FloaterDaily Brief
Sunday, December 31, 2017Regular season · 8 games
← Dec 30CalendarJan 1 →

8 games, 1 went to overtime. Biggest comeback: HOU trailed LAL by 11 after three quarters and won 148–142.

Final
CHI110
WAS114
Q1 WAS -8; Q2 WAS -4; Q3 WAS -6; Q4 WAS +4
Final
MIN107
IND90
Q1 MIN +10; Q2 MIN +11; Q3 MIN +29; Q4 MIN +17
Final
BKN105
BOS108
Q1 BOS +10; Q2 BOS +2; Q3 BOS +6; Q4 BOS +3
Final · 2OT
LAL142
HOU148
Q1 HOU +7; Q2 HOU -7; Q3 HOU -11; Q4 HOU 0; OT1 HOU 0; OT2 HOU +6
Final
CHA98
LAC106
Q1 LAC +7; Q2 LAC -10; Q3 LAC +9; Q4 LAC +8
Final
DAL116
OKC113
Q1 DAL +3; Q2 DAL -6; Q3 DAL -1; Q4 DAL +3
Final
MEM114
SAC96
Q1 MEM +14; Q2 MEM +18; Q3 MEM +27; Q4 MEM +18
Final
PHI123
PHX110
Q1 PHI +6; Q2 PHI +14; Q3 PHI +3; Q4 PHI +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 · 2016–17Dec 31, 2016: 6 games. Top scorer: James Harden (HOU vs NYK), 53 points.
The lead · LAL @ HOU

James Harden scores 40 as Houston beats Lakers

Houston won 148–142. James Harden: 40 points, 2 rebounds, 11 assists.

Game flow · HOU margin at each break
Quarter-end scores only (6 points, including overtime), so swings inside a period don't show. Pink = the rally, from the biggest deficit to the final.
-20-100+10+20OVERTIMETipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3End reg.End OT1Final0+7-7-1100+6HOU AHEAD ↑LAL AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4OT1OT2T
LAL37352921119142
HOU442125321115148
Who led
James HardenPoints, last 10 games: 21, 28, 31, 26, 51, 51, 29, 34, 20, 40HOU40 PTS · 2 REB · 11 AST
Chris PaulPoints, last 10 games: 18, 26, 20, 31, 28, 25, 18, 8, 8, 28HOU28 PTS · 5 REB · 10 AST
Julius RandlePoints, last 10 games: 13, 13, 15, 4, 21, 16, 16, 6, 18, 29LAL29 PTS · 15 REB · 6 AST
Josh HartPoints, last 10 games: 0, 11, 7, 11, 0, 11, 12, 9, 2, 26LAL26 PTS · 6 REB · 1 AST
Second story · the whole slate

Three games go down to the wire

Three of 8 games were decided by four points or fewer. Widest margin: Memphis by 18.

BOS over BKN3DAL over OKC3WAS over CHI4HOU over LAL6LAC over CHA8PHI over PHX13MIN over IND17MEM over SAC18Final margin, points. Pink = decided by 4 or fewer.
Fantasy angleRecent form and minutes against each player's season average from games before today.
Heating up
+9.6points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
20.8Season avg30.4Last 5

30.4 points a game over his last five games, against 20.8 in 33 earlier games. Today: 40 points in 37 minutes.

Losing minutes
−10.3minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
21.8Season avg11.5Last 3

11.5 minutes a game over his last three games, against 21.8 in 37 earlier games. Today: 6 points in 12 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+39.7minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
5.8Season avg45.5Today

45 minutes today, against 5.8 a game in 15 earlier games. Line: 20 points, 4 rebounds, 11 assists.

Top performances

James Harden leads the day with 40

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.
James HardenPoints, last 10 games: 21, 28, 31, 26, 51, 51, 29, 34, 20, 40HOU vs LAL · W
32.3 PPG season to date · +7.9 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Most like it since 1995–96: Allen Iverson PHI, Feb 19, 2004: 40 PTS · 2 REB · 11 AST
40 PTS · 2 REB · 11 AST
Lou WilliamsPoints, last 10 games: 17, 31, 23, 13, 18, 32, 36, 21, 23, 40LAC vs CHA · W
21.4 PPG season to date · +19.2 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Most like it since 1995–96: Devin Harris NJN, Feb 23, 2009: 39 PTS · 2 REB · 8 AST
40 PTS · 2 REB · 8 AST
Bradley BealPoints, last 10 games: 18, 20, 27, 26, 4, 17, 25, 20, 21, 39WAS vs CHI · W
23.4 PPG season to date · +16.1 vs his regular-season average before tonight
39 PTS · 9 REB · 9 AST
Russell WestbrookPoints, last 10 games: 27, 25, 38, 24, 30, 27, 31, 30, 40, 38OKC vs DAL · L
24.8 PPG season to date · +13.5 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Most like it since 1995–96: LeBron James CLE, Jun 7, 2015: 39 PTS · 16 REB · 11 AST
38 PTS · 15 REB · 11 AST
Devin BookerPoints, last 10 games: 23, 13, 33, 22, 38, 46, 19, 32, 26, 32PHX vs PHI · L
24.9 PPG season to date · +7.3 vs his regular-season average before tonight
32 PTS · 5 REB · 6 AST
Kemba WalkerPoints, last 10 games: 13, 25, 14, 9, 15, 32, 19, 24, 16, 30CHA @ LAC · L
21.6 PPG season to date · +8.6 vs his regular-season average before tonight
30 PTS · 1 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
Russell WestbrookOKC+6.2 31.0 last 10 · 24.8 season
Jimmy ButlerMIN+5.8 27.1 last 10 · 21.3 season
Josh RichardsonMIA+5.7 18.1 last 10 · 12.4 season
Reggie BullockDET+4.9 11.7 last 10 · 6.8 season
Dario SaricPHI+4.9 18.5 last 10 · 13.6 season
Cold
Reggie JacksonDET−4.2 10.4 last 10 · 14.6 season
Thaddeus YoungIND−4.0 8.0 last 10 · 12.0 season
Brook LopezLAL−3.6 9.2 last 10 · 12.8 season
Ryan AndersonHOU−3.6 6.9 last 10 · 10.5 season
Ben SimmonsPHI−3.3 13.3 last 10 · 16.6 season