Elias Says...
Special to ESPN.com
NBA
JEFFERSON SCORES 33, HITS FIRST 3-POINTER OF NBA CAREER
From Elias: Al Jefferson scored 33 points, climaxed by the first three-point field goal of his NBA career, as the Jazz put on a furious finish to dispatch the Pistons, 105-90. Jefferson broke an 87-87 tie with a field goal with 4:01 remaining in the quarter, propelling Utah on an 18-3 run to end the game. Jefferson's three-pointer, his first in 24 attempts in his NBA career, came in his 527th game; the last player who started his NBA career with as many misses on three-point field-goal attempts was Michael Cage, who finished his 1,140-game career in the 1999-2000 season, having missed all 25 of his attempts from beyond the arc.
PARKER, BACK FROM INJURY, STILL SIZZLES
From Elias: Tony Parker scored 31 points, hitting 13 of 18 shots from the floor, as the Spurs glided past the Wizards, 112-97. It was the third straight game in which Parker has scored 25-or-more points and has shot better than 60 percent from the floor: he did so against Denver (25 points, 10 of 16) and New York (32 points, 12 of 19) last week, before missing the Spurs' last game (Friday against the Clippers) with a quad injury. It's the first time in Parker's 11 seasons in the NBA that he has had three games in a row of that nature.
San Antonio Spurs, Washington Wizards
HUMPHRIES ENDS NETS' NBA-RECORD 30/15 DROUGHT
From Elias: Kris Humphries had 31 points and 18 rebounds in New Jersey's loss to the Bucks on Monday, becoming the first Nets player to produce 30 points and 15 rebounds in a regulation-length game since Shawn Bradley had 32 points and 15 rebounds in a loss at Dallas on March 5, 1996. The Nets had gone 1,190 consecutive regulation-length games without any of their players producing a 30/15 (points/rebounds) game - the longest such streak for any team in the history of the NBA!
New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks
JENNINGS LEADS BUCKS TO COMEBACK WIN
From Elias: Brandon Jennings scored 34 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, as the Bucks roared back to defeat the Nets, 105-99, in Newark. Milwaukee had come into the game as the only NBA team shooting below 40 percent from the floor in the fourth quarter of games this season, but in made 13 of 22 field-goal attempts (59 percent) in the final period vs. New Jersey. But Monday's game marked the eighth time this season that the Bucks have won a game in which they trailed by a double-digit margin (the Nets had led by 12 at one point), tying the Nuggets and the Knicks for the second-highest total in the NBA this season, behind the Thunder, which has won 10 such games.
New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks
PIERCE & GARNETT TOUGH IN 4TH QUARTER
From Elias: Paul Pierce scored 10 points in the fourth quarter as the Celtics outlasted the Clippers, 94-85, in Los Angeles, but it was Kevin Garnett's turnaround jumper with just over 30 seconds remaining that broke the back of the Clippers' attempted rally. Garnett hit three of five shots in the fourth quarter on Monday night, and he has hit 51 percent of his field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter this season. (All other Celtics players have made 41 percent of their fourth-quarter field-goal attempts this season.)
Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers
BULLS USE REBOUND ADVANTAGE TO BEAT KNICKS
From Elias: Taj Gibson came off the bench and provided 15 points and 13 rebounds in less than 27 minutes to help the Bulls to a 104-99 victory over the Knicks. In all, the Bulls continued their season-long mastery of the boards, out-rebounding New York, 56 to 38, and capturing 22 offensive rebounds along the way. That marked the 30th time in 44 games this season that Chicago has won the battle of the boards, the highest rate for any team in the league.
Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks
LOVE LOVES THOSE THREES
From Elias: Kevin Love tied a career high with five three-point field goals as he collected 30 points in the process of leading the Timberwolves to a 127-124 victory in Phoenix. Three of Love's three-pointers came in the back-and-forth final quarter, marking the first time in his NBA career that he has hit three threes in a game's fourth quarter.
Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves
FOR BOBCATS, IT DON'T COME EASY, EVEN IN THE BIG EASY
From Elias: The matchup between the 10-31 Hornets and the 5-34 Bobcats? Hey, at least it was close. Charlotte took a 71-58 lead with 7:43 remaining in the fourth quarter, then held on to win, 73-71, as the Bobcats scored only two points in the last 7:43 of the game. It has been nearly 11 years since a NBA team last won a game in which it scored so few points over that length of time to finish out the game; on April 1, 2001, the Pistons took a 102-73 lead on the Warriors with 8:24 remaining, then meandered their way to a 104-87 victory.
Charlotte's Gerald Henderson and New Orleans's Jarrett Jack shared game-high honors with 15 points. It was only the third game in the NBA this season in which no player on either team scored more than 15 points - and the other two were blowout losses suffered by... you guessed it... the Bobcats (102-72 to the Spurs on March 2) and the Hornets (96-81 to the Mavericks on January 7).
Charlotte Bobcats, New Orleans Hornets
NHL
1ST NHL OVERTIME GOAL FOR ROOKIE LANDESKOG
From Elias: Gabriel Landeskog scored the game-winner 1:52 into overtime as the Avalanche took a 3-2 decision from the visiting Ducks. Landeskog, at the age of 19 years and 110 days, became the youngest player to score an overtime goal since the franchise, then in Quebec, entered the NHL in 1979 (though overtime didn't begin until 1983). Landeskog is just the fifth rookie to score an overtime goal in the NHL this season. The others: New Jersey's Adam Henrique, Tampa Bay's Brett Connolly, Ottawa's Jared Cowen and Carolina's Justin Faulk.
Colorado Avalanche, Anaheim Ducks
SELANNE MOVES UP THE LIST
From Elias: Teemu Selanne's game-tying third period goal was the 1,399th point of his NHL career, allowing him to take sole possession of third place on the list of NHL points leaders among European-born players, passing Jari Kurri (who, like Selanne, was born in Finland) at 1,398 points, behind two players born in Czechoslovakia: Jaromir Jagr (1,645) and Stan Mikita (1,467). (Mikita emigrated to Canada when he was eight years old.)
MILLER STAYS HOT FOR SABRES
From Elias: Ryan Miller stopped 26 shots in the Sabres' 3-2 overtime win over the Canadiens. Miller is 9-1-1 with a 1.78 goals-against average with a .944 save percentage over his last 11 games, dating back to February 19. That's the most wins for any goaltender in the NHL since that date.
Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens
LATE GAME-TYING GOAL GOES FOR NAUGHT
From Elias: David Desharnais scored at 19:55 of the third period to send Monday night's Canadiens-Sabres game to overtime. Although the Canadiens lost in the extra period, the goal by Desharnais was the latest game-tying goal by a Montreal player since Dec. 22, 1989, when Shayne Corson scored at 19:58 of the third period, also at Buffalo. (That game ended in a 2-2 tie.)
Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens
COUTURE: 60 GOALS OVER 2 SEASONS
From Elias: Logan Couture's power play goal in the third period lifted the Sharks to a 3-2 victory in Edmonton and ended a seven-game goal-scoring drought for Couture. It was his 28th goal of this season, four short of his total from last season; his total of 60 goals over the last two seasons puts him in a tie for tenth place in the NHL over that span.
Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks
ERAT's LEADS PREDATORS
From Elias: Martin Erat had a goal and two assists and the Predators went on to take a 5-4 shootout victory over the Coyotes in Arizona. Erat had accumulated three points in only two of his last 84 games, and Monday's game marked his first three-point game in 35 games against Phoenix.
Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators