The Golden State Warriors lose surprisingly against the Los Angeles Clippers despite 40 points from Kevin Durant. Lou Williams explodes with 50 points. Schröder, Zipser, Nowitzki and Kleber can all celebrate victories.
The next big disappointment of the Hornets season came to the great joy of the well-arranged Dirk Nowitzki. With 19 points (8/16 FG) he only just missed his best of the season (20) – but he was not the only Mav with a strong night.
Yogi Ferrell struck seven threesomes on his 22-point night (7/10 3FG) – but Harrison Barnes then owned the final quarter. Defended by the much more inflexible Frank Kaminsky, Barnes (25 points, 9/13 FG) saw a big advantage for his team, was correspondingly aggressive, scored 13 points and hit each of his five throwing attempts.
Rick Carlisle called Barnes performance after the game “absolutely brilliant” and was thus only at the beginning of his praise:”This is exactly what great players do – I’m really proud of him,” Rookie hope Dennis Smith Jr. summed up the Mavs’ tactics in the final quarter:”Give Harrison Barnes the ball and avoid him.”
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The rested-up Hornets finally wasted the great night of Kemba Walker (41 points, 16/28 FG). Dwight Howard scored a double-double (15 points, 12 rebounds) but also scored 5 of his 18 free throws and could have decided the game in favor of Hornet’s who suffered injury.
For the Mavericks, in which Maxi Kleber (4 points, 2/7 FG) took his first place on the bench after 27 games in a row as a starter, it was the second victory within two nights.
Due to the shoulder injury of Tyler Johnson and James Johnson’s suspension, Heat-Coach Erik Spoelstra assumed that he would have to play a seven-man rotation against the Pacers. Shortly before the game, however, Johnson decided to bite his teeth and infected his team with a strong collective effort.
Seven of the eight Heat starters scored double-digit points, but shortly before the end the guests were threatened to run out of air. Lance Stephenson (15 points, 6/11 FG) made an Indiana comeback with 10 points in the final quarter, but this was then interrupted by sniper Wayne Ellington’s clutch trio (15 points, 4/10 3FG), who gave Pacers a 6-point lead with 25 seconds to play.
The player of the evening was Hassan Whiteside, who delivered a very efficient double-double (16 points, 7/10 FG, 15 rebounds) and 4 blocks. Goran Dragic scored 20 points (8/16 FG), the highest score in Miami.
At 26 points (9/20 FG), Victor Oladipo was the most reliable option in Indiana’s attack.
Ricky Rubio hasn’t had an easy time of it these last few weeks. Due to the meteoric rise of Donovan Mitchell, who took over more and more of his tasks for the Jazz Offense, Rubio was mostly sitting on the bench during the decisive phases of the game and was often cited as the first reason for failure. But it was the Spaniard, of all people, who led his team to victory against Washington for Jazz, who was injured.
With 21 points (9/17 FG) Rubio was his team’s top scorer and, with 100 seconds to play, hit an important threesome that put his jazz in the lead. Joe Johnson (16 points, 5/9 FG), who called off a much-needed strong performance from the bank, then brought the game home at the free-throw line.
In addition to Rudy Gobert, Utah had to renounce Derrick Favors (ankle) against the Wizards. In return, Epke Udoh moved into the starting line-up and scored 16 points (7/10 FG), a new season’s best score, scoring double-digit points for the second time this season. Mitchell collected 16 points (7/20 FG), but had to wait longer than planned due to foul problems.
For Washington, the strong performance of their backcourt duo was not enough. John Wall beat his previous season’s high by 35 points (14/27 FG) and scored 11 assists, while Brayley Beal scored 23 points (9/19 FG).
Roodney Hood was probably responsible for the scene of the night when, after his expulsion from the field in the third quarter, he knocked out a fan’s mobile phone with which he had previously been filmed. A punishment from the League can be expected.
Page 1: Mavs survive the show of Kemba Walker
Page 2: Markkanen shines at Double-OT in MSG
Page 3: Memphis beats Pels without Davis
Page 4: Surprise Hawks – Sweet Lou defeats Dubs with 50 points solo