The Basketball Diaries

Boston Celtics 94 Houston Rockets 74

It would have been a bit more poetic had the Celtics been able to manage 96 points so that they could have ended the Rockets 22-game winning streak with a 22-point victory, but the point is still the same anyway. As has been known all along, the Rockets streak was amazing, but it still didn't make them the best team in the NBA. That title has belonged to the Celtics all season, and they let the Rockets know all about it. Paul Pierce led the way with 20 points, while Kevin Garnett had 22 and 11 boards. Leon Powe also had a big game off the bench, dropping 21 points of his very own. That means in two nights the Celtics have beaten the Spurs and Rockets, and they'll look to sweep Texas on Thursday night. As for how the Rockets feel about the streak ending? "It's not disappointing," Tracy McGrady said. "It's a hell of a team over there. They outplayed us. I've never seen a defense like that. I mean, if they play defense like that, night in and night out, the NBA is in trouble because that was defense at its finest." And Tracy would know. He only managed 8 points on 4-of-11 shooting.

Los Angeles Lakers 102 Dallas Mavericks 100

For a while on Tuesday night, it looked like the Lakers were going to get an easy win in Dallas. Kobe Bryant scored 20 of his 29 points in the first half, as Los Angeles built a 25-point lead in the middle of the 3rd quarter. That's when Kobe stopped scoring, and the Mavs went on a run and got to within a last second Dirk Nowitzki jumper to win the game. Unfortunately, after Dirk fumbled the inbound pass and got two Lakers in the air on a ball fake, he dodged both and took an impossible shot that caromed harmlessly off the backboard. Had he just jumped into the Lakers, he's got three free throw attempts to win the game.

Chicago Bulls 112 New Jersey Nets 96

I had the option of watching one game on Tuesday night: Rockets/Celtics or Bulls/Nets. Which one do you think I chose? I hear the Bulls tried to blow another huge lead but actually held on to win a game that has huge playoff implications. Well, as huge an implication can be when a team is still 27-40. Luol Deng had 20 points, and Drew Gooden had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Ben Gordon also came up big in the 4th quarter as he scored 10 of his 17 points in the final frame.

Elsewhere...

• Pistons 136 Nuggets 120
• Heat 112 Bucks 106
• Kings 122 Warriors 105
• Suns 111 Blazers 98