Elias Says...
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NBA
ANTHONY'S LAST FOUR GAMES
Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the Nuggets' 97-87 win over the Wizards. Anthony has 130 points and 40 rebounds over his last four games. It's the second time Anthony has reached those levels in points and rebounds over a four-game span. He had 130 points and 50 rebounds in four games in December 2007. Only two other Denver players have had 130/40 points/rebounds over any four-game span: Dan Issel in 1980 and Antonio McDyess in 1999.
Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards
JAMES' FIRST TRIPLE-DOUBLE VS. PISTONS
LeBron James scored 29 points to go with his 12 rebounds and 12 assists in the Cavaliers' 113-101 win at Detroit. It was James' 26th career regular-season game against the Pistons, tying his most versus any opponent. But it was his first triple-double against Detroit. The only Eastern Conference teams that LeBron hasn't scored a triple-double against are the Wizards (in 24 games), Hawks (23) and Knicks (23).
Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers
MAXIELL'S REBOUND STREAK CONTINUES
Jason Maxiell grabbed 15 rebounds in the Pistons' 113-101 loss to the Cavaliers. Maxiell now has at least 10 rebounds in six straight games. That ties the Rockets' Luis Scola for the longest current streak of double-digit rebound games.
Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers
SUNS SCORE 152
The Suns blew out the Timberwolves 152-114. That's the most points scored by any NBA team since Phoenix beat Golden State 154-130 on March 15, 2009, 366 days ago.
The Suns scored at least 35 points in each quarter for the second time in team history. The other was in a 160-128 win over the Trail Blazers in 1972.
Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves
GASOL DOMINANT FROM FLOOR, ON BOARDS
Pau Gasol was 12-for-14 (86%) from the floor and pulled-down 12 rebounds in the Lakers' 106-99 win at Sacramento. Gasol is the third different player to shoot at least 85% from the field (minimum 10 FG) while grabbing at least 10 rebounds in a game this season. Gasol's teammate Andrew Bynum was also 12-for-14 with 12 rebounds on January 27 at Indiana. And Dwight Howard had two such games: 11-for-11 with 16 rebounds on February 24 at Houston and 12-for-14 with 16 boards Sunday against Charlotte.
Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings
NETS BLOWN OUT DESPITE BOONE'S 20 BOARDS
Josh Boone had 20 rebounds in the Nets' 108-84 home loss to the Hawks. No player has had that many boards in such a big loss since the Nuggets' Dikembe Mutombo also got 20 in a 114-88 loss at Utah on January 11, 1995.
New Jersey Nets, Atlanta Hawks
SPURS WIN DESPITE DUNCAN'S POOR SHOOTING
Tim Duncan was 5-for-15 (.333) from the field in the Spurs' 88-76 win at Miami. San Antonio had been 3-11 against winning teams over the last four seasons in games where Duncan made one-third or fewer of his field-goal attempts.
GRIZZLIES STARTERS CONTINUE TO SCORE
O.J. Mayo, Mike Conley, Zach Randolph, Rudy Gay and Hasheem Thabeet all scored at least ten points in the Grizzlies' 104-97 win over the Bulls. It was the 29th time this season that all five of Memphis' starters scored double-digit points. That's the highest total for any NBA team. Next most is the Celtics (21).
Memphis Grizzlies, Chicago Bulls
BOBCATS CAN'T HOLD EARLY LEAD
The Bobcats led 24-20 at the end of the first quarter but couldn't hold on and lost, 99-94 at Indiana. Entering Tuesday, Charlotte had been 15-2 (.882) when leading by at least four points at the end of the first period, the second-best record in the NBA behind the Lakers (24-2, .923).
Charlotte Bobcats, Indiana Pacers
NHL
TAVARES TIES ISLES ROOKIE RECORD
John Tavares scored two goals and assisted on three others in the Islanders' 5-2 win at Vancouver. Tavares tied the Isles' rookie record for points in a game. The last Islanders rookie with a five-point game was Mikko Makela against the Maple Leafs on January 28, 1986. The others were Dave Hudson (in 1973), and Hall-of-Famers Bryan Trottier (twice in 1975), Mike Bossy (1977) and Pat LaFontaine (1984).1984
New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks
PHIL KESSEL HAS SENATORIAL VETO POWER
Phil Kessel scored the first goal for the Maple Leafs in their 4-1 win at Ottawa. Kessel has scored goals in each of his last seven games against the Senators, dating back to last season when he played for the Bruins. Kessel scored three goals in his final two games versus Ottawa in 2008-09 and he has six goals in five games against them with Toronto this season. Only one other player has had such a long goal-scoring streak against the Senators. Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk also lit the lamp in seven straight games against Ottawa from 2004 to 2007.
Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators
MUELLER'S SCORING STREAK
Peter Mueller scored two goals and assisted on one in Colorado's win at St. Louis. Mueller, who was acquired from the Coyotes on trading deadline day (March 3), has scored points in each of the seven games he's played for Colorado (four goals, seven assists). The only other players to record points in each of the first seven (or more) games they played for the Nordiques/Avalanche franchise were Joe Sakic (12), Wendel Clark (10) and Theo Fleury (7).7
Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues
A SHORT NIGHT FOR RYAN MILLER
The 317th regular-season start of Ryan Miller's NHL career was also his shortest as he was pulled from the net in the Sabres' game in Atlanta after allowing three goals on five shots in the first 5:40. Only twice before had Miller failed to finish the first period in a regular-season game he started: Dec. 2, 2006 at Washington (pulled after 7:45, 3 GA on 9 shots) and Feb. 16, 2008 against the Rangers in New York (lifted after 12:25, 4 GA on 11 shots).
Buffalo Sabres, Atlanta Thrashers
OVECHKIN NOT NEEDED
The Capitals, minus the suspended Alex Ovechkin, routed the Panthers, 7-3. It was the fifth time this season that Washington scored seven goals or more in a game this season and remarkably, Ovechkin has not played in three of those games! In addition to Tuesday's game in Sunrise, he missed the Caps' 7-4 home win against Florida on November 7 and their 8-2 victory at Philadelphia on December 5.
Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers
RIBEIRO THRIVES ON SPECIAL TEAMS
Mike Ribeiro scored a shorthanded goal and a power play goal for the Stars as they crushed the Sharks, 8-2, on Tuesday. Ribeiro also had a shorthanded and a power play goal against the Flames on February 11. He's the only NHL player with two such games this season.
HARDING IMPRESSIVE IN GOAL AGAIN
Josh Harding, making his fourth consecutive start in goal for the Wild in place of the injured Niklas Backstrom, won his third straight game with a 4-2 victory against Edmonton on Tuesday. In doing so, Harding became the first goaltender in Wild franchise history to post three consecutive wins while allowing no more than two goals and facing over 35 shots in each game.
Minnesota Wild, Edmonton Oilers
A RARE EARLY GOAL IN BRUINS-CANES GAME
The Bruins' Patrice Bergeron opened the scoring in Boston's game at Carolina with a goal 23 seconds into the first period. Entering play on Tuesday, the Bruins and Hurricanes were the only NHL teams that had neither scored nor allowed a goal in the first minute of a game this season.
Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes
KOSTITSYN FINALLY GETS SCORING TOUCH
Sergei Kostitsyn extended his goal-scoring streak to a career-high three games when he notched the game-winner for the Canadiens in their 3-1 victory over the Rangers. Kostitsyn has scored four goals over his last three games, twice as many as he had recorded this season before his current surge (two goals in 35 games).
Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers
BRYZGALOV WINS AGAIN
Ilya Bryzgalov earned first-star honors by making 27 saves in his 2-1 win against the Lightning in Tampa. Bryzgalov lost his first game after the Olympic break, giving up five goals to the Blues and getting pulled after the second period, but he's won all five games he's played since then, allowing a total of five goals.
Phoenix Coyotes, Tampa Bay Lightning