While point guard Jeremy Lin continued struggling to find his shot, Houston Rockets shooting guard Kevin Martin was on fire Wednesday night as the Rockets (3-2) beat the Grizzlies (2-2) 109-102 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Martin led the Rockets with 22 points thanks to a stellar 8 of 11 shooting performance from the field-including going 4-for-5 from three-point range. Forward Patrick Patterson chipped in 17 points for the Rockets.
Lin dished out 12 assists for the night, but finished the game with only 7 points after going 3-for-9 from the field. Lin, who is coming off of surgery on his knee during the off-season, had a terrible 1-for-10 shooting day during Sunday's loss to the Rockets and took only six shots in Friday's 95-75 win over the Hornets.
While there have been speculation as to whether or not Lin has been able to fully recover from his knee surgery, The Houston Chronicle noted that Lin showed signs of playing with greater ease Wednesday-especially as a playmaker.
"We were hitting shots today, not me personally, but everybody else," Lin told The Chronicle. "They kind of had to stay out a little more and think twice about dropping all the way down. That opened things up to get in the middle. Once you get in the middle, it's all about making quick decisions. You'll probably get something good if you get to the heart of their defense.
For the Grizzlies, Mike Conley led the team with 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting, while star forward Rudy Gay added 13 points but shot 4 of 16. Memphis forward Zach Randolph added in 9 points and 10 rebounds.
Around the League: NBA Preseason Wrap-up for Wed., Oct. 17
Suns: 100, Mavericks: 94
While Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki sat on the sidelines for the third straight game, Phoenix Suns forward Jared Dudley shined for the Suns (2-1) as they beat the Mavericks (2-2) 100-94 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Dudley his 7 of 9 shots from the field while Suns guard Goran Dragic put up 12 points.
While Dallas entered the second half with a 54-49 lead, the Suns battled back and after Dragic hit a 12-foot shot with 7:30 left in the third, the Suns took the lead, up 65-63, and never looked back.
Dallas center Chris Kaman scored 16 points and Mavs guard Vince Carter added 15 points.
Nowitzki, meanwhile continued to heal a swollen right knee that he is attempting to heal without having surgery. On Monday, Nowitzki told the Associated Press that he would limit his workouts to only use of the swimming pool and the elliptical machine over the next several days; doing so, he hopes, could reduce the swelling.
Raptors: 104, Wizards: 101
Two new Toronto Raptors-forward Landry Fields and teammate guard Kyle Lowry-turned in solid performances that led the Raptors (3-1) to a 104-101 win over the Washington Wizards (1-4) at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ont.
Fields scored 15 points while Lowry-coming off a groin injury- tacked on 14 points and 6 assists, while Raptors guard Jose Calderon had a solid performance with 12 points and 8 assists.
Forward Trevor Booker led the Wizards with 12 points while Emeka Okafor, Martell Webster Jan Vesely and Bradley Beal each put up 11 points for Washington.
On a side note, Toronto's Andrea Bargnani left the game with a left calf contusion in the third quarter.
76ers: 113, Cavaliers: 99
The Philadelphia 76ers (3-1) continued their strong postseason showing with a 113-99 home win over the Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Penn.
A pair of guards led the way for the Sixers as Nick Young and Maalik Wayns each scored 19 points, while another Philadelphia guard, Dorell Wright, hit 4 three-pointers for 12 of his 17 points.
Despite the loss, which puts the Cavs at the .500 mark for the preseason, point guard Kyrie Irving, last year's Rookie of the Year, put up another impressive showing with 23 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
Warriors: 98, Kings: 88
Despite committing 23 turnovers and shooting only 33 percent from the field, the Golden State Warriors (4-1) pulled out another win, beating the Sacramento Kings (2-1) 98-88 on the road at the Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento, Calif.
While Sacramento cut the Warriors' lead to five points in the fourth, Golden State staved off the Kings' surge by scoring eight straight points, building the lead to 96-83 with just over 2 minutes left in the game.
Golden State point guard Stephen Curry had a solid night with 19 points, 4 assists and 2 steals, while power forward David Lee posted a 16 point, 14 rebound double-double for the Warriors.
Isaiah Thomas scored 13 points for the Kings while Sacramento guard Marcus Thorton had 12 points.
Clippers: 96, Jazz: 94
New Los Angeles Clippers guard Jamal Crawford is already proving his value to his new team as the Clippers (2-2) took a down-to-the-wire 96-94 win over the Utah Jazz (3-2) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
Crawford put up 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter that helped the Clippers stave off that Jazz, who had tied the game at 92-all on a three point shot by Utah guard Alec Burks before Crawford's subsequent three-point play off a layup sealed the win for Los Angeles.
The superstar Clippers duo of forward Blake Griffin and Chris Paul had a great night individually to help their team's cause, Griffin putting up 23 points while Paul scored 6 points and dished out 9 assists.
Utah center Enes Kanter was the top performer for his team with 14 points and 9 rebounds for the night.
Trail Blazers: 97, Nuggets: 80
Portland Trail Blazers guard Wesley Matthews led all scorers with 19 points-14 of them in the second quarter- as the Blazers improved to 2-2 in preseason action when they beat the Denver Nuggets 97-80 at home in the Rose Garden in Portland, Oreg.
While Portland's slow start gave the Nuggets a 19-14 first quarter lead, the Blazers surged in the second quarter behind Matthews 5-of-7 shooting in the quarter to put Portland up 54-39 at halftime.
Portland star forward LaMarcus Aldridge tacked on 14 points for his team, while Denver forward Kenneth Faried led his team with a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds.
For more information on NBA teams, box scores and schedules, visit the NBA's web site or ESPN.com.
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