FloaterDaily Brief
Thursday, December 25, 1997Regular season · 2 games
← Dec 23CalendarDec 26 →

2 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: CHI trailed MIA by 7 after the first quarter and won 90–80.

Final
MIA80
CHI90
Q1 CHI -7; Q2 CHI +6; Q3 CHI +5; Q4 CHI +10
Final
HOU103
UTA107
Q1 UTA -5; Q2 UTA -1; Q3 UTA +5; Q4 UTA +4
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 25, 1996: 2 games. Top scorer: Scottie Pippen (CHI vs DET), 27 points.
The lead · MIA @ CHI

Chicago makes it six straight

Chicago beat Miami 90–80 and moved to 18–9. Michael Jordan led Chicago with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists.

Game flow · CHI margin at each break
Quarter-end scores only (4 points), so swings inside a period don't show.
-20-100+10+20TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0-7+6+5+10CHI AHEAD ↑MIA AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
MIA2115281680
CHI1428272190
Who led
Michael JordanPoints, last 10 games: 13, 29, 25, 28, 11, 31, 36, 24, 27, 24CHI24 PTS · 11 REB · 4 AST
Toni KukocPoints, last 10 games: 19, 20, 24, 14, 15, 23, 12, 14, 9, 19CHI19 PTS · 6 REB · 5 AST
Jamal MashburnPoints, last 10 games: 18, 13, 13, 18, 11, 7, 5, 8, 14, 20MIA20 PTS · 4 REB · 2 AST
Tim HardawayPoints, last 10 games: 18, 23, 10, 28, 21, 21, 0, 22, 18, 18MIA18 PTS · 5 REB · 11 AST
Second story · HOU @ UTA

Houston's skid reaches three

Utah won 107–103; the Rockets fall to 14–10. John Stockton led Utah with 24 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists.

Streak strip · HOU
Wvs ATL94–87W@ DAL108–106Wvs SAS108–78L@ LAL102–119L@ VAN105–110Wvs VAN118–91Wvs SAC116–98L@ SAS87–100Lvs LAL83–94L@ UTA103–107HOU: last 10 games through Dec 25, oldest first. Pink = win.
Fantasy angleRecent form and minutes against each player's season average from games before today.
Heating up
+5.2points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
9.2Season avg14.4Last 5

14.4 points a game over his last five games, against 9.2 in 8 earlier games. Today: 24 points in 27 minutes.

Losing minutes
−9.7minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
31.8Season avg22.1Last 3

22.1 minutes a game over his last three games, against 31.8 in 25 earlier games. Today: 11 points in 25 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+9.1minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
31.0Season avg40.1Today

40 minutes today, against 31.0 a game in 26 earlier games. Line: 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists.

Top performances

Kevin Willis leads the day with 25

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.
Kevin WillisPoints, last 10 games: 31, 17, 16, 15, 28, 23, 28, 18, 12, 25HOU @ UTA · L
17.8 PPG season to date · +7.5 vs his regular-season average before tonight
25 PTS · 8 REB · 1 AST
Michael JordanPoints, last 10 games: 13, 29, 25, 28, 11, 31, 36, 24, 27, 24CHI vs MIA · W
26.6 PPG season to date · −2.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
24 PTS · 11 REB · 4 AST
John StocktonPoints, last 9 games: 10, 4, 5, 7, 14, 10, 11, 13, 24UTA vs HOU · W
10.9 PPG season to date · +14.8 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Season high24 PTS · 2 REB · 3 AST
Karl MalonePoints, last 10 games: 24, 31, 34, 23, 26, 29, 30, 24, 27, 20UTA vs HOU · W
25.6 PPG season to date · −5.8 vs his regular-season average before tonight
20 PTS · 10 REB · 6 AST
Jeff HornacekPoints, last 10 games: 18, 13, 12, 9, 8, 18, 5, 9, 15, 20UTA vs HOU · W
14.6 PPG season to date · +5.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
20 PTS · 3 REB · 9 AST
Jamal MashburnPoints, last 10 games: 18, 13, 13, 18, 11, 7, 5, 8, 14, 20MIA @ CHI · L
15.4 PPG season to date · +4.8 vs his regular-season average before tonight
20 PTS · 4 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
Joe SmithGSW+4.1 21.0 last 10 · 16.9 season
Kobe BryantLAL+4.0 22.0 last 10 · 18.0 season
Corliss WilliamsonSAC+3.8 19.4 last 10 · 15.6 season
Kevin WillisHOU+3.5 21.3 last 10 · 17.8 season
Steve NashPHX+3.0 13.0 last 10 · 10.0 season
Cold
Kenny AndersonPOR−4.4 8.7 last 10 · 13.1 season
Nick Van ExelLAL−3.6 11.9 last 10 · 15.5 season
Eddie JonesLAL−3.5 14.6 last 10 · 18.1 season
A.C. GreenDAL−3.5 4.2 last 10 · 7.7 season
Lindsey HunterDET−3.4 11.3 last 10 · 14.8 season