FloaterDaily Brief
Wednesday, December 20, 2006Regular season · 12 games
← Dec 19CalendarDec 21 →

12 games, 1 went to overtime. Biggest comeback: UTA trailed ATL by 21 after three quarters and won 112–106.

Final
UTA112
ATL106
Q1 UTA +2; Q2 UTA -1; Q3 UTA -21; Q4 UTA +6
Final
NOK83
ORL86
Q1 ORL +13; Q2 ORL 0; Q3 ORL -4; Q4 ORL +3
Final
IND101
PHI93
Q1 IND -3; Q2 IND -1; Q3 IND +4; Q4 IND +8
Final
GSW96
BOS95
Q1 GSW 0; Q2 GSW +10; Q3 GSW +5; Q4 GSW +1
Final · 2OT
CHA109
NYK111
Q1 NYK -7; Q2 NYK -11; Q3 NYK +7; Q4 NYK 0; OT1 NYK 0; OT2 NYK +2
Final
MIA95
MIL121
Q1 MIL +8; Q2 MIL -3; Q3 MIL +12; Q4 MIL +26
Final
LAL111
MIN94
Q1 LAL -3; Q2 LAL +2; Q3 LAL -10; Q4 LAL +17
Final
CLE111
NJN113
Q1 NJN +1; Q2 NJN -1; Q3 NJN +7; Q4 NJN +2
Final
MEM98
SAS105
Q1 SAS +2; Q2 SAS +16; Q3 SAS +6; Q4 SAS +7
Final
HOU87
POR89
Q1 POR 0; Q2 POR +10; Q3 POR +10; Q4 POR +2
Final
TOR98
LAC96
Q1 TOR -1; Q2 TOR +8; Q3 TOR +9; Q4 TOR +2
Final
DAL103
SEA95
Q1 DAL -7; Q2 DAL -11; Q3 DAL +1; Q4 DAL +8
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 · 2005–06Dec 20, 2005: 8 games. Top scorer: Kobe Bryant (LAL vs DAL), 62 points.
The lead · UTA @ ATL

Mehmet Okur drops 30 in 21-point comeback win over Atlanta

Atlanta led by 21 after three. Final: 112–106.

Game flow · UTA margin at each break
Quarter-end scores only (4 points), so swings inside a period don't show. Pink = the comeback, from the biggest deficit to the final.
-30-20-100+10+20+30TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0+2-1-21+6UTA AHEAD ↑ATL AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
UTA22311940112
ATL20343913106
Who led
Mehmet OkurPoints, last 10 games: 11, 12, 17, 18, 9, 18, 17, 17, 19, 30UTA30 PTS · 10 REB · 3 AST
Derek FisherPoints, last 10 games: 6, 11, 7, 17, 10, 4, 8, 15, 10, 18UTA18 PTS · 2 REB · 1 AST
Joe JohnsonPoints, last 10 games: 16, 33, 36, 31, 33, 34, 27, 30, 23, 27ATL27 PTS · 4 REB · 5 AST
Josh SmithPoints, last 10 games: 13, 11, 15, 17, 8, 21, 8, 16, 14, 23ATL23 PTS · 12 REB · 4 AST
Second story · the whole slate

Six close finishes and one Bucks rout

Six of 12 games were decided by four points or fewer. Milwaukee beat Miami by 26.

GSW over BOS1NYK over CHA2NJN over CLE2POR over HOU2TOR over LAC2ORL over NOK3UTA over ATL6SAS over MEM7IND over PHI8DAL over SEA8LAL over MIN17MIL over MIA26Final margin, points. Pink = decided by 4 or fewer, plus the widest win.
Fantasy angleRecent form and minutes against each player's season average from games before today.
Heating up
+8.6points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
7.8Season avg16.4Last 5

16.4 points a game over his last five games, against 7.8 in 22 earlier games. Today: 17 points in 38 minutes.

Losing minutes
−12.2minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
27.2Season avg15.0Last 3

15.0 minutes a game over his last three games, against 27.2 in 5 earlier games. Today: 9 points in 24 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+29.1minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
12.9Season avg42Today

42 minutes today, against 12.9 a game in 19 earlier games. Line: 10 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assists.

Top performances

Vince Carter leads the day with 38

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.
Vince CarterPoints, last 10 games: 41, 20, 31, 19, 37, 36, 12, 12, 11, 38NJN vs CLE · W
26.4 PPG season to date · +12.1 vs his regular-season average before tonight
38 PTS · 6 REB · 5 AST
LeBron JamesPoints, last 10 games: 27, 31, 21, 26, 27, 15, 22, 22, 29, 37CLE @ NJN · L
26.8 PPG season to date · +10.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
37 PTS · 1 REB · 8 AST
Jermaine O'NealPoints, last 10 games: 20, 20, 13, 20, 18, 11, 26, 11, 31, 34IND @ PHI · W
19.2 PPG season to date · +15.5 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Season high34 PTS · 11 REB · 4 AST
Yao MingPoints, last 10 games: 24, 27, 14, 21, 38, 26, 38, 35, 32, 34HOU @ POR · L
27.0 PPG season to date · +7.3 vs his regular-season average before tonight
34 PTS · 9 REB · 0 AST
Baron DavisPoints, last 10 games: 8, 18, 16, 28, 14, 34, 19, 20, 25, 31GSW @ BOS · W
21.0 PPG season to date · +10.4 vs his regular-season average before tonight
31 PTS · 3 REB · 8 AST
Mehmet OkurPoints, last 10 games: 11, 12, 17, 18, 9, 18, 17, 17, 19, 30UTA @ ATL · W
15.9 PPG season to date · +14.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Season high30 PTS · 10 REB · 3 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
Rasual ButlerNOK+7.1 16.5 last 10 · 9.4 season
Sean MayCHA+4.9 17.3 last 10 · 12.4 season
Eddy CurryNYK+4.6 22.7 last 10 · 18.1 season
Gilbert ArenasWAS+4.5 33.6 last 10 · 29.1 season
Damien WilkinsSEA+4.0 12.0 last 10 · 8.0 season
Cold
Sam CassellLAC−5.1 9.4 last 10 · 14.5 season
Kevin MartinSAC−4.4 16.9 last 10 · 21.3 season
Michael ReddMIL−4.0 24.1 last 10 · 28.1 season
Emeka OkaforCHA−3.7 11.5 last 10 · 15.2 season
Sebastian TelfairBOS−3.2 5.3 last 10 · 8.5 season