The Phoenix Suns did their duty against a badly weakened jazz team, and Chris Paul was there once again. Chicago is happy about a returnee.
Cleveland Cavaliers (29-19) – New York Knicks (23-25) 95:93 (BOXSCORE)
- The Cavs almost gave up the win in the end, but Darius Garland‘s only three-pointer (13 points, 6/19 FG, 12 assists) should be enough – the Knicks caught up a 15-point deficit in the last quarter, However, all chances for a possible lead were missed. Julius Randle (18, 6/17 FG) also missed the last attempt with the buzzer.
- So at the end of the seventh victory from the last eight games for Cleveland, which played in phases in a little frenzy. This was especially true for Kevin Love, who put on a personal 9-0 run in 67 seconds in the third quarter and brought the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to a boil.
- “I felt those four years when we put runs like this,” Love said, recalling the four years he played alongside LeBron James in Cleveland when the Cavs were the top favorites in the Eastern Conference. Love hit six total threes and led the Cavs with 20 points and 11 boards off the bench.
- Three other starters scored double digits, with Evan Mobley in particular convincing with 15, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. For the Knicks, RJ Barrett was the top scorer with 24 points, but the New Yorkers once again made the best impression in the bench minutes – Obi Toppin (13) and Quentin Grimes (12) excelled here.
- On the other hand, Immanuel Quickley was weak, who only hit one of his ten throws and also made some bad decisions in crunch time. “We should have won this game,” Barrett said angrily. “There were just a lot of smaller things that we have to control and do better.”
New Orleans Pelicans (18-28) – Indiana Pacers (17-31) 117:113 (BOXSCORE)
- Devonte’ Graham was questionable before the game, but his ankle problems didn’t show much against Indiana. With 25 points (8/14 FG), the guard led his team to their second win in a row, keeping the Pelicans within striking distance of tenth place in the Western Conference.
- The Pacers were still leading in the middle of the fourth quarter thanks to two three-pointers by the strong Duane Washington Jr. (21, 7/12 3FG), but then NOLA gradually took over: Graham scored 8 points in the last five and a half minutes and had strong support from Josh Hart (22, 10 rebounds) and Jonas Valanciunas (16 and 12). They were joined by Jaxson Hayes, Garrett Temple and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, all of whom scored 14 points.
- In the Pacers, who, like New Orleans, had to do without their top scorer (both Domantas Sabonis and Brandon Ingram had ankle problems), the most notable player was Washington’s Caris LeVert with 19 and 8 assists.
- It was also LeVert who shortened it again to -2 from the Pacers point of view with 2 seconds before the end with a three. However, Alexander-Walker made everything clear on the other side of the free-throw line.
