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The Warriors still point to 2nd place in the West, in the NBA. They are hot, and need an overtime, to get rid of the Nets on Saturday (110-106).
Klay Thompson in the middle of his teammates.
AFP
Klay Thompson was not having a great night, but in the money-time he gave Golden State victory once morest Brooklyn (110-106) on Saturday in the NBA. At the Chase Center, with his “splash brother” Stephen Curry, they had their heads under water for a long time, weighed down by poor marksmanship. But it’s rare that it lasts an entire match.
In the fourth quarter, Thompson managed nine points in a row, notably returning his second shot from behind the arc of the evening (on his 8th attempt) to create a small gap (107-103), then kept with free throws. He finished with 16 points (6 rebounds), three less than Curry (8 assists, 7 rebounds), who made many bad choices on offense, resulting in five lost balls.
The Warriors, who have long had to rely on Andrew Wiggins (24 pts), retain their 2nd place in the West behind Phoenix, thanks to this fifth success in a row. For the Nets, now 6th in the East because of this fourth consecutive loss, there was enough to feed some frustrations, following having managed to erase a delay of 19 lengths in the 3rd quarter, in the wake of Kyrie Irving, author of his best performance of the season (32 pts, 7 assists). His admirable shot nine seconds from the buzzer, to bring the score to 107-106 will have been useless.
In Memphis, the Grizzlies, wide winners of Washington (115-95), once once more relied on their phenomenon Ja Morant, author of 34 points (at 15/27) including a windmill dunk on an alley-oop ( goes up in the air), promised to be enthroned in the Top 10 of the most beautiful actions of the week. On the Wizards side, who slipped to 11th place in the East following this fifth straight loss, only Kyle Kuzma survived (30 pts, 8 rebounds).
Philadelphia on the podium
For his reunion with his former coach Rick Carlisle, who stayed 13 seasons at the head of the Mavs and now in charge of the Pacers, Luka Doncic did not make a feeling (30 pts, 12 rebounds) and Dallas won easily (132 -105). But, downside of the Texans (5th in the West), Kristaps Porzingis injured his knee.
In the East, it is at the end of the suspense and three “overtimes”, fifteen minutes more than the 48 regulations, that the Raptors air-conditioned the room of the Heat. Fred VanVleet (19 pts, 8 assists) was the executioner of Miami, with two three-point banderillas in the space of a minute, which killed all suspense. Previously it was Gary Trent Jr (33 pts), who had been the locomotive of Toronto. On the Heat side, still leader in the East, Jimmy Butler, author of a triple-double (37 pts, 14 rebounds, 10 assists), however, did not weigh in overtime.
In Philadelphia, a superb duel opposed Joel Embiid to Tyrese Haliburton, the Sixers of the first having finally the last word on the Kings of the second (103-101). The Cameroonian pivot confirmed that he was a serious candidate for the MVP trophy (36 pts, 12 rebounds, 6 assists). And when he had just given Philly a ten-unit lead with more than two minutes remaining, Haliburton (38 pts), chained eight pawns in a row. But that wasn’t enough for Sacramento.
The 76ers do the right thing tonight as they climb to 3rd place. In 8th place, is Boston winner (107-97) in New Orleans. Jayson Tatum was dominant (38 pts, 7 assists).
(AFP)