from the New York Knickerbockers. One of the reasons for this is because of the fast paced game the Knicks play.

The Jazz have struggled with fast-paced high-possession teams this year and more recently our two games against the Suns showed a lot of our weaknesses.

Transition Defense, Scoring on the Zone, and Uptempo play.
The Knicks will exploit these weaknesses even more than the suns did the Knicks just don't have as much talent as the Suns so the probably won't win. Everything that the suns do was the brain child of now Knick Coach Mike D'Antoni. You can assume that he watched the film from the past two games and will use our weaknesses against us.



Predictions-

4 Jazz players will have double doubles

Deron will have close to thirty points 27-28.

Boozer will not be sitting at the end of this game.

Jazz win by 6

Wallace scores 25, Bobcats beat Raptors 112-86

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Gerald Wallace scored 25 points and the Charlotte Bobcats began an important week for their playoff hopes by beating the Toronto Raptors 112-86 on Monday to snap a three-game losing streak.

D.J. Augustin added 15 points for the Bobcats, who moved within one game of idle Milwaukee and Chicago in the crowded and jumbled race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

With another game against Toronto and home games against struggling Sacramento and fellow playoff contender Indiana, the Bobcats are in need of a good week as coach Larry Brown tries to put the franchise into the postseason for the first time.

Chris Bosh had 18 points and 14 rebounds for the sloppy Raptors, who committed 24 turnovers.

Villanueva scores 19 as Bucks beat Celtics, 86-77

MILWAUKEE – Charlie Villanueva scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, and the Milwaukee Bucks held off the Boston Celtics 86-77 on Sunday.

Kendrick Perkins scored a career-high 26 points with 12 rebounds, but had little help from anybody else as Milwaukee denied the defending champions a chance to clinch their second straight Atlantic Division crown. Paul Pierce had 15 points.

Boston came in 2 1/2 games behind Cleveland in the race for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

With Milwaukee ahead 81-77, Eddie House missed for the Celtics. Luke Ridnour dribbled the clock down on the ensuing possession and lost the ball, but it rolled to Charlie Bell, who threw in a desperation 3-pointer with 48 seconds left to seal the victory.

Ridnour added two free throws for Milwaukee's final points.

The Celtics trailed 80-69 late in the fourth before Perkins pulled them back into the game. He converted a three-point play, and after Pierce made a free throw, Perkins sank two and added a dunk to make it 80-77 with 3 minutes left.

Francisco Elson blocked Pierce's layup with 1:54 left and Bell was fouled on the ensuing possession, making one of two to push the lead to 81-77.

A sloppy first-half struggle ended tied at 41, but the third belonged to Milwaukee.

Villanueva's basket put the Bucks ahead 43-41 and Milwaukee maintained a slim lead through most of the third. Boston led just once at 61-60 on Rajon Rondo's fast-break layup, but Ridnour answered with a jump shot for the Bucks, who then stayed ahead the rest of the way.

Already without All-Star forward Kevin Garnett and reserves Glen Davis, Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine, Boston had to play most of the second half without Leon Powe after he fouled out with 5:04 left in the third. Richard Jefferson, who had 17 points, sank both free throws, putting the Bucks ahead 56-50.

Powe scored just five points and grabbed six rebounds, far off his career-high 30 points and 11 rebounds in Friday night's 102-92 win over Memphis.

After the Bucks took a 54-49 lead midway through the third, Celtics coach Doc Rivers called a timeout and chewed out his players, but it didn't work.

Milwaukee had lost five of six and nine of 12 as it fights for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

A scary moment for the already injury-plagued Celtics came late in the second quarter.

Pierce had the ball at the top of the key setting up a play. Ridnour swiped at the ball, catching Pierce on the right side of his face. The Bucks scored after the steal while Pierce stayed on the Celtics' end covering his right eye. He dabbed at the eye with a towel, blinked several times and remained in the game.

Notes:@ Rivers said that Garnett, who has missed 11 games, wants back so bad that "if there was a treadmill Olympics, he'd be leading the pack right now." Rivers added that the chances for Garnett and Davis to play Friday at San Antonio were above 50 percent. ... Boston slipped to 6-5 in the last 11 games without Garnett (sprained right knee). ... Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and ends Ruvell Martin and James Jones followed the action from sideline seats.

Nowitzki's 34 leads Mavericks past Suns 122-117

PHOENIX – Now that Dallas has pulled away from the Phoenix Suns in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Mavericks are setting their sights higher. Dallas, behind a 34-point performance from Dirk Nowitzki, beat Phoenix 122-117 on Tuesday night to widen its lead over the Suns to five games for the eighth and final spot in the West.

"Make no mistake, though," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "We're trying to move up. We're not just trying to hang in this thing. We're trying to move up the seeding."

By opening a four-game road trip with a victory, Dallas is just a half-game behind Denver, a game behind New Orleans and 1 1/2 games behind Portland for the seventh through fifth spots in the conference.

Nowitzki scored 23 in the second half to send Phoenix to its fifth straight loss. The Suns' Steve Nash said his team came out flat in the second half, something he couldn't explain considering the importance of the contest.

"Dirk played great. He was unstoppable," Nash said, "but you know I felt like our output in the second half wasn't nearly up to where it could have been. Our concentration, I felt, could have improved a lot. I'm very disappointed with the way we played and competed in the second half."

Jason Terry added 25 points and Jose Barea 16 for Dallas, which snapped a five-game road losing streak. The Mavericks play at Portland Wednesday night.

"The first one is very big for our confidence and now tomorrow night we're going to face another huge challenge," Terry said. "This was good because now we can keep Phoenix in our rearview and keep pushing forward."

Nowitzki said it was important for Dallas to win on the road, something the Mavs hadn't done since Feb. 2 at Orlando.

"We know we can beat anybody at home," he said, "but I think the good teams and the great teams find a way to win big games on the road. That was definitely a big game for us tonight."

Shaquille O'Neal scored 21 on 9-of-10 shooting for Phoenix to pass Elvin Hayes for sixth on the NBA's career scoring list. Nash had 23 points and 13 assists for the Suns. Matt Barnes added 21 points.

"It was a tough loss and we're really disappointed," Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said, "but we still have 18 games to play. This was not the difference of us being in the playoffs and not being in the playoffs."

Dallas took final control with a 10-2 run late in the fourth quarter. Nowitzki made a pair of outside jumpers to start the spurt, then Jason Kidd sank two 3-pointers and it was 112-99 with 3:08 to play.

O'Neal got his 13th point of the night with 1:34 left in the first half to pass Hayes. With 27,322 points, O'Neal needs 88 to take over fifth place from Moses Malone.

"Pretty good," O'Neal said, "but I'd like to have a win tonight. All that stuff, it's cool, but it's not really important. It's all about winning."

Jazz 112, Pacers 100

At Indianapolis, Mehmet Okur scored 24 points and Utah won its 12th straight. Paul Millsap finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, Ronnie Brewer scored 18 points and Deron Williams had 12 assists for the Jazz, who moved closer to the franchise record of 15 consecutive victories.

Troy Murphy scored 23 points, tying a Pacers home record with seven 3-pointers, and grabbed 13 rebounds.

Cavaliers 87, Clippers 83

At Los Angeles, LeBron James recorded his second straight triple-double with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, Mo Williams hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds to play, and Cleveland rallied from a 19-point, fourth-quarter deficit.

Al Thornton and Zach Randolph each had 20 points for the Clippers. They used their 30th different starting lineup, with center Chris Kaman returning to action after missing 48 games because of plantar fascitis in his left foot.

Spurs 100, Bobcats 86

At San Antonio, Tim Duncan had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and the Spurs stopped Charlotte's franchise-record winning streak at six.

Raja Bell and Emeka Okafor each had 16 points for the Bobcats, who are a game behind eighth-place Chicago in their bid to make the playoffs for the first time since joining the NBA in 2004.

Knicks 120, Bucks 112

At Milwaukee, Nate Robinson scored 10 of his 32 points in the final five minutes, Larry Hughes added a season-high 39, and New York won on the road for just the eighth time this season.

Charlie Villanueva scored 32 for the Bucks, who came into Tuesday's game clinging to the final playoff spot in the East despite an injury-plagued season.

Thunder 99, Kings 98

At Sacramento, Calif., Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook each scored 24 points, and Oklahoma City held on for its fifth victory in six games.

Spencer Hawes had 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Kings, and Francisco Garcia made four 3-pointers and scored 18.

LeBron scores 42 in Cavs 107-100 win over Heat

MIAMI – This time, the Miami Heat were witnesses, not winners, because of a fourth-quarter comeback. LeBron James scored 42 points, Mo Williams got 17 of his 30 in the fourth quarter, and the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final minutes to beat the Heat 107-100 on Monday night.

Dwyane Wade had 41 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for Miami, strongly following up his 46-point effort two nights earlier against the New York Knicks, when the Heat rallied from 15 points down in the last 9 minutes.

The Cavs are now 47-12 — 35 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history.

Williams got the comeback going with two huge 3-pointers to spark a 12-0 run that erased what seemed like a comfortable lead midway through the final period. And James sealed it with 42.7 seconds left, blowing past Jamario Moon for a fierce right-handed slam to put the Cavs up 100-95.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 12 points and had 15 rebounds for Cleveland, which moved a full game ahead of idle Boston for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Jermaine O'Neal scored 16 points, Mario Chalmers added 15 and Moon had 11 for Miami, which shot 2-for-17 with four turnovers in the final 5 1/2 minutes to waste what was a 91-80 lead. Not to mention wasting the second straight 40-plus scoring effort by Wade, who pulled off that feat for the second time in his career.

Cleveland was 11-for-17 from 3-point range — James was 6-for-7 — while Miami was a mere 5-for-18.

Cleveland won in Atlanta on Sunday night, then boarded what was supposed to be a quick 90-minute flight to Miami. By the time the Cavaliers got to South Florida, the sun was coming up and it was time for breakfast.

Terrible weather kept the Cavaliers' plane on an Atlanta runway for 3 1/2 hours, and the team didn't get to its hotel until 7 a.m.

"We slept all day," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said.

Sure enough, the Cavaliers didn't look the least bit tired.

By the time the game was 10 minutes old, Cleveland had a 10-point lead. Delonte West created a five-point early swing by himself, intercepting a pass from Moon to deny Wade an easy transition dunk and then finding James open for a 3-pointer — part of a 14-point first quarter by the Cavs star.

Cleveland led 58-55 at the half after another 3-pointer by James a few seconds before the horn. Then Wade really got going.

He scored 15 points in the third quarter, three less than the Cavaliers managed, and Miami held Cleveland to 33 percent shooting in the period to build a cushion. Miami outscored the Cavs 17-5 over the final 5 1/2 minutes of the quarter, Wade blocked a dunk try by J.J. Hickson with 18.8 seconds left, and the Heat took an 82-76 edge into the fourth period.

James and Wade seemed like they were having a personal slam-dunk contest in the opening minutes of the final period.

James had a steal and two-handed windmill offering to get Cleveland within seven; Wade came back shortly thereafter with a steal and double-clutch reverse for an 91-80 Miami edge.

Over?

Not even close.

Cleveland ran off 12 straight points — the first eight coming in a span of 1:23, with Williams getting a pair of 3-pointers to quickly snap the Cavs right back into the game. And his leaning layup with 4:07 left not only gave Cleveland the lead, it had a crowd that spent most of the night chanting "M-V-P" at Wade actually booing for the first time.

They didn't have much to cheer the rest of the way, either.

Notes:@ Wade and James — close friends — inadvertently hugged each other to end the third quarter. Moon fired a pass down the left sideline, the two MVP candidates got entangled, then wrapped arms around each other to keep themselves from falling into the front row of seats. ... Brown was chosen the Eastern Conference's coach of the month, crediting his team. "I haven't played a second all season," he said. ... James was fouled twice on 3-pointers in the first half, making all six free throws. ... Cavs F Sasha Pavlovic checked in with 36.2 seconds left in the third period; he hadn't played since Feb. 8 because of a high ankle sprain. ... The teams play again Saturday in Cleveland.