We begin this summary with the main event of the night, the opposition between the Clippers and the Mavericks. And the show was there from start to finish because until the last moments, nothing was done. And yet, we could very quickly believe a blow-out from the Mavs. From the start of the game, Luka Doncic and his band unroll and alongside the 12 quick points of their leader, Dallas unrolls against the Clippers attacked from the start and who can not put one foot in front of the other. With 26% success on shots, they score almost as much as the only Doncic opposite. And it’s not better in the 2nd quarter… Christian Wood is in great shape coming off the bench and with his 10 pawns, sends the Clippers 25 points behind at the break, and a very worrying level!
But this team has resources and despite the level of play and the very solid efficiency of the Mavs, the Clippers return from the locker room with completely different intentions. The ball spins much better and Paul George loses fewer balls, and even if Luka continues his show in front, the collective is now stronger on the side of LA Everyone brings his stone to the building and the gap begins to melt, in particular thanks to the good passage of John Wall. The Clippers do not want to let go and continue to be aggressive. Nicolas Batum also had a huge impact with his 13 points in the last quarter (22 points in total including 7/7 3pts, season record 100%) and the Clippers came back to score with about ten minutes left to play. Everyone surrenders, the lieutenants are very present and it is played out in detail. In the game of details, it is sometimes the talent that pays and on an almost lost ball, the latter lands in the hands of Doncic who, 30 seconds from the end, enters a well clutched three points to offer himself possession in advance and the match (Covington will miss the winning shot). Dallas is doing well after having had a 25-point lead and in addition to the good collective carried by DFS, C.Wood, R.Bullock et S.Dinwiddie (between 15 and 21 points), it was finally Lika who had the last word with his 35 points. Despite Batum’s 22 points and Paul George’s 23-7-6 (but 10 ball losses), Los Angeles lost 103-101.
The rest of the night begins with the Nets’ plain and simple humiliation by the Kings scoring 153 points!! The gap began with a run of 33-14 at the end of the second quarter and never wavered, rising to +39 for Sacramento! Despite the 27 points of Kevin Durantit is Terence Davis who finished top scorer with 31 points and 9 rebounds 7/10 and 3pts! Same for Kevin Huerter, ultra effective with 19 pts 5/7 behind the arc and overall the whole team had fun facing this “defense”. This allows Sacramento to win a fourth straight victory!
The most spectacular game of the night was between the Grizzlies of I Morant (without Bane bless) and the Pelicans of Brandon Ingram et CJ McCollum (without Zion Williamson Bless). Finally, thanks to McCollum’s 30 points and despite Morant’s 36 units, it was the Pelicans who won. In this high level match, the difference was made at the level of the rotations with the good match of Jose Alvarado and especially of Larry Nance Jr author of 19 points 8/10 on shots. Note the buzzer beater at the end of the 1st quarter of Ja’s midfield and overall, a pretty crazy match.
We talked about it in the very recent podcast and it’s a rather disappointing defeat for the Jazz, which lost 118-111 against the Knicks, for the first time this season at home! It was played in the last quarter time and behind the 25 points of Jalen Brunson, well helped by a generally well-established collective where everyone has contributed something. Opposite, the 27 points and 11 rebounds of Kelly Olynyk will not have been enough, the fault a lack of success of the back lines and a little less impact of Markkanen (13 points).
We end with the victory of the Blazers against the Spurs, 117-110, in a match that was nevertheless quite tight from start to finish and which was decided in the last moments. To get there, Portland was able to count on 29 points from Straw Grant a 45 you duo Simons-Lillard. The monstrous match Jakob Poeltl 31 points and 14 rebounds and 14/17 shooting will not be enough for the Spurs.
MEMPHIS 102 NEW ORLEANS 113
THE 101 DALLAS 103
NEW YORK 118 UTAH
SAN ANTONIO 110 PORTLAND 117
BROOKLYN 121 SACRAMENTO 153