The Basketball Diaries

New Orleans Hornets 108 Chicago Bulls 97

So how do the Bulls respond after blowing an 18-point lead during a 40-point 4th quarter against the Sixers on Friday night? By blowing an 11-point lead against the Hornets, of course! Chris Paul literally carved the Bulls up during the 4th quarter as the Hornets outscored the Bulls 33-13 in the final frame. Paul finished the game with 37 points and 13 assists. "It was all Chris Paul," said Tyson Chandler, who finished with eight points. "The little man was all over the floor. It was incredible. It's one of the best performances I've seen from him yet. He, at least to me, made his bid [Monday night] to consider him the MVP." Ben Gordon scored 31 points for the Bulls, but he was guarding Chris Paul, so he gave up more than he got. Only 16 games to go.

Boston Celtics 93 San Antonio Spurs 91

The Celtics have played well against the West all season, but you have to figure a three-game road trip through Texas against the Spurs, Rockets, and Mavs isn't going to be easy. Even for them. It sure didn't look easy on Monday night as the Spurs jumped out to a 22-point lead in the first half as Boston played it's 2nd straight game without Ray Allen. The Celtics fought back though, led by Paul Pierce's 22 points, Rajon Rondo's 20, Sam Cassell's 17, and Kevin Garnett's 21. "A lot of teams may have buckled," said Rajon Rondo, who scored 20 points for the Celtics. "But we knew we had to execute. Continue to get stops on defense and we knew the game would change for us, and it did." Manu Ginobili led San Antonio with 32, but the Spurs have lost 6 of their last 7 games, and have fallen to 6th place out West.

Orlando Magic 104 Cleveland Cavaliers 90

The Magic buried the Cavaliers in a three-point barrage on Monday night. The Magic converted on 14 of their 32 3-point attempts to help overcome a bad shooting night everywhere else, led by Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu who drained three each. Lewis finished with 21 and Turkoglu 18. Of course, the reason those guys were open is one Dwight Howard, who didn't make any 3-pointers of his own, but did manage to finish with 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Magic. "The main focus is to get the ball inside to Dwight," Lewis said. "Obviously he demands so much attention and they can't guard him 1-on-1. They try to clog the paint and they leave us wide open out on the wing, so we take what they give us." LeBron finished with 30 points for Cleveland, but the rest of his team still sucks, so they lost.

Elsewhere...

• Pacers 110 Knicks 98
• Hawks 105 Wizards 96
• TWolves 99 Clippers 90
• Grizzlies 98 Bobcats 80
• Jazz 96 Raptors 79