NBA Scores & More: Kobe Falls Apart, CP3 Carries Clips, Blazers And Thunder Burn Down The Barns

The New York Knicks got a much-needed boost on Saturday when Jeremy Lin's breakout performance off the bench guided them to a comeback win over the New Jersey Nets. On Monday, the stage seemed set for New York to squander that momentum in typical fashion. For one, Lin was hastily promoted to the starting lineup and seemed destined to regress with more pressure and against a better defensive team in the Utah Jazz. When Amar'e Stoudemire had to fly home to mourn the death of his brother and Carmelo Anthony strained his groin in the first quarter, Lin and the Knicks found themselves severely short-handed against a very big Utah team.

Luckily for the Knicks, it was also a sluggish and uncharacteristically sloppy Utah team. The typically careful Jazz committed twenty turnovers and didn't get nearly enough production from their big men. New York's defense, anchored by the ball-poking, charge-drawing Jared Jeffries (Tyson Chandler played just 22 minutes due to foul trouble), allowed Al Jefferson to score 22 points, but held Paul Millsap to just nine and kept the Utah bench mostly in check. Save for the occasional Gordon Hayward highlight, a little run of second half three-pointers from Raja Bell, and the occasional entry pass, Utah simply couldn't string together positive offensive possessions, and the Knicks made them pay on the other end of the floor.

Lin picked up right where he'd left off in the New Jersey game, running a clinical pick-and-roll with Chandler and Jeffries to either feed the big men inside (he had eight assists, but could have had a dozen if Jared Jeffries didn't buff his fingers before every game) or blow by Devin Harris for crafty finishes around the rim (a career-high 28 points). When the Jazz clogged the middle, Lin turned to none other than Steve Novak, who rose from the bench to go wild from downtown. Novak scored 19 points, including five threes, in just 17 minutes, and did so primarily off catches from Lin penetration.

After halftime, the Jazz wisely focused their defense on Lin and frazzled him into eight(!) second half turnovers. The Knicks managed to tread water throughout the third and fourth quarters, but the Jazz appeared to be threatening in earnest once the closing minutes came around. Then, off a Tyson Chandler tip-out of an Iman Shumpert airball, with just tenths of a second left on the shot clock, Lin did this:

And, yeah, that about did it. New York's win moved them to 10-15 (2-0 in the Jeremy Lin era), while the loss dropped Utah to 13-10 (and just 2-6 on the road).

Check out Posting and Toasting for more on the Knicks and visit SLC Dunk for all things Jazzy.

The visiting Oklahoma City Thunder shocked LaMarcus Aldridge and the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday by capitalizing on a questionable goaltending call at the end of regulation and pulling away for a 111-107 overtime win.Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Kevin Durant combined for 80 points -- including the final 36 scored by OKC on the night -- to overcome a spectacular 39-point performance by Aldridge. With LMA playing extremely well and Portland winning of 11 of their first 12 at home, everything suggested the Blazers would pull the game out. Instead, Durant kicked down the door and then closed it from the other side as the Thunder handed Rip City their second home loss of the season in spectacular fashion. Don't look now, but a rivalry may be developing in the Western Conference.

The Blazers relied on their biggest star for most of their scoring. LaMarcus Aldridge, who is awaiting a much-deserved All-Star nomination, simply could not be guarded for most of the night. Kendrick Perkins got into early foul trouble trying to hold him down, and Nick Collison took his turn as well, but Portland's big man ripped off 17 points on 8-10 shooting in the first half alone. He mixed low post moves with face-up jumpers and poured in seven straight field goals at one point in the first two periods, and somehow managed to keep up the same superhuman pace in the second half -- at least until crunch time. He dominated the game on the offensive end and defied a a healthy majority of the defensive efforts by OKC's frontcourt on his way to a game-high (and season-high) 39 points on 14-28 shooting and 11-11 from the free throw line.

With starting point guard Raymond Felton inactive due to a sprained left foot, Jamal Crawford opened in the starting lineup and came out firing. He scored 11 points on 4-9 shooting in the first half and 15 points on the night. He saved his only made field goal of the second half for the final minute of regulation, when he drained a clutch 16-foot jumper off pick-and-roll to give Portland a fleeting 103-101 lead that was eventually erased by a controversial goaltending call.

With Aldridge switched onto Durant in high pick-and-roll for the Thunder's final possession of regulation, the Durantula attacked the rim on a left-handed drive and tried to lay the ball up with his right hand on the left side. Aldridge stalked Durant's attempt from the beginning and swatted the effort off the backboard, but officials awarded the Thunder the basket because LMA allegedly pinned the layup against the backboard. The call tied the game at 103 and effectively sent contest into overtime, much to the chagrin of a boisterous Rose Garden crowd and Nate McMillan. The Crawford jumper marked the last time the Blazers would hold the lead on the night, but the warning signs developed much earlier in the game.

Even with Aldridge and Crawford getting off to a hot start and Westbrook, Durant and Harden combining for 10 early turnovers, Rip City hit the intermission trailing the Thunder by eight points. How is it that Portland found themselvestrailing at halftime for the first time in the Rose Garden since a January 11 loss to the Orlando Magic? Kevin Durant's 16 first half points certainly didn't hurt, but the true advantage came on the glass. Oklahoma City out-rebounded Portland 30-17 over the first two quarters of play, grabbing offense of rebounds on nine of their 20 misses and putting in 12 second chance points. Serge Ibaka did most of the damage by hovering around the basket and crashing the boards, as he snatched five offensive rebounds and scored 10 quick points on putbacks and easy looks in the paint. He ultimately finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds (7 offensive) and 4 big blocks, while OKC out-rebounded Portland by a margin of 59-39 on the evening.

Extreme volatility infused the action in the second half. The Blazers briefly reclaimed the lead with an early 12-0 run fueled by six from Aldridge, but OKC counter-punched with an 18-4 spurt punctuated by a trio of dunks from Westbrook off Portland turnovers. Then Nate McMillan used Nicolas Batum to switch pick-and-rolls involding Westbrook, Durant and Harden, and his defensive work helped erase an 11-point deficit to even the game at 93 with 6:52 remaining in regulation. After setting a franchise record with nine made three-pointers in Saturday's winover the Denver Nuggets, Batum cooled off considerably from beyond the arc and hit only one of his six attempts. However, the 6'8 Frenchman's defensive versatility bothered the Thunder's offensive flow and helped limit OKC to just 18 points in the fourth quarter -- including a 9-minute stretch where they only scored six points.

As mentioned above, the Thunder received some assistance from a very questionable goaltending call on a Kevin Durant drive with just six seconds left in the game, which set the score at 103-103 and led to overtime. The Blazers came out a bit stunned in the extra period, while Westbrook, Harden and Durant each scored quick field goals to give the Thunder a 4-point lead with two minutes left in overtime. The defense on Aldridge from Perkins and Ibaka suddenly suddenly turned from hopeless to harrowing in crunch time. LMA got pushed farther away from the basket and had to take more difficult looks as well, leading him to miss his final six shot attempts of the night.

Westbrook, Harden and Durant committed 15 of the team's 19 turnovers on the night, but there has been a method to their madness all season. OKC leads all NBA teams in turnover rate, but the eventual payoff has almost always been worth the trouble. As noted above, the dynamic trio scored 80 of the Thunder's 111 points, including a stunning string of the final 36 points OKC scored on the night.

Westbrook finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists, adding huge offensive rebounds in crunch time to help the Thunder keep the lead for good and coming up with 7 points and 3 assists in the fourth quarter and overtime. Harden stabilized the offense when Westbrook got into foul trouble in the first half, and finished with an important 19 points on 6-12 shooting and 6-6 from the line. As for Kevin Durant, he owned the night for OKC. Although KD only earned one trip to the free throw line the entire game, he still managed to produce a team-leading33 points on a career-high 33 shot attempts.

Oklahoma City improved to 19-5 overall with the win, including a 6-1 record in games decided by five points or less. Meanwhile, Portland dropped to 14-11 and is just 1-8 in games decided by five points of fewer so far this season. Here's a look at the goaltending violation. You make the call:

For more on the Thunder you can visit Welcome To Loud City, and Trail Blazers news and analysis is available at Blazer's Edge.

On a night when Kobe Bryant took another step up the ladder of statistical basketball immortality, it was Louis Williams who played the role of hoops hero as the Sixers' reserve guard scored 14 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter in the Sixers 95-90 win over the Lakers Monday night in Philadelphia.

As Williams went on a rampage in winning time, Kobe hiccuped over and over again down the stretch, dominating his team's offense late in the game and firing brick and brick for a 1-10 shooting fourth quarter.

Kobe started hot, shooting 8-14 for 24 first half points and, for a stretch, there was no shot Kobe wasn't attempting -- and making. But just as the first half was the hot side, the second half proved to be a very cold, cold place for the new No. 5 all-time scorer in NBA history.

In that 1-10 fourth quarter for Kobe, he attempted six consecutive Laker shots inside the last three minutes and seven of eight overall, a streak broken only by Pau Gasol's attempted tip of a Kobe miss. Of those seven, Kobe made only one against a variety of Sixers defenders that included mainly Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner.

While Kobe's frozen ropes seemed like they would never end for Laker fans, Williams' run was quick and through the heart of Los Angeles' defense. Lou made seven baskets in the game, and four came in the final four minutes at the most clutch of times:

86-81, Lakers -- Williams hits a three to make it 86-84, Lakers.

88-86, Lakers -- Williams makes a two, making it 88-88.

88-88 -- Williams makes another three, giving Philly a 91-88 lead.

91-88, Sixers -- Williams makes a two, putting the Sixers up 93-88, the final victory margin of five.

Also for Los Angeles Andrew Bynum posted his second 20-point, 20-rebound game of the year, making him only the second player in the league to have multiple 20-20s this season (Dwight Howard is the other).

Kobe passed Shaquille O'Neal for the fifth slot on the all-time NBA scoring list ending the night with 28,601 for his career total. He now puts Wilt Chamberlain in his sights for No. 4 on the list, 2,818 points away.

Silver Screen and Roll calls out the Lakers' collective inability to close out close games:

Late game execution continues hurt this Lakers team. Some nights Kobe tries to take over to the detriment of the team. Other nights he looks to facilitate and no one steps up. Tonight he got very good looks and simply failed to convert. Whatever the reasons, the Lakers seem to fall apart in close games, especially on offense. Against a playoff caliber opponent, blowouts are hard to come by. A team has to be able to win close grind-it-out games in the playoffs to win a title. The Lakers haven't shown any ability to do that this season.

At Liberty Ballers, Jordan Sams is relieved to win a game that, according to the stats, they probably should not have won::

What's even more shocking than Lou out-dueling Kobe down the stretch is, the Sixers won a game where they allowed an obscene 21 offensive rebounds and were out-rebounded in total, 55 to 30. Normally when a team is out-rebounded by 25 in the NBA, they're blown out, plain and simple (the last time the Sixers won when out-rebounded by 25 was 1994), but eight timely threes and a brilliant 27:4 assist-to-turnover ratio allowed the Sixers to stay within striking distance for Williams.

All you have to do is look at the Pacific Division standings to know that this has been an unexpected season for the Los Angeles Clippers. Perennial doormats in the division and in the Western Conference, the Clippers are currently leading the Pacific and sit second in the West. But even if you've grown accustomed to the Clippers winning games, you still might not have expected what happened Monday night, a dramatic 107-102 overtime victory over the Magic in Orlando.

The Clippers won by outrebounding and outshooting the team that leads the league in defensive rebounding percentage and three-pointers made. Then there's the fact that the Clippers had lost nine straight games against the Magic, their longest active losing streak against any opponent.

Of course, it has become apparent that you have to throw out the record books this Clippers season -- or at least divide the franchise history into the present day, and an earlier, dark ages-like period we'll call BCP3 (Before Chris Paul Era).

The Clippers have yet to lose this season when Paul scores at least 16 points, but in the first half of this one it looked as if that streak might be in jeopardy. Paul had nine in the first quarter, but the Magic built a lead as big as 15 behind the early dominance of Dwight Howard, who had 15 in the game's first 13 minutes. But a 14-2 Clippers run midway through the second quarter made it a game again, and an 11-2 run to open the second half put L.A. in the lead.

The Clippers built their lead as high as nine in the fourth quarter, but the Magic came back on the strength of Jameer Nelson (returning after a five game absence with concussion symptoms) and their outside shooting. Nelson had 10 points and three assists in the fourth, and a Ryan Anderson three with 2:45 left tied the game at 89. Orlando had a chance to take control with 45 seconds left in regulation, up three with the ball. But a Caron Butler steal led to a Blake Griffin fast break and a smart foul from Nelson. Griffin made one of two to tie the game, and Nelson's last second jumper wouldn't fall, sending the game to overtime.

Back to back three-pointers by Nelson and J.J. Redick gave Orlando a four point lead, their largest since the start of the second half, a couple minutes into the overtime, but Paul was far from finished. He assisted on a Butler jump shot to cut the deficit in half. Seconds later, he forced a steal and assisted on a Butler three that gave the Clippers the lead. On the Clippers' next possession, he lofted a baseline jumper high over Howard with the shot clock winding down, giving L.A. a three-point lead. After a Jason Richardson dunk, the Clippers closed the door with some clutch rebounding, grabbing two offensive boards on the next possession, using over a minute of the game clock in the process. The Magic were forced to foul to get the ball back, the Clippers made their free throws, Orlando missed their three-pointers, and the game was over.

Back to those unexpected statistics. The Clippers made 13 three-pointers (out of 31) to Orlando's 11 (out of 30). It was the fourth time in their last six games that the Clippers have made 11 or more three-pointers, and not surprisingly they've won all four. The Clippers outrebounded the Magic 46 to 37; L.A. began the season as one of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA, but the addition of Reggie Evans (who had eight boards Monday night) has made a big difference, and the impending addition of Kenyon Martin should help even more. Finally, the Clippers (the second worst free throw shooting team in the league ahead of only the Magic) made 22 of 25 free throws Monday night, a season-high 88 percent. It goes without saying that they don't win an overtime game without making that high percentage. The big difference was Griffin, who made six of seven (the potential game-winner in the final seconds of regulation was his only miss) after adding three dribbles to his foul line routine at the behest of coach Vinny Del Negro. That's good coaching.

Paul finished the game with 29 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists, running L.A.'s record to 10-0 when he scores at least 16. He scored 13 in the fourth quarter and overtime, or as he likes to call it, Winning Time. Griffin finished with 18 and 10 rebounds, and Chauncey Billups added 18, with all five of his field goals coming from beyond the arc. Unfortunately for the Clippers, the win may prove costly as Billups left in the fourth quarter with what was described as a left Achilles injury. The severity of the injury is not known at this time, and will be evaluated when the team arrives in Cleveland Tuesday, but it didn't look good as Billups was being helped to the locker room.

For Orlando, Howard finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds, but was limited to just two points and two shots after the third quarter. He did manage to foul both DeAndre Jordan and Reggie Evans out of the game. Jason Richardson helped out with 20 and Nelson finished with 15 and 12 assists.

The win is the Clippers' fourth straight on the road, and sixth of seven overall. They improve to 15-7 on the season while the Magic fall to 15-10.

For more on the Clippers, visit Clips Nation. To read up on the Magic, click through to Orlando Pinstriped Post.