Baseline-to-Baseline recaps: Thunder roll as Bulls need a Rose

Welcome to PBT’s roundup of yesterday’s NBA games. Or, what you missed while pointing out to friends the historical inaccuracies of “Argo”…

Lakers 103, Mavericks 99: The Lakers are starting to find their identity as a team… of course, some night’s that identity is Kobe Bryant. He dropped 38 points, 14 in the fourth quarter, had 12 rebounds and seven assists. The Lakers are in the playoff hunt and our Brett Pollakoff broke it down.

Thunder 102, Bulls 72: No doubt the Thunder are a very good team, a title contender, a team deep with talent. This game wasn’t about them. This is about how sad and pathetic the Bulls offense can be some nights — they shot 29.1 percent for the game. Or look at it this way, their shot totals by quarter: 6-of-30, 4-of-18, 7-of-20, 8-of-18. It was ugly. These are the games they miss Derrick Rose.

This was a rout from early on, when the Thunder went on a 19-5 run and never looked back. Russell Westbrook had 23, Kevin Durant had 29 and they could have played mahjong on the bench in the fourth quarter as they and all the Thunder starter’s watched as the benches were emptied.

Knicks 99, 76ers 93: So if you want some good news Philadelphia, Thaddeus Young is back and had a double-double (10 and 11). And Jrue Holiday looked every part the All-Star (30 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists). But right now the 76ers are crumbling and the Knicks are a playoff team trying to gear up for a run.

The Knicks needed a win after losing four in a row and got it with 29 from Carmelo Anthony and a season high 22 from Amar’e Stoudemire. The Knicks bench gave New York the lead with a 17-2 run to start the second quarter, and the Knicks never gave it up. They needed a win, now they need to build on it over the final months of the season.

Trail Blazers 92, Celtics 86: Boston is on a tough West Coast road trip and could use a win. And it looked like they could get one after a Kevin Garnett running hook tied the game a 86-86 with 1:46 to go.

But it wasn’t to be. Damian Lillard attacked off the pick-and-roll, the defensive rotation was late and he picked up and and-one. Then after some good defense taking away a Garnett drive and forcing a miss, then Wesley Matthews — who had an impressive 24 points on the night — knocked down the step back three that sealed it. Good win for a struggling Blazers team.

Heat 109, Cavaliers 105: Miami seemed to be in control after a 10-0 run in the first quarter and were cruising, up 18 at the half. The lead got to 22 at one point. But the Cavaliers opened the second half with some intent and opened it 42-21 and with a 15-2 run in the third quarter the Cavaliers took the lead.

Then Dwyane Wade happened. He had 15 points in the fourth quarter on 7-of-10 shooting and you can count a couple of assists in there, too. Dion Waiters tried to answer, the gunner had 8 in the fourth quarter and 26 in the game. But it wasn’t enough.

Grizzlies 76, Nets 72: Seven wins in a row for the Grizzlies. This game shows why Memphis will be a tough out come the playoffs. First, they defend — Brooklyn shot 37.7 percent. Drive the lane and you will pay a price against them as they are physical and will defend the rim. On offense it was five guys in double figures, led by Zach Randolph with 16. They don’t need a lot of points and they get what they need with balance.

Spurs 97, Suns 87: How did you really think this was going to end? The Suns hung around for a quarter but the Spurs opened the second quarter on a 22-4 and that was it. The final score makes it seem closer than it was. The Spurs has six guys scoring in double figures. San Antonio did it without Tony Parker who was out, and they finish the annual rodeo trip 7-2.

Warriors 100, Timberwolves 99: Golden State didn’t play very well, may not have deserved it (22 turnovers), but they got a big game from their All-Star David Lee (22 points, 13 rebounds) and key late shots from Jarrett Jack and Stephen Curry and it was enough. Well, that and a late miss by Luke Ridnour, who had a shot at the win but misses. It was really a big game for Carl Landry, too, who had 19 points and 9 rebounds.

There were a couple good performances for the Timberwolves — Derrick Williams had 23 and Ricky Rubio looked more like his old self with 13 points, 9 assists.

Hornets 110, Kings 95: This game was a lot closer than the score shows, the Hornets went on a 22-7 run in the fourth quarter to pull away. They did it with their bench — Ryan Anderson had 13 of his 17 in the fourth quarter, Roger Mason Jr. added 10 in the quarter. The Hornets won the bench battle 45-17.