Baseline to Baseline recaps: Spurs lose and we have a DeAndre Jordan sighting

Our nightly roundup of all the action in the NBA. Or, what you missed while you were watching the first episode of the new season of Top Chef and thinking you could make an omelet….

Jazz 95, Lakers 86: Well, that was about as ugly as the Lakers have looked this season. Utah’s front line owned the Lakers, our own Darius Soranio broke it down.

Nuggets 93, Rockets 87: The Nuggets looked more like the Nuggets team a lot of us thought would give the better teams in the West trouble. D.J. Foster broke this down as our Game of the Night.

Clippers 106, Spurs 84: If DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin came out and played like this every night, we’d all be thinking the Clippers could be contenders. Jordan had 20 points on 10-of-12 shooting, 11 rebounds and was aggressive rolling to the basket like we almost never see from him, while Griffin added 22 points (on 16 shots) and 10 rebounds. The Clippers hit their first seven shots of the second half to pull away and never look back in this one.

The Clippers didn’t play with this kind of defensive energy against the Cavaliers or Warriors in recent games, they floated through those. This time they came out with a real focus to stop the other team. We’ll see if they can find that consistently. San Antonio falls to 4-1, after the game they just called it an off night for them. Which is also true, no Spur hit more than 4 shots from the field, but the Clips deserve some credit for causing part of it as well.

Celtics 98, Wizards 94 (OT): Boston didn’t look impressive but they got the win and that’s what counts. They jumped out to a 9-0 lead but never led by more, they shot 36 percent in the first half and let the depleted Wizards hang around. They got away with it.

Boston had a chance to end this on the last play of regulation, but rather than running a play we got to see a Rondo isolation three with no imagination whatsoever, and he missed it. In overtime Brandon Bass scored 5 to get Boston the win. Kevin Garnett had 20 points and 13 boards. Bradley Beal had 16 in his best game as a Wizard.

Suns 117, Bobcats 110: This ended up being one of the more entertaining games of the night, a game was tied 85-85 late before Phoenix pulled away. Mind you it was not one of the best played games — it lacked little things like defense, but it was fun. Shannon Brown had 24 points — 18 in the fourth quarter — and was a perfect 6-of-6 from beyond the arc to lead the Suns to the win. He got help from Michael Beasley who had his best game as a Sun with 21 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. Marcin Gortat had seven blocks. Byron Mullens had 24 to lead the Bobcats.

Hawks 89, Pacers 86: Welcome to the game of wild second half swings. Atlanta had been in the lead until an 18-0 run by the Pacers not only gave them a lead but a comfortable 14 point lead midway through the fourth quarter. Then Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver took over and Atlanta had an 18-0 run of its own to get the win.

Roy Hibbert continues to struggle this season — 9 points on 4-11 shooting and 7 boards. They need more from him with Danny Granger out.

Heat 103, Nets 77: Brooklyn is not a good defensive team. Miami is. That is what this game really was about.

Miami hadn’t shown a lot of defense yet this season but they held the Nets to 37 percent shooting overall and 3-of-21 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile the Nets could not figure out how to matchup with the Heat (they missed Gerald Wallace who was out injured). Brook Lopez was chasing Chris Bosh around and LeBron James and Dwyane Wade beat their men off the dribble and found nobody between them and the rim. The Heat were moving the ball crisply and it seems every shot they took was an open one. Wade had 22 points, LeBron 20 points (on 12 shots) and 12 rebounds. Rashard Lewis added 13 off the bench.

Grizzlies 108, Bucks 90: Memphis started the second quarter with a 9-0 run to take a comfortable lead and never looked back, cruising to a win on the road. Zach Randolph was a force with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Marreese Speights added 18 points and 11 boards off the bench. Everyone was pitching in for Memphis — Milwaukee made a run to get the lead down to 7 in the third quarter and Quincy Pondexter first then Wayne Ellington knocked down key threes and that was all she wrote.

Sixers 77, Hornets 62: No Anthony Davis, no Eric Gordon and no Austin Rivers meant no points — New Orleans scored a record franchise low as they shot just 33.8 percent and had 24 turnovers. The first half of this game was sloppy and ugly, but Philly opened the second half on a 10-0 run, took care of the rock and defended. Jrue Holiday had 14 points and 12 assists.

Mavericks 109, Raptors 104: Dirk who? Dallas is off to a fast 4-1 start with another win, this one earned without Elton Brand (wife having a baby), Shawn Marion (left knee), Rodrigue Beaubois (left ankle) and Dirk Nowitizki (knee surgery). Still Dallas was in control from the start, up double digits most of the night and got 22 from Chris Kaman and O.J. Mayo. Andrea Bargnani led Toronto with 25 points.

Kings 105, Pistons 103: Well, someone had to win this one. The Kings picked up their second straight win at home over a Pistons team that is winless and playing worse than pretty much anyone in the NBA. Sacramento took charge in the second quarter and never really looked back, DeMarcus Cousins had 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead the way. Greg Monroe had a triple-double in a loosing effort — 21 points, 12 boards and 11 assists.

Warriors 106, Cavaliers 96: No Anderson Varejao and no Tyler Zeller for Cleveland due to injuries meant it was the David Lee show for Golden State as he racked up 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Warriors to victory. The Warriors took control with a 17-4 run late in the third quarter, a run fueled by Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry (he finished with 19 points).

Timberwolves 90, Magic 75: This was a thrashing — Orlando needed a late 14-2 run to get the finals score as close as it was. To be fair, they got the lead down to five in the third quarter but Minny responded with a 28-6 run fueled by Greg Stiemsma scoring 10 of his 12 on the night, and that was it. Luke Ridnour led the Timberwolves with 19 points. Orlando shot just 35 percent for the game.