FloaterDaily Brief
Thursday, December 18, 1997Regular season · 4 games
← Dec 17CalendarDec 19 →

4 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: PHX trailed DAL by 6 after the first quarter and won 89–75.

Final
PHX89
DAL75
Q1 PHX -6; Q2 PHX +8; Q3 PHX +17; Q4 PHX +14
Final
GSW78
LAC82
Q1 LAC +20; Q2 LAC +4; Q3 LAC +8; Q4 LAC +4
Final
UTA85
ORL73
Q1 UTA -2; Q2 UTA -2; Q3 UTA +6; Q4 UTA +12
Final
DEN106
SEA119
Q1 SEA +8; Q2 SEA +10; Q3 SEA +20; Q4 SEA +13
Bars under each score: who led after each quarter, from the winner's side. winner ahead behind behind in a 10+ point comeback tied
On this day · 1996–97Dec 18, 1996: 8 games. Top scorer: Glenn Robinson (MIL vs LAL), 42 points.
The lead · PHX @ DAL

Phoenix gets past Dallas

89–75, with Phoenix ahead 38–30 at halftime. Clifford Robinson led Phoenix with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists.

Game flow · PHX margin at each break
Quarter-end scores only (4 points), so swings inside a period don't show.
-25-15-5+5+15+25TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0-6+8+17+14PHX AHEAD ↑DAL AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
PHX1226321989
DAL1812232275
Who led
Clifford RobinsonPoints, last 10 games: 12, 3, 17, 4, 12, 13, 4, 4, 12, 17PHX17 PTS · 7 REB · 2 AST
Antonio McDyessPoints, last 10 games: 13, 8, 19, 5, 20, 14, 8, 23, 21, 14PHX14 PTS · 14 REB · 1 AST
Robert PackPoints, last 2 games: 7, 23DAL23 PTS · 5 REB · 3 AST
Michael FinleyPoints, last 10 games: 35, 18, 27, 35, 17, 20, 21, 18, 26, 18DAL18 PTS · 5 REB · 4 AST
Second story · UTA @ ORL

Utah takes care of Orlando

A 12-point win, 85–73. Karl Malone led Utah with 30 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

The whole night · final margins
LAC over GSW4UTA over ORL12SEA over DEN13PHX over DAL14Final margin, points. Pink = UTA over ORL.
Fantasy angleRecent form and minutes against each player's season average from games before today.
Heating up
+7.4points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
4.8Season avg12.2Last 5

12.2 points a game over his last five games, against 4.8 in 18 earlier games. Today: 14 points in 31 minutes.

Losing minutes
−12.3minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
31.1Season avg18.8Last 3

18.8 minutes a game over his last three games, against 31.1 in 23 earlier games. Today: 1 points in 20 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+23.2minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
19.8Season avg43Today

43 minutes today, against 19.8 a game in 22 earlier games. Line: 15 points, 16 rebounds, 1 assists.

Top performances

Karl Malone leads the day with 30

Sparkline: points in his last 10 games, tonight in pink. Black tag: most points in a game this season to date, or in his career when his whole career is in our box scores (after 5+ games). Plus/minus: points tonight against his average before tonight.
Karl MalonePoints, last 10 games: 42, 19, 23, 24, 31, 34, 23, 26, 29, 30UTA @ ORL · W
25.9 PPG season to date · +4.3 vs his regular-season average before tonight
30 PTS · 7 REB · 5 AST
Brent BarryPoints, last 10 games: 9, 17, 10, 19, 16, 11, 3, 18, 21, 23LAC vs GSW · W
15.9 PPG season to date · +7.5 vs his regular-season average before tonight
23 PTS · 6 REB · 4 AST
Robert PackPoints, last 2 games: 7, 23DAL vs PHX · L
15.0 PPG season to date
23 PTS · 5 REB · 3 AST
Rony SeikalyPoints, last 10 games: 10, 8, 14, 10, 29, 24, 26, 11, 12, 20ORL vs UTA · L
16.1 PPG season to date · +4.0 vs his regular-season average before tonight
20 PTS · 10 REB · 3 AST
Joe SmithPoints, last 10 games: 6, 14, 6, 24, 24, 27, 23, 25, 28, 19GSW @ LAC · L
17.4 PPG season to date · +1.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
19 PTS · 12 REB · 1 AST
Lamond MurrayPoints, last 10 games: 18, 12, 14, 13, 17, 7, 12, 21, 6, 19LAC vs GSW · W
14.6 PPG season to date · +4.6 vs his regular-season average before tonight
19 PTS · 7 REB · 2 AST
Hot and cold

Last 10 games against the season so far

Points per game in each player's last 10 games minus his season average through tonight. Regular season, players with 20+ games and 20+ minutes a game.
Hot
Michael FinleyDAL+4.0 23.5 last 10 · 19.5 season
Eric PiatkowskiLAC+3.8 13.7 last 10 · 9.9 season
Allan HoustonNYK+3.8 17.0 last 10 · 13.2 season
Eric WashingtonDEN+3.3 13.0 last 10 · 9.7 season
Bison DeleDET+3.1 22.5 last 10 · 19.4 season
Cold
Jamal MashburnMIA−3.2 12.4 last 10 · 15.6 season
Damon StoudamireTOR−3.2 13.2 last 10 · 16.4 season
Rodney RogersLAC−3.2 10.1 last 10 · 13.2 season
A.C. GreenDAL−3.1 4.6 last 10 · 7.7 season
Kenny AndersonPOR−2.9 10.7 last 10 · 13.6 season