Australia's David Andersen played significant minutes and set new career highs in the Houston Rockets' 100-91 road victory over Oklahoma City Thunder.
An eye injury to the Rockets' star Argentinean forward, Luis Scola sustained on the opening play of the game opened the door for Andersen's extended minutes.
Scola appeared to be bleeding after Oklahoma City's Etan Thomas poked him in the eye with his left hand while dunking just 22 seconds into the game. The injury resulted in seven stitches to Scola's eyelid.
Andersen stood up in Scola's absence and registered 29 minutes on court in the victory, a full four minutes more than his previous NBA career high in minutes played.
The Frankston product tallied 12 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists on 5-from-12 shooting that included 1-from-2 three-pointers and one free throw from 1 attempt.
Andersen was seven points shy of his career high in scoring; a 19-point outburst on the road against the Lakers on November 15, but his eight rebounds were a new career high, surpassing the six rebounds he registered in the same game against the Lakers.
Four of his rebounds were offensive rebounds; twice as much as his previous NBA career high of two, set 2 times already this season.
His two assists today equaled his career high, set three times already this season.
Before Monday's game Andersen was averaging 5.9 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in thirteen minutes per game on court.
The victory moves Houston to eighth on the Western Conference ladder with nine wins from 17 games, equal with Oklahoma City.
The dismissal of coach Lawrence Frank failed to save the New Jersey Nets as they equalled the record for the worst start to an NBA season with a 106-87 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Frank was shown the door just hours before the Nets took to the court, but 30 points from Lakers guard Kobe Bryant ensured they came out on the losing side for the 17th time in a row.
Brook Lopez had 26 points and 12 rebounds for New Jersey but it was not enough.
A game-high 32 points for Carmelo Anthony also came to nothing for the Denver Nuggets as the Minnesota Timberwolves ripped up the form book with a 106-100 win.
Ryan Gomes had 27 points for the Timberwolves, who built on a 31-12 run in the third period to snap a 15-game losing streak and end Denver's run of four successive wins.
Tim Duncan poured in 22 points for the San Antonio Spurs, who stretched their winning streak to five with a 97-89 result against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Andre Iguodala's 21 points proved in vain as Philadelphia suffered its sixth defeat on the bounce.
The Phoenix Suns posted their fourth straight victory, beating the Toronto Raptors 113-94.
Steve Nash led the Suns with 20 points and 16 assists, while Jason Richardson also poured in 22 points for the winners.
Kevin Garnett helped Boston on their way to a fourth straight win. The forward had 24 points and eight rebounds as the Celtics overcame the Miami Heat 92-85
The New York Knicks slumped to their fifth successive loss with a 114-102 result at the hands of the Orlando Magic. Dwight Howard was the key player for Orlando with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
The Houston Rockets snapped a two-game losing streak with a 100-91 success over Oklahoma City. Houston overturned a 54-45 half-time deficit