Tuesday Night Tip-Dunk: Wizards Hex Harris, Spurs Still Rusty, Tacos in Denver

Washington Wizards 108, at New Jersey Nets 88

The Washington Wizards were able to contain red-hot point guard Devin Harris and his wingman Vince Carter on their way to a 20-point victory. It was the Wizards' third win of the season, but second under Ed Tapscott in four games.

Coming into the contest, Devin Harris was averaging a league-leading 9.7 free throws made per game.  The Nets are 7-1 when Harris shoots over 10 free throws in the game.  In those eight games Harris has averaged 31.3 points. 

On Tuesday Night Harris was limited to three free throw attempts, capitalizing on all of them.  He finished with 18 points and two assists.

Caron Butler has played especially well under Tapscott.  He has averaged 25.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and two steals per game, with two double-doubles in the four games. 


Portland Trail Blazers 104, at New York Knicks 97

Greg Oden started the game with two missed dunks for the Blazers, who have been sub-par on the road this year.  It may have been the bright lights or the busy streets, but Oden was a non-factor, with only two points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes of play. 

Rudy Fernandez seemed to be right at home, however.  The Spaniard had an impressive fan-base at the game and canned two fourth-quarter threes to the delight of the New York fans, finishing with 18 points.

Along with Fernandez, Joel Pryzbilla really stepped it up against the under-sized Knicks.  The former Minnesota Golden Gopher finished with eight points and 14 rebounds.  Pryzbilla is shooting an unprecedented 81.9 percent from the field this season, which means his four-for-six shooting-night actually hurt his percentage. 

The Knicks were out-rebounded 36-to-54 by Portland.


Detroit Pistons 89, at San Antonio Spurs 77

Spurs season ticket holders were ecstatic to cheer on a starting lineup that included Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili for the first time this season. 

After three quarters, the Spurs were down by two, and fans were on the edge of their seats, ready for a come-from-behind victory.

Unfortunately for San Antonio, Rasheed Wallace and the Detroit Pistons outplayed them in this battle of the Alamo.   Wallace hit three threes to spearhead a 28-to-14 fourth quarter for Detroit. 

The Spurs big three combine for 54 points, 70.1 percent of the team's 77 points.  The trio shot 43.1 percent from the field while the rest of the Spurs shot 33.3 percent. 

With the Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili back, Greg Popovich has to continue to get to most out of his role players in order to get the Spurs back in the playoffs.


Toronto Raptors 93, at Denver Nuggets 132

Denver fans were enjoying three tacos for a dollar, thanks to a team effort from the Nuggets Tuesday Night.

Or maybe it was the lack of effort from the Raptors, who have been outscored by 46 points through two games of their Western road trip.  Things won't get any easier either, as Toronto, at 8-9, heads into Utah on Friday.

With 7:38 left to play, Cheikh Samb checked into the game.  If you're not familiar with Samb, he was the player who had you saying, "Who?" in the Chauncey Billups-Allen Iverson trade.  Having logged only 11 minutes for Denver in four games, Samb was still searching for his first points of the season.

In eight minutes of play, the 7'1" native of Senegal had career highs of four points, six rebounds, and two blocks.  Over 36 minutes, those numbers project to 18 points, 27 rebounds, and nine blocks.  Watch out.


Los Angles Clippers 98, Dallas Mavericks 100

The Jason Kidd stat-watch continues as he was held scoreless on the night.  It was the sixth time in his career he has been held to zero points.  Kidd's teams are 3-3 in those games.