Monstrous. There are no other terms to define Dallas Mavericks winning streak ends abruptly”>Luka Doncic‘s performance against the Clippers (27-30). The Slovenian knocks out the Californians with 51 points, 28 of which scored in the first quarter alone. Dallas (33-23) wins 112-105 and his star shoots with 17/26 from the field, 7/14 from three and 10/14 to free, as well as 9 rebounds and 6 assists in 40 ‘. Despite Doncic’s exploits, however, the race remained in balance until the end with the Californians always forced to chase. Dallas is in fact only Doncic, just look at the points scored by the second best player of the Texans, Finney-Smith with just 12 points. Morris (21) and Powell (19), however, were not enough for the Clippers to break the American Airlines Center and distance the Lakers in the standings.
Phoenix overwhelms the Bucks and stretches, Warriors knocked out
Extraordinary show of strength for the Phoenix Suns (45-10) overwhelm 131-107 also the Milwaukee Bucks (35-22) reigning champions and literally go on the run to the top of the Western Conference NBA. A team that attacks and defends with the same spirit and the same qualities, led by the genius of veteran Chris Paul (17 points and 19 assists) and the talent of young people like Booker (17), Ayton (27) and Bridges (18). After only touching the title last year, losing to the Bucks in the final, the Suns seem to have all good and bad intentions to go and take back what was taken from them. And in the ‘remake’ of the final 24 points to Antetokounmpo and his companions. On the other hand, the 21 of Holiday and Middleton are not enough, so Phoenix takes the victory number 45 and extends over the Golden State Warriors (41-15), beaten by surprise at home by the New York Knicks (25-31) for 116- 114. Second consecutive knockout for the Californians, despite a 35-point performance and 10 assists by Steph Curry. On the other side of the parquet Randle did very well, leading him to success with 28 points, 16 rebounds and 7 assists.
The other matches
Just behind in the standings, however, the Memphis Grizzlies (39-18) win against the Detroit Pistons (12-43) 132-107 thanks to 23 points from Ja Morant, followed by 22 from Bane. To the East the Miami Heat (36-20) continue to fly, passing 112-97 away to the New Orleans Pelicans (22-33) keeping the first position in the standings. Butler and Adebayo were decisive with 29 points, but also a triple-double Lowry with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Eighth win in a row for the increasingly surprising Toronto Raptors (31-23), dragged by the 42 points of a super Trent Jr in the Texan away match against the Houston Rockets (15-40): 139-120 the final. Siakam also did well with 30, the same ones that Porter Jr made on the other side but useless for Houston. Double figure of consecutive defeats, however, for the Brooklyn Nets (29-26), who fall 113-112 in Washington against the Wizards (25-29) and slide to eighth place in the standings. Irving’s 31 points and Thomas’s 27 are useless. With the farewell of James Harden, traded with the Sixers for Ben Simmons, Andre Drummond and Seth Curry, Brooklyn hopes to open a new cycle and to resume a season that until a few weeks ago saw it at the top in the East.
The results
Detroit Pistons – Memphis Grizzlies 107-132, New Orleans Pelicans – Miami Heat 97-112, Washington Wizards – Brooklyn Nets 113-112, Houston Rockets – Toronto Raptors 120-139, Dallas Mavericks – Los Angeles Clippers 112-105, Golden State Warriors – New York Knicks 114-116, Phoenix Suns – Milwaukee Bucks 131-107.
