New York (AFP)
The Philadelphia 76ers overturned their 21-point delay, and beat their Alex Reed Cleveland Cavaliers 125-119, in the NBA, while the Chicago Bulls suffered a fourth loss in a row once morest the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks 112-118.
In the first game, Tyrese Maxi scored 33 points, including 24 in the second half, to bring Philadelphia to its fifth win in a row.
The next James Harden continued his rise with 25 points and 11 assists, in a streak in which he did not lose with his new team following coming from the Brooklyn Nets.
He added to the winner his giant Cameroonian Joel Embiid 22 points, substitute George Niang 17 and Tobias Harris 15.
In the loser, Darius Garland was the best scorer with 26 points, while Isaac Okoro added 22, and both Garrett Allen and the Turkish Sidi Othman 20.
After an explosive start 43-21, Cleveland were on their way to a win, but the Sixers proceeded to reduce it to 63-71 at halftime.
Maxi led his team to turn the tables following the break, where they prevailed in the second half 62-48 and decided the match.
Maxi said that the tight defense following the break helped decide the match for his team, “the most important was stopping them.”
The twenty-one-year-old added: “They scored regarding forty points in the first quarter (43) and this is a big number. After our stability, we started stopping them, and then we managed to turn the game around.”
In turn, Sixers coach Doc Rivers praised the contribution of rookie Maxi, “He plays great, I try to make him fierce, I yelled at him 5 times, the more fierce, the better.”
Philadelphia ranked first in the eastern region (39-23) in front of the Milwaukee Bucks (39-25), while the Miami Heat led the region (42-22), knowing that the first visited the Heat Saturday in Florida.
In the second game in the Eastern Province, the Milwaukee Bucks continued their victories and achieved the third consecutive victory over its host Chicago Bulls 118-112, thanks to 34 points and 16 rebounds from its Greek giant Yannis Antetokounmpo.
He added to the defending champion Gro Holiday 26 points and Chris Middleton 22, to equal the third Milwaukee with the Bulls fourth Eastern (39-25).
In Chicago, which suffered a fourth loss in a row, Zach Lavigne was the best with 30 points, and Demar DeRozan added 29.
The Bulls led by 8 points early in the fourth quarter, but in the final stages of the game Milwaukee was the better and decided the match.
In Phoenix, Cameron Johnson planted a last-gasp hat-trick to end a brilliant night that saw him score 38 points and give the Suns a 115-114 win over the New York Knicks.
Johnson contributed to a strong return to Phoenix, who consolidated his lead in the Western Region and the League (51-12), Johnson said following the victory: “This is what we do, we play together and we stand together.”
The owner of 9 triples out of 12 attempts continued: “We don’t collapse, we’ve been through hardships over the years. We have a group of young people who care regarding each other and are interested in winning matches.”
The Knicks advanced by 14 points at the beginning of the last quarter, but the Suns gradually compensated, despite missing his two stars Chris Paul due to his injury and Devin Booker due to the Corona virus protocol, and added to the winner Michael Bridges 20 points and Cameron Payne 17.
The Utah Jazz, with its French stars, Rudi Goubert and Donovan Mitchell, suffered a big loss once morest the New Orleans Pelicans 90-124, while the Denver Nuggets beat the Houston Rockets 116-101 thanks to DeMarcus Cousins, who scored 31 points, following replacing the best player in the Serbian league, Nikola Jokic, who is absent due to the disease.
