The Los Angeles Lakers received another slap once morest the Minnesota Timberwolves and were even taunted by their opponents. The Boston Celtics defense crippled the Golden State Warriors following Stephen Curry was injured. San Antonio wins in the last few seconds.
Charlotte Hornets (35-35) – Atlanta Hawks (34-35) 116:106 (BOXSCORE)
- Key win for the Hornets as they battle for Play-In tournament placements, which puts them in ninth place in the Eastern Conference and a half-game ahead of the Hawks. LaMelo Ball led a strong Hornets starting five with 22 points (5/10 3P), 8 rebounds and 11 assists.
- Atlanta held a narrow lead for much of the third quarter, but let Charlotte take over late in the period and never came back. The Hornets pulled away in the final minutes of the game.
- All starters for Charlotte contributed at least 12 points with a shot rate of 45 percent or better each, with Montrezl Harrell delivering his usual energy and scoring with 20 points (7/9 FG) in just 20 minutes coming off the bench. Charlotte scored 60 points in the zone (48 for Atlanta).
- On the other side, Trae Young was “Ice Trae” in the truest sense with 9 points (3/12 FG) and scored less than 13 points in a game for the first time this season. With 15 assists and 3 steals, he still made himself useful, but also owed 6 turnovers. De’Andre Hunter scored significantly better with 21 points at 4/7 from downtown, as did Onyeka Okongwu (14, 7/8) coming off the bench. Clint Capela (17) got 7 of his 15 rebounds on the opposing board.
Cleveland Cavaliers (39-30) – Philadelphia 76ers (42-26) 114:118 (BOXSCORE)
- The Cavs almost became spoilsports on Joel Embiid’s birthday! With a 31:13 in the third quarter, Cleveland held the game until the final minute, in which Embiid made a +4 drive with almost 30 seconds to go. The Sixers secured the win at the free throw line.
- The fresh 28-year-old Embiid hit his first 6 shots from the field and amassed a total of 35 points at 13/19 FG and 8/10 FT, as well as 17 rebounds and 5 assists. “We got the win and I feel great,” Embiid said following the game, holding a Bucher fruit punch, emphasizing: “We have to keep playing like this.”
- Tyrese Maxey (25, 9/15 FG), James Harden (21, 11 assists) and Tobias Harris (19, 8/13) provided energetic support, but the rest of the Sixers remained very unobtrusive.
- With Caris LeVert (15, 7 assists) and Kevin Love (10, 7 rebounds), the Cavs reservists cut a much better figure, top scorer was Darius Garland with 22 points and 7 assists at 11/12 from the free throw line.
Washington Wizards (29-39) – Denver Nuggets (42-28) 109:127 (BOXSCORE)
- Confident victory for the Nuggets, who led in double digits for almost three quarters and were even able to give their superstar some rest. Nikola Jokic only played 26 minutes, but just missed his next triple-double with 29 points (10/14 FG), 13 rebounds and 8 assists. The 27-year-old has his 10,000th. Point booked in 516th NBA game.
- Led by Bones Hyland with 17 points and 5 assists, the Nuggets reservists provided outstanding support with a total of 59 points, almost matching the Wizards bench (56). Deni Avdija was already his team’s top scorer with 19 points (7/10 FG), Kristaps Porzingis had 16 points, 3 blocks and 7 rebounds (4 on the offensive board).
- Denver cracked the 50/40/90 shot rate in the game and ran the ball very well for 30 assists. Washington got some easy points in the zone (64-56) and fastbreak (19-4), but only hit 21.7 percent from downtown.
