Dennis Schröder set his career high of 33 points against the Dallas Mavericks and also sunk the decisive threesome. Even a strong Dirk Nowitzki was of no use to the Mavs. The Golden State Warriors make the worst game of the season and lose at home. The Oklahoma City Thunder, on the other hand, are winning for the fourth time in a row and continue to gain ground at the Western Conference.
I’m sure the Sixers had a different idea. Joel Embiid’s return gave Philly hope, but the center did not have the expected impact on the game with 14 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks,”I felt better already,”Embiid admitted after the match, but said,”I really wanted to play today.”
But he could not solve the turnover problems either. All in all, the sixers played the ball 23 times, only the OT victory in Minnesota (24) was worse. Toronto took advantage of this at 28 points, setting itself apart from the strong bank in the second quarter. The Canadians then drew on this advantage for the rest of the game:”These were some tough games now,”said Ben Simmons (10 points, 6 assists),”but it’s not the time to panic.”
Of course, the Raptors are a long way from that. With the Warriors, they remain the best team in December (10-1) and have now won twelve of their 13 home games. This time, the average performance was only 41.2 percent. But the Raptors were once again able to rely on DeMar DeRozan, who scored 16 of his 29 points in the third quarter and let it ring four more times from downtown.
In addition, there were solid performances by Serge Ibaka (17), Delon Wright (14) and Kyle Lowry (12), who only had seven litters. Jakob Pöltl held up well against Embiid and scored 6 points (2/5 FG) and 5 rebounds. Among the guests Dario Saric with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists was still the best. J.J. Redick missed his second game in a row with a ribbon stretch.
The day before, there was the same duel in Milwaukee, where the Bucks had the upper hand. This time it was the other way around. Charlotte had been struggling with injuries from Kemba Walker and Dwight Howard the day before, but now it was the bucks who had to face a tough start, as MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo put up with knee problems.
The absence of this was not noticeable to the bucks at first. After a well-balanced first half, the Bucks came hot as hell out of the cabin and set themselves apart for the first time with a 19:2 run. Charlotte had to nibble on it for a while, but came closer and closer in the fourth quarter. Dwight Howard (21 points, 7/11 FG, 16 rebounds) brought the hosts back into the front line by And-One with 3:47 minutes remaining on the clock and heralded the exciting closing phase.
There the Hornets had slight advantages. Eric Bledsoe (16) scored another two points with a tip-in. With another 10 seconds to go, Milwaukee then had a chance to equalise again and looked for the hot hand in Khris Middleton, who had scored 25 of his 31 points after the break. The shooting guard tried the drive, but Michael Kidd-Gilchrist held the scorer in front of him, so Middleton failed with a heavy fadeaway jumper.
Kemba Walker (19.5/15 FG), who hadn’t done much before, and Michael Carter-Williams brought the game home from the free-throw line, and the Hornets were particularly impressed by the most recent shameful bank. Treveon Graham (14), Frank Kaminsky (14) and Jeremy Lamb (13) brought important scoring and helped reduce the gap in the third quarter.
It smelled for the Nets after the blowout against Washington also in Indiana after the next convincing victory. With up to 19 points, Brookyln was already leading in the second quarter, but the Pacers, unlike the Wizards, were unwilling to give up the game without a fight. Especially Victor Oladipo (38 points, 13/23 FG, 10/10 FT) submitted another convincing application for a place in the All-Star team.
In the second half alone, the Shooting Guard scored 19 points and helped his team regain the lead in the fourth quarter. The Pacers then led by three points 19 seconds to the end when Cory Joseph fouled the strong Spencer Dinwiddie (26 points, 8 assists) in a three-way attempt. The Point Guard remained icy cold and resembled three transformed freebies. Oladipo then ran the clock down to take the last throw, but his threesome didn’t fall, so there was five minutes of extra basketball in Indianapolis.
There, too, things were tight. Bojan Bogdanovic (17) secured a quick lead, but Brooklyn returned. 49 seconds to go, DeMarre Carroll (20,13 Rebounds) took his fourth threesome of the match and equalled 119:119. Afterwards, however, Oladipo, who was fouled by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and scuttled both free throws, took over again. So this time the Nets had their last litter, but Dinwiddie’s threesome did not find his target.
Oladipo put the lid on it with two more free throws. In addition to the man of the day, Myles Turner also convinced with 23 points (8/10 FG), 9 rebounds and strong 6 blocks. Brooklyn won the 51:41 board duel, but was held out by the Pacers at 43 percent.
Page 1: Embiid return without success – Next Oladipo Gala
Page 2: Schröder opposes Nowitzki Career High – Wizards rehabilitated
Page 3: Thunder continue to climb – Warriors worse than ever before
Page 4: Lakers again weak in crunchtime – Pau Gasol with Triple Double