Glendale (USA), Feb 12 (EFE).- Luka Doncic returned this Saturday following his injury with the Dallas Mavericks, who lost once morest the Sacramento Kings in overtime, while the Los Angeles Lakers, without LeBron James, surprised home to the Golden State Warriors.
KINGS 133 – MAVERICKS 128
Dallas’ first four-handed game between Doncic (27 points and 9 rebounds) and Kyrie Irving (28 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists) ended in defeat in Sacramento.
The main culprit for that was De’Aaron Fox with 36 points for the Kings, 26 of them between the fourth quarter and overtime.
WARRIORS 103 – LAKERS 109
Dennis Schroder, with 26 points, led a Lakers full of new faces (D’Angelo Russell with 15 points or Jarred Vanderbilt with 12 points) in the victory in Golden State despite the poor performance of Anthony Davis.
Jordan Poole was the most productive of the Warriors with 29 points.
NETS 98 – SIXERS 101
In James Harden’s first game in Brooklyn (29 points) following his departure to Philadelphia, the Sixers prevailed with a new recital from Joel Embiid (37 points and 13 rebounds).
Mikal Bridges (23 points and 6 rebounds) stood out in a dignified Nets full of new faces and who would have forced overtime if Spencer Dinwiddie’s three-pointer hit on the buzzer had gone on time.
HORNETS 105 – NUGGETS 119
Nikola Jokic’s 20th triple-double this season (30 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists) paved the way for the Nuggets to react following the break (45-62) and defeat some Hornets who are bottom in the East with seven straight losses.
LaMelo Ball flirted with the triple-double in Charlotte (18 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists).
CAVALIERS 97 – BULLS 89
Thanks to a great last quarter (28-15), the Cavaliers chained their sixth consecutive win once morest some Bulls who continue to show worrying signs with three straight losses.
Donovan Mitchell (29 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists) and Zach LaVine (23 points) were the best for Cleveland and Chicago, respectively.
The Spanish Ricky Rubio added 5 assists, a rebound, 3 steals and a block and finished with the best differential +/- of the Cavaliers (+14).
KNICKS 126 – JAZZ 120
Jalen Brunson, with 38 points, led the victory for the Knicks once morest some Jazz weighed down by their dismal 9 of 32 on triples.
Lauri Markkanen scored 29 points at Utah.
HAWKS 125 – SPURS 106
The Spurs still haven’t hit rock bottom and added their twelfth consecutive defeat by falling once morest some Hawks who imposed their law in the second half.
Trae Young (24 points and 17 assists) led six Atlanta players with more than 10 points while Keldon Johnson (25 points) was the top scorer for another day in San Antonio.
WIZARDS 127 – PACERS 113
With a great first half (80-57), the Wizards opened an early gap to defeat Indiana thanks to 32 points from Bradley Beal, seven players in double figures and an impressive 64% shooting from the field.
Tyrese Haliburton (21 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists) led some Pacers in which the Dominican Chris Duarte had 9 points, 2 rebounds and an assist.
MAGIC 103 – HEAT 107
After beating the Rockets at the last second on Friday, the Heat returned to play with fire without getting burned by defeating Orlando in overtime following trailing by 12 points in the final period.
In this cross between the Florida teams, the best were Tyler Herro in Miami (23 points) and Markelle Fultz in Orlando (17 points).
. Classifications:
. Eastern Conference:
.1. Boston Celtics 40-16
.2. Milwaukee Bucks 39-17
.3. Philadelphia 76ers 36-19
.4. Cleveland Cavaliers 37-22
.5. Brooklyn Nets 33-23
.6. Miami Heat 32-25
.7. New York Knicks 31-27
.8. Atlanta Hawks 29-28
.9. Washington Wizards 26-29
10. Chicago Bulls 26-30
11. Toronto Raptors 26-31
12. Indiana Pacers 25-33
13. Orlando Magic 23-34
14. Detroit Pistons 15-42
15. Charlotte Hornets 15-43
. Western Conference:
.1. Denver Nuggets 39-18
.2. Memphis Grizzlies 34-21
.3. Sacramento Kings 32-24
.4. Dallas Mavericks 31-27
.5. Phoenix Suns 31-27
.6. Los Angeles Clippers 31-28
.7. New Orleans Pelicans 29-28
.8. Minnesota Timberwolves 30-29
.9. Golden State Warriors 28-28
10. Oklahoma City Thunder 27-28
11. Utah Jazz 28-30
12. Portland Trail Blazers 27-29
13. Los Angeles Lakers 26-31
14. San Antonio Spurs 14-43
15. Houston Rockets 13-43.