Elias Says...
Special to ESPN.com
NBA
BYNUM HAS A 20-20 NIGHT
From Elias: Andrew Bynum had 21 points and 22 rebounds to help lead the Lakers to a victory over the Rockets on Tuesday night. Bynum (24 years, 68 days old) is the youngest Laker to register a 20-point/20-rebound game since Rudy LaRusso had 30 points and 21 rebounds on February 26, 1961 at the age of 23 years and 107 days old.
BULLS RALLY FOR WIN AFTER SLUGGISH START
From Elias: The Bulls outscored the Hawks 34-18 in the fourth quarter and rallied for a 76-74 victory in Chicago on Tuesday night. Chicago had only 42 points through three quarters, the lowest total entering the fourth quarter by a winning team in the shot-clock era. Prior to Tuesday, the lowest point total through three quarters for a winning team was 44 by Cleveland on January 2, 2007 and Boston on February 26, 2007.
KYRIE IS NEARLY FLAWLESS
From Elias: Kyrie Irving shot 80 percent from the field (8-for-10) and registered 20 points and six assists without committing a turnover in Cleveland's victory over Charlotte on Tuesday night. Since the NBA began tracking turnovers in 1977, only four other rookies scored at least 20 points, dished out six-or-more assists, shot at least 80 percent from the field and did not commit a turnover in the same game: Chicago's David Greenwood on January 22, 1980, Chicago's Chris Duhon on April 16, 2005, Atlanta's Al Horford on March 19, 2008 and New York's Toney Douglas on March 13, 2010.
SHARP-SHOOTING FOURSOME LIFTS GRIZZLIES
From Elias: The Grizzlies rode the sharp shooting of Sam Young (8-for-13), O.J. Mayo (8-for-11), Rudy Gay (10-for-16) and Marc Gasol (7-for-10) to a 113-96 victory over the Kings on Tuesday night. It marked the first time in the Grizzlies' franchise history that four players each made over 60 percent of their shots from the field on 10-or-more attempts in the same game.
ALDRIDGE CONTINUES TO SHINE
From Elias: LaMarcus Aldridge scored 30 points to help lead the Blazers to a 103-93 victory over the Thunder on Tuesday night. It was Aldridge's 13th game with 30-or-more points in the 86 games he has appeared in since the start of the 2010-11 season. That is nearly double the total number of 30-point games Aldridge produced (seven) in the 298 games he played in his first four seasons in the league.
JEFFERSON AND BAD SHOOTING DOOM BUCKS
From Elias: Al Jefferson registered 26 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots to lead the Jazz to a victory over the Bucks in Utah on Tuesday night. Jefferson is the first Utah player with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and multiple steals and blocks in a game since Carlos Boozer did it on November 5, 2009 (27 points, 14 rebounds, two steals, two blocks).
Milwaukee made only 30.5 percent of its field goal attempts in the game. That is the second lowest field-goal percentage the Bucks have ever recorded in a game in their franchise history. The Bucks shot 30.4 percent from the field against Detroit on December 27, 2008.
NHL
FOURTH CONSECUTIVE MULTIPLE-POINT GAME FOR OVECHKIN
From Elias: Alex Ovechkin scored one goal and assisted on another in the Capitals' 3-1 win over the Flames on Tuesday night. It was Ovechkin's fourth consecutive multiple-point game, matching the NHL high this season. The other players to record at least two points in each of four straight team games this season are Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk and Ovechkin's teammate, Nicklas Backstrom, who assisted on all three Washington goals in Tuesday's game. Ovechkin's streak represents a personal turnaround, considering that when it began, he had gone a career-high 23 consecutive games without a multi-point game!
SABRES TEAMMATES CONTINUE TO PRODUCE IN THE THIRD PERIOD
From Elias: Drew Stafford and Nathan Gerbe set up goals for each other just over two minutes apart late in the third period to break open a 2-2 game and send the Sabres on their way to a 4-3 win over the Oilers. Stafford scored the go-ahead goal with an assist by Gerbe with 5:26 left to play in the third period and 2:04 later Stafford returned the favor when he assisted on an insurance goal by Gerbe. Stafford has scored only seven goals this season but five of them have come in third periods, while Gerbe has posted nine of his 14 points this season in third periods (3 goals, 6 assists).
TAVARES LENDS A HELPING HAND
From Elias: John Tavares assisted on all three goals by the Islanders in their shootout win at Carolina. The three assists equaled Tavares' single-game career high, done three times before including once earlier this season (Dec. 3 at Dallas). Going into Tuesday's tilt Tavares had no assists in his eight career games against the Hurricanes.
LUPUL REACHES A MILESTONE IN FOUR-POINT EFFORT
From Elias: Joffrey Lupul reached the 300-point mark for his NHL career when he tallied the last of his four points (one goal, three assists) in the Maple Leafs' 7-3 win over the Lightning on Tuesday night. Lupul, who was selected seventh overall in the 2002 Entry Draft by Anaheim, is only the fifth player from his draft class to score 300 or more points in the NHL. The others are Rick Nash, Alexander Semin, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Jarret Stoll.
HALAK TURNS BACK COYOTES
From Elias: Jaroslav Halak stopped all but one of the 35 shots he faced in his 4-1 win over the Coyotes on Tuesday. Halak is 14-1-3 in the last 18 games in which he faced 35 or more shots on goal, dating back to December 2009.
HUDLER STAYS HOT
From Elias: Jiri Hudler scored a pair of first-period goals for the Red Wings in their 5-4 win at Dallas. Hudler went through a 20-game goalless streak from October 21 through December 4, the second-longest goal drought of his NHL career, but he leads Detroit with nine goals in the team's 14 games since then.