Two Big Wins

Sunday was an exciting day in basketball. The Los Angeles Lakers beat Oklahoma City Thunder, the number two team in the Western Conference (105-96), and the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat, the number one team in the Eastern Conference (100-98), in an intense double overtime game.

Kobe Bryant came out of the game with 21 points, nine rebounds and a whopping 14 assists.  He made big passes and it paid off. Steve Nash contributed important points down the stretch, adding seven of his 17 points in the last five and a half minutes in the game and Pau Gasol was great off the bench scoring 16 points. Metta World Peace had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Since the Lakers’ season has been terrible thus far (and that’s putting it mildly), their win over OKC was quite impressive. Although Kevin Durant scored 35 points and Russell Westbrook had 17 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds, the Thunder finished their longest road trip of the season with a loss to the Lakers and an overall 3-3 away from home.

The Lakers will play the New Orleans Hornets back in LA tonight and OKC, after a well-needed break, will play the Memphis Grizzles on Thursday the 31^st at home.

Although Rajon Rondo’s torn ACL injury overshadowed the Celtic’s big win over the Heat (he’s out for the rest of the season—welcome to Chicago’s world, Boston), the game is worth being mentioned. Paul Pierce hit the game winning shot with just 30 seconds remaining in double overtime. Despite LeBron James’ 34 points and Chris Bosh’s 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Heat, Miami lost by two. Pierce came out with a triple-double (17 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists) and Kevin Garnett carried the team missing its point guard with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Boston’s win over Miami ended the Celtic’s six-game losing streak.

Tomorrow night, the Celtics will play the Sacramento Kings at home and the Heat will play the Brooklyn Nets in New York.