The next embarrassing gossip for the Lakers! LeBron James and Co. go under completely against city rivals because Reggie Jackson is running hot. The Heat spoil Kevin Durant’s strong comeback, the Grizzlies find their masters in Jayson Tatum and the Celtics.
Atlanta Hawks (30-32) – Chicago Bulls (39-24) 130:124 (BOXSCORE)
- An hour before tip-off, Hawks coach Nate McMillan wasn’t sure if Trae Young would be able to play with his injured ankle. About three quarters of an hour before the start of the game, Young raised his thumb – and then didn’t show anything! His 39 points, 13 assists, and multiple clutch threes gave Atlanta an important win in the play-in tournament battle.
- For long stretches of the game, the Hawks and Bulls fought an even duel, but in crunch time it was the home side’s hour. First, a three by Bogdan Bogdanovic put Atlanta in front, followed by a stepback triple with 1:15 left. Shortly thereafter he put in another threesome, this time from the right corner, after. The Hawks pulled away to +7 and wrapped up the win in dry cloths.
- The point guard scored 16 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, in which he stayed perfectly out of the field (6/6 FG and 4/4 three-pointers). In any case, Young presented himself extremely efficiently, 11 of his 18 field shots, 7 of 9 three-pointers and 10 of 10 free throws ended up in the basket. Bogdanovic provided strong support with 20 points, De’Andre Hunter (18) and Kevin Huerter (17) also made a good game.
- The Bulls, on the other hand, fell behind the Sixers in third place in the East with their third loss in a row. DeMar DeRozan (additional 8 assists) and Zach LaVine (7 assists) defended themselves with 22 points each, Nikola Vucevic had 21 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. In the fourth quarter, however, there was no answer to the Hawks duo Young and Bogdanovic.
Boston Celtics (38-27) – Memphis Grizzlies (43-21) 120:107 (BOXSCORE)
- Another impressive victory for the Boston Celtics: The recently hot Grizzlies found their champion in the Celts, despite Ja Morant having 38 points (13/29 FG, 4/12 threes and 7 assists). But that belies the fact that Boston’s defense has done a really good job against the Grizzlies for a long time. In the end, Jayson Tatum was just too much.
- The Celtics initially locked the zone and forced Memphis to throw from distance – but initially they didn’t want to fall at all (4/21 in the first half, a total of 13/40 three-pointers). The guests only stayed tuned because they radiated danger in transition and mercilessly punished the Celtics turnover. Morant then delivered the first highlight in the fast break.
- In the third half, however, the hosts quickly moved into a double-digit lead and as Morant (30 in the second half) and Desmond Bane (12 of 17 in the fourth quarter) sped up, Tatum took control. It was he who always kept Memphis at a distance in the last round, his three from the wing also represented the dagger a good one and a half minutes before the end.
- On his 24th birthday, Tatum had 21 of his 37 points (14/25 FG, plus 6 rebounds and 5 assists) in the fourth quarter. Al Horford also made important moves in the closing stages, finishing a strong showing with 21 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists. Marcus Smart contributed 18 points and 12 dimes, but Boston, who were already missing Jaylen Brown, lost their next player in Aaron Nesmith to a nasty ankle injury. Daniel Theis had 6 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in 13 minutes, while Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 20 points for the Grizzlies.
Brooklyn Nets (32-32) – Miami Heat (42-22) 107:113 (BOXSCORE)
- Everything was actually done for the Nets. Miami had to do without Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry and PJ Tucker in the second part of the back-to-back, and Kevin Durant celebrated his comeback after a 21-game break. KD shrugged off his rust quickly, scoring 31 points in 35 minutes – and yet the Heat made a spoilsport.
- Brooklyn got off to a much better start, thanks in part to Durant, the home side opened up a gap of up to 16 points in the first half. But after the change of sides, Miami relied more on zone defense and thus presented the Nets with enormous problems (28:17 for Miami in the third quarter). A 14-3 run by the visitors from Florida in the fourth quarter seemed to put them on the winning track.
- But Brooklyn had another answer in itself. An own 10:0 run made it exciting again, in the final minutes both Seth Curry (8, 3/10 FG) and Durant had good chances to put the Nets in the lead. However, both attempts from Downtown landed on the ring, Bam Adebayo raised from the other side and it was over.
- Adebayo was the best Heatle in the absence of Butler and Lowry, frustrating the opposition with a highly efficient 30 points (12/15 FG), 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Otherwise, he could also look forward to strong support from Tyler Herro (27 and 8 assists), Caleb Martin (22, 8/11 FG) and Max Strus (21). Only in the crunch time did the heat offense not always make a good impression.
- Nevertheless, success was in the books for Miami in the end, and the Heat can also look forward to the return of Victor Oladipo next week. For the Nets, on the other hand, there was an extremely bitter defeat under the circumstances mentioned at the beginning. The one-time 16-point lead was Brooklyn’s highest lead this season. Durant ultimately had too little support in his strong comeback, Bruce Brown (21) and Patty Mills (14) were the only other Nets players in double digits.
