Unexpected home misstep for Phoenix, the best team of the NBA regular season, at the hands of New Orleans, the Los Angeles derby once again rewards the Clippers at the expense of the Lakers (they risk slipping out of the play-in area too), Miami responds to the success of Chicago 24 hours earlier by recovering the summit in the Eastern Conference, where in the third seat is Philadelphia enjoying a debut of applause for James Harden. Here are the highlights of the round staged on the Italian night with nine races on the bill.
Pelicans kick Suns, Jazz fold Mavs
The news is the internal slip of the Suns, who lose against prediction 117-102 with the Pelicans. This is the eleventh knockout of the season, against 49 wins, for the team of Monty Williams, leader in the West, who are not enough with Booker’s 30 points and Ayton’s 20 points. Decisive for the guests (New Orleans with a balance of 24-36 is 12th in the West) are the 32 points of McCollum, top scorer of the meeting, the 28 of Ingram and the double double of 18 points and 17 rebounds of Valanciunas. Staying in the Western conference, the Utah Jazz (37-22, fourth position) beat the Dallas Mavericks 114-109 (35-25, fifth place in the West) in what, remaining these rankings at the end of the regular season, would in effect be a head to playoff head. Doncic makes 23 with 11 assists, Powell 22 and Dinwiddie adds 20 from the bench, but the Texans are still folded by Mitchell’s 33 (7 out of 12 from three), accompanied by Gobert’s double double (14 points and 17 rebounds).
LeBron is not enough for the Lakers, the derby still for the Clippers
The third Los Angeles derby of the season sees the triumph again Clippers (31-31, eighth place in the West), who win 105-102 against the Lakers, who with just three statements in the last ten games seriously risk slipping out of the play-in area (ninth place with 27-32). Without Anthony Davis LeBron James tries as usual to lead the yellow-violet, but his 21 points and 11 rebounds are not enough (the series of races stops at 23 with at least 25 points scored). The Lakers had recovered from a 16-point gap and were only one length behind with four seconds left when Carmelo Anthony missed a three-point shot. On the other hand, seven players go in double figures, including the only four used by the bench and able to score 53 of the 105 total points scored by their team. It takes two overtime to decide the match between Washington and San Antonio: the Spurs (24-36, 11th place West), who tripped the Wizards at home for 157-153. For the Caoitale team (27-32, 11th in the East), which squanders an advantage of 8 points just over a minute from the end of the last quarter, Kuzma’s 36 points are not enough, the most prolific of a match that does not he spared emotions. Among the Texans triple double for Murray (fresh from his first All-Star Game) of 31 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists, but the top scorer is Johnson with 32 points and a 5 out of 9 from the arc.
Barrett says 46 but Knicks knocked out with the Heat
The day after the Bulls’ victory over Atlanta, the Heat they responded with a 115-100 success on the parquet of the New York Knicks, still without Derick Rose, on the way to recovery. Tyler Herro (25 points), Jimmy Butler (23), Kyle Lowry (19) and Bam Adebayo (16 points, 16 rebounds) made a significant contribution to Miami’s success, thus returning to the lead in the eastern conference (39-21 ), despite the super performance of RJ Barrett, author of 46 points, a career record. The latter, returned after missing four games due to injury, made six three-point shots and captured 9 rebounds, however insufficient to avoid the fourth consecutive defeat to the Big Apple team (25-35, 12th in the East), while Julius Randle lacked efficiency (11 points, with just 2 of 15 shooting).
For Harden debut with applause with the Sixers
In the debut match of James Harden, the Sixers pass 133-102 on the field of the Minnesota Timberwolves (32-29, seventh in the West) confirming themselves in the high ranking positions in the East (36-23, third place). The ‘Barba’, who arrived from Brooklyn at the end of the transfer market, awaiting the home debut scheduled for the Italian night between Wednesday and Thursday, touches his first triple double with the new jersey, placing 27 points, 12 assists and 8 rebounds. In terms of points, Maxey (28) and Embiid (34) do better than him, who also scores 10 rebounds. The Oklahoma City Thunder also win in extra time (129.125) at the Indiana Pacers, after the triple of the draw scored by Stephenson just seconds from the final siren. The 36 points of the Canadian Gilgeous-Alexander were decisive, followed by 22 from Mann and the double doubles of Bazley (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Roby (10 points, 11 rebounds). Completing the picture of the results are the affirmations of the Charlote Hornets on the Toronto for Raptors 125-93 and of the Orlando Magic on the Houston Rockets for 119-111.
