The Golden State Warriors concede the next defeat at the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Dubs have massive size disadvantages. The Boston Celtics get another convincing win, but have to accept a drop of bitterness.
Washington Wizards (28-33) – Detroit Pistons (15-47) 116:113 (BOXSCORE)
- The Wizards keep up with the play-in places, even without the two stars Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis. The bench made the difference against Detroit, although Kyle Kuzma was the hosts’ top scorer with 21 points (7/15), 9 rebounds and 6 assists.
- Kuzma was too who delivered an important block against Cade Cunningham in the closing stages, allowing Thomas Bryant (16) to raise to +6 via Alley Oop on the other end. The Pistons ended up having two more chances for overtime, but both Saddiq Bey (19) and Killian Hayes (7, 5 assists) missed from long range.
- Washington took the lead of the night (12) early in the fourth quarter with an 18-0 run, with Ish Smith (11, 8 assists) and Rui Hachimura (11, 3/3 threes) doing particularly well. Only when the strong Cunningham (20, 9/18, 9 rebounds) returned did the guests come back, it was ultimately not enough.
- In Washington, eight players scored simultaneously, and the Wizards scored 50 percent from distance (13/26). Detroit, on the other hand, only sunk 30 percent of its triples, with top scorer Jerami Grant (26) scoring three of the nine goals. After all, the highlight of the game was provided by the guests, Cunningham put fellow rookie Corey Kispert on a nice poster.
Boston Celtics (37-27) – Atlanta Hawks (29-32) 107:98 (BOXSCORE)
- Defense has been the Celtics’ guarantee of success in recent weeks, and nothing changed against Atlanta. Boston only allowed the guests 33 points after the break, so that a 17-point deficit could still be converted into a quite clear victory. The best scorer was once again Jayson Tatum, who had his fingers in everything with 33 points (12/25), 8 rebounds and 7 assists.
- This was also necessary because co-star Jaylen Brown had to leave the field after just under three minutes. During a drive, forward Atlanta’s De’Andre Hunter unhappily got on his foot, the Celtics later spoke of a sprained ankle. Without Brown, the Celtics initially had difficulties, the Hawks were hot after a weak start. Trae Young cooked, but the other guest players also hit their shots.
- But that changed after the move. The Celtics locked the zone, in the second 24 minutes the guests only took ten shots at the ring. Boston generated 11 second chance points at the other end, while Derrick White (18, 5 assists) thrived with seven straight points when Tatum got a break. The hosts then led by up to 14 points in the fourth quarter, Atlanta only came a little closer at the end due to a few turnovers, but never close enough.
- Young scored 22 of his 31 points (12/25) before the break and didn’t get the desired turn in the second half either. Otherwise, only Bogdan Bogdanovic (25, 10/16) and Danilo Gallinari (12, 8 rebounds) scored double digits. In addition to White, Grant Williams (18, 7 rebounds) also provided Boston with production coming from the bench. Daniel Theis was not used for the Celtics.
Toronto Raptors (34-27) – Brooklyn Nets (32-31) 109:108 (BOXSCORE)
- The day before, the Raptors had made small wood from the Nets in the Barclays Center, in Toronto it looked different. Toronto struggled against the Nets zone, but ended up dominating the boards so much that they just barely managed against the Nets’ rump squad (Kyrie Irving wasn’t allowed to travel to Canada).
- In crunch time it was No. 4 pick Scottie Barnes (18, 8/13, 10 rebounds) who, in the absence of Fred VanVleet (knee), OG Anunoby (broken finger) and Pascal Siakam (fouled 2:40 before the End off) delivered the important plays. First, the rookie found Thaddeus Young under the basket with a no-look passa little later he blocked a possible equalizer from Seth Curry (18, 7/16) and a little later secured the ball for Toronto.
- Gary Trent Jr. (24, 6/17 FG, 9/9 FT) made everything clear with four free throws, James Johnson (19) only made the result cosmetic from the Nets’ point of view with the buzzer. LaMarcus Aldridge had 16 points and 9 rebounds, but made two three-second violations in the last three minutes – points that Brooklyn ultimately lacked.
- Siakam put up 18 points (7/19), 8 rebounds and 6 assists in just under 35 minutes, VanVleet substitute Malachi Flynn (15, 6/11, 8 assists) played a tight 43 minutes. Goran Dragic’s workday was significantly shorter with the Nets (15 minutes), who played five games for Toronto at the beginning of the season but never really wanted to play for the Raptors. So it rained loud boos for the Slovenianwho had 10 points and +15, the best plus-minus of his suits.