Inside the Paint: Denver & Boston Blow Late Leads

Chicago 94 Denver 92: Oh Denver. You let a Chicago Bulls team that was coming off of back-to-back loses to comeback in the fourth quarter to defeat you. No wonder Carmelo Anthony wants out of town. The Nuggets were leading 80-74 under seven minutes and allowed to the Bulls to go on a 16-6 run to defeat the Nuggets. Derrick Rose scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter. Funniest part of this game was the fact the Nuggets shot better from the field.



Orlando 97 Atlanta 89: The Hawks can't beat Orlando. After being swept by the Magic in the second round last year, the Hawks start out this year by once again losing to Orlando. Amazingly the Hawks shot better from the field and out-rebounded the Magic and still lost. The reason the Hawks lost was because they had six more turnovers than the Magic including a couple crucial turnovers in the last remaining minutes of the game. Dwight Howard scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Joe Johnson Quote: From the AP: “We have to be more disciplined on both ends, especially coming down the stretch,” Johnson said. “We made crucial mistakes down the stretch in both losses that pretty much hurt us.” That would be a problem Joe.



Toronto 102 Golden State 109: Stephen Curry scored a season-high 34 points against the Raptors on Monday night and added five rebounds and four assists to his totals. Curry had 16 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter to put away the Raptors. NBA scoring leader Monta Ellis had 28 points in the game, but was injured near the end of the game after he took a hard fall to the ground. Ellis had to be taken to the locker room for x-rays on his lower back. The Warriors will reveal the results to Ellis' x-rays later today.



Dallas 89 Boston 87:  Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points including scoring the final basket to give the Mavericks a two-point victory over Boston. The Celtics actually lead by five with less than two minutes to play. Then Nowitzki converted a layup and Jason Terry hit a 3-pointer to tie the game. Nowitzki then hit a jumper with less than 20 seconds left in the game to put Dallas ahead for good. This loss snapped the Celtics five-game winning streak. Rondo on the other hand keeps destroying assist records.

Create a Caption: Well that's just awkward.