What a night at the NBA. LeBron James breaks down the Atlanta Hawks as playmaker and sets a career record. The New York Knicks have a spectacular exchange of blows with the Los Angeles Lakers – including overtime. It’s also needed in Minnesota, where the Philadelphia 76’s end up with the fresher legs.
After Atlanta had already fought a hard fight for the Cavs twice this season, Dennis Schröder and Co. nothing to get. The result is a bit deceptive as to how one-sided the game was after the first quarter. LeBron James was once again responsible for this, who was more efficient than ever this season. The King played 25 points (11/13 FG) and handed out 17 assists, which meant the setting of his Career Highs.
“When I get assists, it means someone hits litters. I enjoy it when my teammates do that,”James said after the game. The Cavs were, as more often against the Hawks, blazing hot from the outside and scuttled 52.6 percent of downtown. 20 threesomes were also a seasonal record for the Cavs, who have now broken the 100-point mark in 21 games in series.
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer, who praised LeBron for the green clover, also had to acknowledge this:”We defended him well, but when we put pressure on him, he always found his teammates for open throws,” J. R. added. Smith was in a donor mood and played 8 assists. Kyle Korver (19) and Jeff Green (17) led the once again strong Cavs bank. 49 points were scored by the reservists, despite Dwyane Wade’s knee problems. Tristan Thompson also made his comeback after a six-week break. He could contribute in six minutes, but he couldn’t do anything.
Taurean Prince was the bright spot in Atlanta with 24 points (8/10 FG). In addition, Kent Bazemore (20) sunk six threesomes. Rookie Tyler Cavanaugh was allowed to start for the first time and reached 11 points and 9 rebounds in 28 minutes. Dennis Schröder remained inconspicuous against the Cavs this time and finished the game with 14 points and 5 assists (0 turnover). For Cleveland, Kevin Love (17.12 rebounds) also recorded a double-double.
The pistons have officially returned to the mediocrity of the Eastern Conference. It was the seventh defeat in a row and the hosts were without a chance,”That was really bad basketball,”said Pistons coach Stan van Gundy after the game,”That was one of the worst defeats of my career as a coach – and I have over 850 games on my back.”
It wasn’t really much that Detroit offered the audience. The quartet of Tobias Harris, Andre Drummond, Avery Bradley and Reggie Jackson threw a pathetic 22.6 percent out of the field. SvG was correspondingly angry:”These four must stop digging these deep holes for us. Consequently, the best scorers of the pistons came from the bank. Langston Galloway (18) and also Boban Marjanovic (14) showed offensively appealing performances.
But that was not enough against a good nuggets team in the back and front. Denver took control right from the start and ran for the full 48 minutes in downtown Detroit. Jamal Murray, in particular, was able to sink his throws this time round and scored 28 points (11/19 FG),”He was great, but that was also the whole team,”said Nuggets coach Mike Malone with satisfaction.
Nikola Jokic, on the other hand, was not yet in the game and could return to the next game after injury. Backup Mason Plumee (10 points, 13 rebounds) represented the Serbs very well. Trey Lyles also got more time and used his 27 minutes to 20 points (7/7 FG, 3/3 threesomes). Will Barton also distributed strong 10 assists. Gary Harris also scored little (8 points, 3/10 FG), but helped with 9 dimes and 4 steals.
Page 1: LeBron as Point God – Pistons in crisis
Page 2: Knicks win OT thriller against Lakers
Page 3: Wolves runs out of steam in OT against Philly