The injured return, and Milwaukee finds the rhythm. Against Miami, the Bucks were able to count on a Giannis Antetokounmpo royal and triple double (35 pts, 15 rbds, 11 pds) to win the bet. Chris Middleton finally comes back well (24 pts), everyone plays their part: in these cases, Milwaukee is a very difficult team to stop. Proof of this is made with this seventh consecutive success which brings them back to the success of the Celtics, and therefore from first place. Despite a good Jimmy Butler (32 pts), Miami could not do anything, and remains stuck in the soft underbelly of the East.
Another hot team, the Suns. Eighth victory in ten games for Phoenix, who quietly got rid of Detroit thanks to a mammoth double-double from DeAndre Ayton (31 pts, 16 rebounds) and the 14 assists of Chris Paul, to return to the top 5 in the West. The show, there was at Madison Square Garden, in a match concluded in overtime. The one man show of Jalen Brunson (41 pts 14/19) will not have allowed the Knicks to win the victory. The fault a duo Kawhi Leonard (35 pts) – Paul George (30 pts) which finally fuels, and which allows the Clippers to remain top 4.
No Kevin Durantand no Kyrie Irving. The perfect opportunity to shine for a shadow player at the Nets. This player will be Cam Thomas, who will take matters into his own hands and almost single-handedly beat the Wizards. 44 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists later, the mass was said, even if we can also talk about the 29 points ofEdmond Sumner. Annoying for Washington, which marks time despite the 38 points of Kristaps Porzingisin particular because of the early injury of Kyle Kuzma.
42 points for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, still embarking on an incredible season that brought him a star, and maybe soon an MIP title. The Thunder point guard led his team to an easy victory against the still depressing Rockets. 40 more points for Damian Lillard, but still no victory at the end. The fault of Big Three of the Bulls, since Zach Lavine (36 pts), DeMar DeRozan (27-7-7) et Nikola Vucevic (23 pts, 11 rebounds) did the job to prevent the Blazers from switching into the positive.
Another triple double for Nikola Jokic (14 pts, 18 rebounds, 10 wt), but the Serb did not need to force his scoring talent. It is Jamal Murray who took care of it (41 pts) to validate his return to form, as well as an implacable victory against Hawks still deprived of Trae Youngand or Dejounte Murray was in the oven and at the mill (28 pts, 10 rebounds). It smells very good for Denver, which is five wins ahead of the Western Conference, and should go for the 1st seed quite logically.
No Luka Doncic Dallas, and the Mavs therefore had to lower the Golden State flag. Spencer Dinwiddie (25 pts) and Tim Hardaway Jr (22) have tried, but the band Stephen Curry surfed the whole match on a dream first quarter (40-23) to win the day, and switch back to positive. Finally, Brandon Ingram released his best game of the season (35 pts) at the right time, to allow the Pelicans to beat the Lakers and bring their balance sheet back into balance. Anthony Davis nevertheless released a big match (34 pts, 14 rbds), but it was not enough, just like the 27 pts of LeBron James. More than 36 for the Kingwhich will break the record of Kareem Abdul-Jabbarbarring injury, in one of the two upcoming games.
Wizards 123 – 125 Nets
Suns 116 – 100 Pistons
Clippers 134 – 128 Knicks
Blazers 121 – 129 Bulls
Heat 115 – 123 Bucks
Lakers 126 – 131 Pelicans
Rockets 121 – 153 Thunder
Mavs 113 – 119 Warriors
Hawks 108 – 128 Nuggets
