FloaterDaily Brief
Thursday, November 17, 2005Regular season · 3 games
← Nov 16CalendarNov 18 →

3 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: DAL trailed ATL by 5 after the first quarter and won 87–78.

Final
WAS98
MIN109
Q1 MIN 0; Q2 MIN +10; Q3 MIN +1; Q4 MIN +11
Final
ATL78
DAL87
Q1 DAL -5; Q2 DAL +7; Q3 DAL +8; Q4 DAL +9
Final
HOU80
SAS86
Q1 SAS +9; Q2 SAS +13; Q3 SAS +18; Q4 SAS +6
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 · 2004–05Nov 17, 2004: 11 games. Top scorer: Amar'e Stoudemire (PHX @ NOH), 38 points.
The lead · ATL @ DAL

Dallas makes it four straight

Dallas beat Atlanta 87–78 and moved to 6–2. Josh Howard led Dallas with 25 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist.

Game flow · DAL margin at each break
Quarter-end scores only (4 points), so swings inside a period don't show.
-15-10-50+5+10+15TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0-5+7+8+9DAL AHEAD ↑ATL AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
ATL1617242178
DAL1129252287
Who led
Josh HowardPoints, last 8 games: 16, 11, 17, 12, 12, 2, 3, 25DAL25 PTS · 4 REB · 1 AST
Dirk NowitzkiPoints, last 8 games: 28, 16, 34, 14, 23, 30, 35, 20DAL20 PTS · 13 REB · 1 AST
Zaza PachuliaPoints, last 8 games: 13, 13, 12, 13, 16, 10, 6, 21ATL21 PTS · 12 REB · 3 AST
Joe JohnsonPoints, last 8 games: 17, 10, 23, 26, 24, 17, 12, 18ATL18 PTS · 2 REB · 2 AST
Second story · HOU @ SAS

San Antonio never trails at a break against Houston

Ahead after one, at the half and after three. Final: 86–80. Tim Duncan led San Antonio with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists.

The whole night · final margins
SAS over HOU6DAL over ATL9MIN over WAS11Final margin, points. Pink = SAS over HOU.
Fantasy angleRecent form and minutes against each player's season average from games before today.
Heating up
+2.4points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
14.8Season avg17.2Last 5

17.2 points a game over his last five games, against 14.8 in 8 earlier games. Today: 15 points in 33 minutes.

Losing minutes
−7.2minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
31.8Season avg24.6Last 3

24.6 minutes a game over his last three games, against 31.8 in 7 earlier games. Today: 25 points in 41 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+12.6minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
19.4Season avg32Today

32 minutes today, against 19.4 a game in 8 earlier games. Line: 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assists.

Top performances

Gilbert Arenas leads the day with 33

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.
Gilbert ArenasPoints, last 8 games: 21, 27, 30, 18, 32, 43, 18, 33WAS @ MIN · L
27.8 PPG season to date · +6.0 vs his regular-season average before tonight
33 PTS · 5 REB · 5 AST
Tracy McGradyPoints, last 5 games: 23, 35, 14, 25, 27HOU @ SAS · L
24.8 PPG season to date
27 PTS · 12 REB · 4 AST
Kevin GarnettPoints, last 8 games: 18, 23, 25, 22, 17, 19, 25, 25MIN vs WAS · W
21.8 PPG season to date · +3.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Ties season high25 PTS · 13 REB · 9 AST
Josh HowardPoints, last 8 games: 16, 11, 17, 12, 12, 2, 3, 25DAL vs ATL · W
12.2 PPG season to date · +14.6 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Season high25 PTS · 4 REB · 1 AST
Zaza PachuliaPoints, last 8 games: 13, 13, 12, 13, 16, 10, 6, 21ATL @ DAL · L
13.0 PPG season to date · +9.1 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Career high21 PTS · 12 REB · 3 AST
Dirk NowitzkiPoints, last 8 games: 28, 16, 34, 14, 23, 30, 35, 20DAL vs ATL · W
25.0 PPG season to date · −5.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
20 PTS · 13 REB · 1 AST