MAVERICKS 121 – TIMBERWOLVES 124
In his debut before his hometown in Dallas, after playing his first games away from Texas, Irving scored 26 of his 36 points in an extraordinary fourth quarter, but his Mavericks fell short and could not overcome the 18-point deficit they accumulated in the first three quarters.
Irving connected eleven of his twelve shots in the fourth period, with three of four from three points, and the Slovenian Luka Doncic had 33 points, with twelve rebounds and six assists, without final prize.
The Timberwolves triumphed to the rhythm of Anthony Edwards, with 32 points, and a Frenchman Rudy Gobert, the protagonist with a double double of 21 points and fourteen rebounds.
HEAT 108 – NUGGETS 112
Nikola Jokic was one step away from the triple double, with 27 points, twelve rebounds and eight assists, and led the Nuggets to victory at the Heat’s field, despite the losses of Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon.
The Heat, in which Jimmy Butler contributed 24 points, ten rebounds and nine assists, ended their three-game winning streak and finished sixth in the East.
76ERS 124 – ROCKETS 103
James Harden sealed a double double of 28 points and ten assists and drove, along with Tyrese Maxey’s 26 points and Joel Embiid’s 23 points, the third consecutive win for the 76ers, third in the East (37-19).
In the Rockets, the worst team in the NBA (13-44), the Spanish Usman Garuba contributed five points and two rebounds in 8.57 minutes on the court.
CAVALIERS 117 – SPURS 109
The Cavaliers celebrated their seventh consecutive victory to the rhythm of Donovan Mitchell, protagonist with 41 points and six triples, at the cost of some Spurs in free fall, who have thirteen straight losses.
The Spanish Ricky Rubio contributed with nine points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 22.50 minutes on the track.
KNICKS 124 – NETS 106
Jalen Brunson reigned supreme in the New York derby with a monumental forty-point performance (15 of 21 shooting), supported by 27 by Josh Hart, recently signed from the Blazers.
The Nets, already without Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving, suffered their second consecutive defeat despite Spencer Dinwiddie’s 28 points. They are fifth in the East (33-24).
TRAIL BLAZERS 127 – LAKERS 115
Without LeBron James, who missed his third consecutive game after achieving the absolute NBA record for points last week, the Lakers crashed on their visit to the Blazers against a stellar Damian Lillard, who signed 40 points with eight triples. The locals connected 23 triples, the second best performance in their history from the arc.
For the Lakers, Anthony Davis contributed a double double of 19 points and twenty rebounds and Malik Beasley, recently signed from the Utah Jazz, sealed 22 points coming off the bench.
WARRIORS 135 – WIZARDS 126
Without Steph Curry, who hopes to return shortly after the Salt Lake City All-Star after his knee injury, the Warriors returned to winning ways after two consecutive losses, against the Lakers and Blazers, at the expense of the Wizards.
Andrew Wiggins, with 29 points, and Klay Thompson, with 27, guided the triumph of the current champions and frustrated the great personal performances of the Latvian Kristaps Porzingis (34 points) and Bradley Beal (33 points).
HORNETS 144 – HAWKS 138
The Hornets were reunited with victory after seven consecutive losses and knocked down the Hawks at home with a hail of three-pointers (20 of 37).
LaMelo Ball signed thirty points and six of ten from the arc, with fifteen assists, Terry Roziers had 29 points and five triples, Gordon Hayward contributed 26 and four three-point shots from five attempts, while PJ Washington sealed 22 points, with four triples.
PACERS 117 -JAZZ 123
Without Russell Westbrook or Juan Toscano Anderson, part of an operation that involved three franchises and brought D’Angelo Russell to the Lakers, the Jazz took Indianapolis with a monumental performance from their duo made up of Finn Lauri Markkanen, with 29 points and eleven rebounds, and Jordan Clarkson, with 29 points and six of eight in triples.
The Pacers suffered their fifth consecutive defeat and continue to fall in the East, already out of the ‘play-in’ positions, despite Tyrese Haliburton’s thirty points and twelve assists.
BULLS 91 – MAGIC 100
The choral game of the Magic, guided by a Paolo Banchero with 22 points and an excellent Markelle Fultz, with 18 points, ten rebounds and nine assists, once again revealed the limits of the Bulls, who continue to find no continuity.
Chicago lost its fourth straight game and dropped to eleventh in the East, outside of the play-in positions, while the Magic are thirteenth (24-38).
THUNDER 100 – PELICANS 103
Without Zion Williamson, who will remain out for several weeks due to his hamstring injury, Brandon Ingram led the hard-fought triumph on the field for the Thunder, who, at the rhythm of an extraordinary Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, managed to get into the middle of the fight for the ‘play-in’ positions.
Ingram signed 34 points on a night in which Puerto Rican José Alvarado started and scored fourteen points. For the Thunder, Gilgeous-Alexander chipped in 24 points with ten rebounds.
