San Antonio Spurs – Philadelphie Sixers : 109-115
The list is impressive: looking at Sixers results, the name of Joel Embiid appears each time as the top scorer of his team for a little over a month, or 17 matches in a row. Among them, only two outings emerge at less than 30 points (once 25 and once 23). The Cameroonian was again huge on Sunday (38 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists) and, icing on the cake, he scored the two shots that sealed the victory of “Philly” 15 seconds from the end despite a decimated outside sector by injuries (Curry, Green, Milton and Thybulle).
Toronto Raptors – Portland TrailBlazers : 105-114
TrailBlazers don’t like to move. Only the Pacers and Pistons have won less than them this season away. Hence the importance of the success obtained in Canada, which is moreover at the end of a match dominated from the start (7-0 after two minutes) to the end. In the absence of Damian Lillard and Norman Powell, the mark was distributed (four Blazers between 17 and 19 points) with a particular mention for Anfernee Simmons, author of two key award-winning baskets in the money time.
Dallas Mavericks -Memphis Grizzlies : 104-91
The Grizzlies are struggling against Dallas’ strong defense this season. Sunday, they lost for the third time in a row against the Mavs after a meeting where the Texans took the lead in the middle of the first quarter and then did not let go. Luka Doncic conceded having “a little stiff neck” after a heavy fall on Friday against Phoenix but that did not prevent the Slovenian from scoring 23 of his 37 points in the second half.
Denver Nuggets – Detroit Pistons : 117-111
After Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid and Luka Doncic, another outstanding individual performance took place on Sunday, this time at the Pepsi Center in Denver, with Nikola Jokic’s 34 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists, which allowed the Nuggets to clinch the victory after a meeting where Detroit, which was led by 16 points at the start of the last quarter, almost succeeded in a hold-up. This was marked by the debut of DeMarcus Cousins in the Denver jersey (2 points).
Charlotte Hornets – Atlanta Hawks : 91-113
When a team misses its first 19 three-point shots, it has little chance of winning. This is what happened to Charlotte, deprived of Gordon Hayward (foot) and corrected at home by Atlanta after a match where LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier combined a 0/14 behind the arc. It’s simple: Trae Young has twice as many winning baskets (8/15) as all the Hornets combined (4/36).
