The 2014-15 NBA regular season continued on Monday, March 2 with a slate of five gritty games. There was a brawl, a relatively controversial player facing his former team and a number of ejections—and that all happened in the same outing.
This is how it all transpired.
1. Tyler Johnson scored a career-high 26 points and Goran Dragic went off for 21 in 15 minutes against his former team as the Miami Heat defeated the Phoenix Suns 115-98. Dragic went 5-of-9 from the field, 2-of-2 from beyond the arc and 9-of-9 from the free throw line, and Dwyane Wade dished out nine assists as Miami overcame 20 points and 14 rebounds from P.J. Tucker.
Dragic’s 21 points are the most by a player who saw 15 minutes of action or less since Kyle Lowry on January 15, 2013 and Henry James on April 15, 1997 before him.
2. Jarrett Jack beat the buzzer and the Brooklyn Nets beat his former team as Lionel Hollins’ crew picked up a 110-108 upset of the Golden State Warriors. Brook Lopez scored 26 points and Deron Williams had 22 for the Nets, while Stephen Curry led the Warriors with a team-high 26.
This was Brooklyn’s first home game since February 6.
3. Chris Paul and Ricky Rubio dueled as the Los Angeles Clippers stayed hot with a 110-105 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. CP3 had 26 points, 14 assists, four rebounds and three steals for the Clippers, while Rubio put up 18 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and a steal for the Timberwolves.
With 12 points and 18 rebounds, DeAndre Jordan recorded his ninth consecutive game with at least 15 boards—a Clippers record.
4. Monta Ellis and Rajon Rondo silenced the critics for a night as they led the Dallas Mavericks past the New Orleans Pelicans 102-93. Ellis scored a game-high 20 points and Rondo had 19 on 9-of-15 shooting, thus overcoming 19 points from Norris Cole and 13 points and 12 rebounds from Alexis Ajinca.
New Orleans had won five in a row leading up to this encounter.
5. DeMar DeRozan put up a season-high 35 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals on a perfect 10-of-10 shooting from the free throw line as the Toronto Raptors took down the Philadelphia 76ers 114-103. Ish Smith scored 19 points and Nerlens Noel was a perfect 7-of-7 for 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block, but Philadelphia ultimately fell short.
Toronto ends its five-game losing streak with this win.
Bonus Facts
- Chris Paul leads the NBA with 14 20-point and 10-assist games.
- Andrew Bogut scored 16 points in the first half of the Warriors’ loss to the Nets. That’s more than he’d scored in any other game this season.
- Tyler Johnson’s 26 points were more than he scored in any game he played during his four-year college career with the Fresno State Bulldogs.