After 11 straight bankruptcies, the Brooklyn Nets finally have a reason to celebrate. New signing Ben Simmons which complicates the trade!”>Seth Curry got the Nets back on track on his debut. Dennis Schröder makes a poor debut for the Rockets. A strong comeback by Franz Wagner and the Magic is not enough.
Washington Wizards (26-30) – Detroit Pistons (12-45) 103:94 (BOXSCORE)
- This game wasn’t necessarily a treat, but the Wizards won’t care. At least they managed to win against Detroit for the second time in the last three games, with Kyle Kuzma’s 23 points and a Pistons low in the fourth quarter being decisive.
- Late in the third quarter, Kuzma had given his colors a slight lead for the first time, but Detroit continued to hold back well. The visitors were back down to -2 by the middle of the final period – but then Detroit didn’t get a single point on the scoreboard for over four minutes.
- Washington used the opponent’s phase of weakness to gain a lead of 11 points and the game was decided. And that despite the fact that the hosts only scored 16 points in the last round. Raul Neto (11, 4 steals), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (16) and Deni Avdija (12 and 15 rebounds, career high) were there. Kuzma scored 17 of his 23 points in the third quarter. Kristaps Porzingis was unable to play due to persistent foot problems.
- The Pistons have now lost eight games in a row, with rookie Cade Cunningham struggling with his shot (12, 5/16 FG and 0/5 three-pointers). The guests’ top scorer was Saddiq Bey, who had 24 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. In the fourth quarter, however, he couldn’t find his shot either, Detroit hit a meager 5/23 from the field in this section.
Brooklyn Nets (30-27) – Sacramento Kings (22-37) 109:85 (BOXSCORE)
- The relief was palpable in the Brooklyn Nets dressing room. After 11 straight bankruptcies, the catacombs of Barclays Center were finally in a party mood after a blowout win against the guests from California, which could also be clearly heard in the corridors in front of the Nets cabin. The hero of the evening was newcomer Seth Curry.
- The guard made his debut in the Nets jersey after the blockbuster trade involving Ben Simmons and James Harden and was in a good mood right from the start. Like the rest of his teammates, Brooklyn quickly established a 19-point lead. But Sacramento showed morale, De’Aaron Fox and the good bench brought the Kings back into the game until the half-time break.
- But then there was finally no answer to Curry. The 31-year-old gave the opposition 12 points in the third quarter, which saw the Nets comfortably pull away again. Finally, the reservists closed the sack, the lead increased to 24 points in the last round and Brooklyn was allowed to celebrate for the first time since January 22nd.
- Curry celebrated his successful debut with a total of 23 points (10/18 FG), 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Support was provided by the strong Bruce Brown, who was everywhere (19, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals and 3 blocks), or LaMarcus Aldridge (19 and 8 rebounds). Andre Drummond (11 and 9) also made a good Nets debut in front of Ben Simmons on the bench.
- “It felt great. The energy has been great since we got here,” Curry said after the game. Brooklyn showed a completely different face with improved passing (25 assists with 43 field goals) and spacing. Brown’s explanation: “After the trade deadline, there’s a great vibe here, everyone likes everyone.”
- In the end, Sacramento only had 31 successful field goals to counter the 43 Nets hits, and the shooting rate of 34.4 percent was simply far too little that evening. Fox still showed a good performance with 26 points (9/18 FG), Davion Mitchell (13) and Donte DiVincenzo (12) scored double digits from the bench. Domantas Sabonis, on the other hand, remained pale (9 and 9 rebounds, 4/11 FG).
New York Knicks (25-33) – Oklahoma City Thunder (18-39) 123:127 OT (BOXSCORE)
- A new low for the Knicks in a season full of lows? The traditional franchise from the Big Apple conceded the ninth bankruptcy from the past eleven games against the basement child OKC. The disappointing offense ended up not being able to counter Josh Giddey’s next triple-double.
- The rookie impressed with 28 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds (with 7 turnovers), but he wasn’t on his own. Tre Mann advanced to Thunder’s top scorer with 30 points (4/7 threes), Darius Bazley scored 23 points and three other OKC players from the bench scored double digits. After a wild finish, this was the first win after five losses in a row.
- In the crunch time of the regular season, hardly anything came together for both offenses (almost 30 percent field shot rate in the fourth quarter), so New York did not bring a 4-point lead in the final minute. Instead, OKC equalized first, then Quentin Grimes (19) brought the Knicks back in front after a Giddey turnover before Bazley made the OT clear.
- There was nothing to get for the Knicks offense again, Giddey and Mann ultimately brought the Thunder onto the road to victory. Julius Randle’s triple-double was not enough either (30, 13 boards and 10 assists with 7 turnovers), but there was too little to see of him in the decisive phase before he also fouled out. Evan Fournier defended himself with 29 points, Mitchell Robinson had 14 points, 17 rebounds and 4 blocks and steals each.
