The Dallas Mavericks lose against the Warriors, although Dirk Nowitzki is in a good mood and the champion has to forego a bunch of players. LeBron James dominates the Lakers with a triple double, the pistons end their crisis against Dennis Schröder and the Hawks and the Wolves win thanks to Towns.
Usually, as a head coach, you’ll treat your stars to a small break if you lead against the Association’s weakest team in the fourth quarter with 21 points. But the Pistons went through a crisis with seven defeats in a row – and that’s why Stan van Gundy sent his boys back to the scene. Why?”We had two hellish weeks,”he explained,”so I said,’ Let’s make sure we win this victory.”
In the end, this worked without any problems. Langston Galloway brought the guests to the front early in the second quarter with a threesome and his team should never give up this lead again. At the half way point it was 13 points ahead, in the third quarter already 22. That was enough.
So Van Gundy was able to change hands just two minutes before the end – taking Andre Drummond’s chance at his first triple double of the career. He finished the game with 12 points, 19 rebounds and 8 assists. Tobias Harris was top scorer of the guests with 19 points (8/11 FG), Galloway played 17.
After all, the Hawks were delighted with the comeback of Rookie John Collins, who missed the last six games with a shoulder injury. He convinced directly with 15 points and 7 rebounds. Ersan Ilysova scored 10 of his 14 throws for 23 points, Dennis Schröder scored 9 points, but 10 assists (2 TO) made a mediocre game.
You can’t blame the Nets for not trying everything. Throughout the first half, the Knicks led quite comfortably, but the city rivals were always back in the game and kept things tight.
Less than two minutes before the end of the third quarter, the Nets went into the front line with a DeMarre Carroll 3-man 82:79, but then let the Knickerbockers take an 8:0 run. But the hosts didn’t let themselves get away with that either, stayed on the ball and shortened their gap 3:30 minutes before the end to 97:100.
Then, however, Rookie Frank Ntilikina (7 points, 8 assists) hit a threesome and the Knicks then defended several Possessions hard and successful. In this way, they managed to secure the away win. However, there was one drawback: Kristaps Porzingis (13 points) had to leave the stalls with a knee injury in the second half. But he spoke to the media after the game and assured them that it was nothing bad.
Meanwhile, Courtney Lee ran hot and scored 27 points, with Michael Beasley scoring 15 points from the bank. On the other hand, Spencer Dinwiddie scored a Carreer High of 26 points (7 Rebounds, 7 Assists) and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson scored 25 points.
Page 1: Pistons create liberation strike against the Hawks, Knicks win city duel
Page 2: LeBron dominates Lakers, Mavs against limited Warriors without chance