From the clutch to the savvy to the dominating--at home and overseas--the NBA's finest showed off their best this week.
In a fast-paced, high-scoring game between two of the league's youngest and most exciting teams, the L.A. Clippers' Blake Griffin and the Houston Rockets' James Harden clashed head to head, but even without Chris Paul, the Clippers cruised to a 117-109 win against the Rockets Tuesday at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
On Wednesday, Jeremy Lin kept the Rockets in the game with 19 points, but in the end, the Mavericks proved to be too much for them to handle, extending Houston's losing streak with a 105-100 Dallas win.
On Thursday, the New York Knicks traveled to England as the NBA showcased the Atlantic Division-leading Knicks against the Detroit Pistons, and Carmelo Anthony's 26 points and Tyson Chandler's all-around play led the Knicks to a 102-87 win on international soil.
That same day, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers squared off against LeBron James and the NBA Champion Miami Heat, in a game where James dominated with 39 points to lead the Heat to a 99-90 win against the struggling Lakers.
And on Friday, Kevin Durant had a field day against Dallas, scoring a career-high 52 points and the game-winning jumper in overtime to lead the Thunder to a 117-114 win against the Mavericks.
Latinos Post breaks down the Top Five Plays of the Week:
5. Iman Shumpert feeds Tyson Chandler for Dunk in England
The NBA showcased its global appeal on Thursday in England when the New York Knicks defeated the Detroit Pistons 102-87 in a game where the Knicks started out fast fright out of the gate. One of the big highlights came in the third quarter wit 8:21 remaining, as the returning Knick Iman Shumpert, back from ACL rehab, found Knicks center Tyson Chandler with a slick bounce pass that the athletic Chandler turned into a thunderous dunk.
4. Jeremy Lin's acrobatic shot against Dallas
Even though the Rockets lost a 105-100 heartbreaker to the Mavericks on Wednesday, Lin had a solid outing with 19 points and five assists. One of his best came during the second quarter, when he sliced through two defenders and drove to the lane for a tricky one-handed shot against Dallas at the 10-minute mark.
3. Blake Griffin turn's Omer Asik's botched pass into one-handed jam
Griffin is one of the most exciting players in the NBA--and the last guy you want to give a turnover to.
But that's exactly what Omer Asik, Houston's center, did on Tuesday, botching a pass to Jeremy Lin that Griffin picked off, raced to the other end of the floor with and jammed home with one hand with 3:09 left in the first quarter. Griffin would score 19 points as the Clippers rolled to a 117-109 win in Houston.
2. Kevin Durant caps career- high52-point night with game-winner in OT
It was a spectacular ending to a spectacular evening for NBA All-Star Starter Kevin Durant, who scored a career-high 52 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday against the Dallas Mavericks, including the final coup de grace, a game-winning jumper in the final seconds of overtime over the Mavs' Shawn Marion that gave the Thunder the game, 117-114.
1. LeBron James Posterizes Dwight Howard and the Lakers
Against a team that was built to beat the Miami heat come June, James showed the Lakers why he is still the king of the NBA, dropping 39 points on the Lakers in a 99-90 Miami win Thursday over the purple-and-gold team in Los Angeles. Two of those points came to close out the first half, with partner-in-crime Dwayne Wade finding James in the lane for the pass which the Heat's top scorer turned into a thunderous dunk on the Lakers' Howard.