ELast February 10, the Philadelphia 76ers became legitimate candidates for the NBA ring with the arrival of James Harden to partner with Joel Embiid, MVP candidate this season. A duo that made 76ers fans dream, their architect Daryl Morey and their coach, Doc Rivers, who had a new weapon in his already extensive arsenal.
And at first everything seemed to turn into a bed of roses with the two stars understanding each other perfectly on the court and adding victory after victory. But the thorns came out of the roses and the Sixers began to puncture and ‘La Barba’ returned to take his place as the usual suspect in a league surrendered to his talent, but who doubts his ability to lead a team to the highest
Especially with games like the one that the guard played against Detroit and in which the Pistons, already defenestrated, surprised some Sixers who made waters in defense with all eyes turning to Harden. Including those of his coach, Doc Rivers, who pointed directly to him for the defeat when asked about the lack of bench depth: “It’s not the fault of the substitutes. In fact, in their defense, they didn’t have many shots. I think during that streak (39-8 in favor of the Pistons) was more James [Harden] than of them.”
A poisoned dart at the least appropriate time of the season, in which the Sixers are fighting not to lose home court advantage in the playoffs for a ring for which Harden and company have already lowered their price in bookmakers.
An amazing performance by DeMar DeRozan, with 50 points culminating in the dunk that sentenced overtime, gave the Chicago Bulls a momentous 135-130 win against the Los Angeles Clippers that is worth half a ticket to the “playoffs” for Billie Billie’s team. Donovan. Fired by chants of “MVP, MVP,” DeRozan became the sixth player in Bulls history to reach that scoring mark.
If all are doubts about Harden, these have been cleared about Cade Cunningham. The number 1 in the draft has silenced the critics after his debut in the NBA, including the one who writes this, and has been establishing himself in the league with performances like the one he signed against the Sixers with 27 points and 12 of 20 on shots. countryside. The Pistons rookie posted 22.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and seven assists on average in the month of March, being the first rookie to post these numbers in a calendar month since Michael Jordan.
The Spaniard Juancho Hernangmez lost his place in the Jazz’s starting lineup due to the return of Bojan Bogdanovic, but the forward from Madrid once again played a leading role in Quin Snyder’s schemes. Juancho played 19 minutes and finished with nine points (three of six from the field and two of four from the triple), three rebounds and three assists in his locker. For his part, Serge Ibaka did not participate in the Bucks’ victory against the Nets due to a technical decision.
Trae Young arrives thrown at the moment of truth of the season. After a shaky first half, the Hawks star has launched Atlanta and established them as one of the most dangerous opponents in the East, especially in a game like the play-in. The point guard is capable of anything and he showed it again against the Cavaliers with 30 points in three quarters.
Paul George came back from his injury and did it in a big way, but in his second game he seems to have started to pay for inactivity. Despite his 22 points and five assists from him, the forward was not comfortable on the court and finished with a poor seven of 20 shooting from the field and five turnovers.
NBA NIGHT RESULTS
- Pistons 102-94 76ers
- Nets 119-120 Bucks
- Hawks 131-107 Cavaliers
- Bulls 135-130 Clippers
- Jazz 122-109 Lakers
The Brooklyn Nets were waiting with open arms for Kyrie Irving ahead of the playoffs, but the point guard has to give much more of himself if New Yorkers want to be real contenders. Especially in the hot moments of the games. Against the Bucks, in a game more typical of the playoffs than the regular season, the point guard crashed in the final minutes with zero points, three field goals and a turnover, adding the last four minutes of regulation time and the five of the game. extension.
The NBA has snatched the March Madness poster from the NCAA and has experienced its particular month of madness in the last 31 days with nine players having scored at least 50 points in this period of time, more than in any other month in NBA history. the NBA. In addition, up to 14 different players have reached that number this year, establishing a new maximum in NBA history.
