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Cole Anthony and Harrison Barnes each put together impressive late games on the West Coast on Tuesday night but only Anthony’s effort came in a victory. Anthony collected 23 points, seven rebounds, nine assists and two blocks while battling foul trouble to lead the Orlando Magic to a 113–95 victory at Portland. His 19.1 game score was his 10th this season of at least 19 after doing it only twice during his rookie season.
As Caleb Love’s struggles continued, RJ Davis gave North Carolina just the backcourt boost it needed for 39 minutes. Then Love came through at the end. Love followed up a huge 3-pointer with 36 seconds left with a drive and dish for a Brady Manek layup with 3.1 seconds left. His heroics, and 60.7% second-half shooting, gave the Tar Heels a wild 79–77 bounce-back win at Clemson on Tuesday night.
Is there any doubt that Theo Pinson will thrive as a coach if that’s what he wants to pursue when his playing career ends? Pinson has been a team favorite at every NBA stop even when he hasn’t played much, and that’s been no different this season as a Dallas Maverick. With the New York Knicks last season, he was called the ultimate teammate while playing only 34 minutes over 17 games.
Walker Miller’s amazing season at Monmouth just keeps getting getter. Miller scored a game-high 22 points in Sunday’s 76–63 road victory over Quinnipiac for his fifth game of at least 22 points this season. He added a 3-pointer, six rebounds and two steals.
Reggie Bullock, in his ninth NBA season, stayed on a roll Sunday, scoring at least 20 points in three consecutive games for the first time in his career. Bullock scored 22 points, including a six 3-pointers and nine rebounds, both season-highs, in the Dallas Mavericks’ 103–94 home victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Dallas improved to 9–1 when Bullock scores at least 15 points.
Playing for the Sacramento Kings, some of Harrison Barnes’ best nights this season haven’t always been enough to produce victories. With the trade deadline looming Thursday and his name coming up in trade rumors, that wasn’t the case Saturday. Barnes collected 24 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals in one of his best games of the season to lead the Kings to a 113–103 home win over the Oklahoma City to snap the Thunder’s three-game win streak.
CHAPEL HILL — Instead of the greatest rivalry in sports delivering another memorable evening, it delivered North Carolina’s fourth blowout loss of the season. It was more painful for the Tar Heels than the first three because it was against No. 9 Duke, but was very familiar. The common elements were there again: a hot-shooting opponent, horrible UNC shooting, poor defense and the suspension of all hope because of a slow second-half start.
Reggie Bullock has evidently gained the confidence of Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd with his outstanding play of late. Bullock, starting for the first time since Jan. 7 and for only the 14th time this season, scored 20 points and made two clutch 3-pointers down the stretch in the Mavs’ 107–98 home victory Friday over the Philadelphia 76ers.
James Worthy is one of four coaches for the NBA Rising Stars team and, in a snake draft on Friday night, he picked Cole Anthony as one of the seven players on his team. All four coaches are members of the NBA’s 75th-anniversary team. The others are Rick Barry, Gary Payton and Isiah Thomas.
Harrison Barnes, Coby White and Cameron Johnson all had outstanding games on Thursday but they all came in road losses. Barnes collected 25 points, four rebounds and three assists as Sacramento lost to Golden State 116–114 in the second half of games on back-to-back nights after putting up 19 points in a home win over Brooklyn the night before.
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