Dennis Schröder achieves a great career high with 34 points, which is worth nothing in the end. The Cavaliers seem to be back on track, but in the end they still beat it against the Pacers. The Timberwolves eat the Knicks thanks to Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis breaks down the blazers and the nuggets shine in the defense on his return.
This is two positive news for the Hornets in a row: A few hours before the tip-off against jazz, head coach Steve Clifford has been announced that he will return to the team next week after being suspended for several weeks with health problems.
His team obviously felt honoured by this news and put in a defensive performance, as Clifford certainly liked it. This was especially true for the final phase: in the middle of the fourth quarter, the score in a competitive game was still balanced at 85:85. But then the Hornets dressed up and finished the evening with a 14:3 run. All in all, they kept jazz out of the field at 23.5 percent in the last 12 minutes.
Interim head coach Stephen Silas, however, was not only satisfied with the defense but also with his team’s variable offense:”We had a post-up game, we played pick-and-roll, we had catch-and-shoot deals and we scored points from the drive,”he explained the concept.
With so many different things, it was no wonder that six players scored double-digit points, including Kemba Walker (22.6 Assists) and Frank Kaminsky (16). The guests from the salt lake put on a one-man-show: Rookie Donovan Mitchell finished the evening with 35 points (10/20 FG) – and 0 assists. Mobile phone foe Rodney Hood hung up 15 points and Thabo Sefolosha had to leave the match early with a knee injury. A diagnosis is still pending.
Having recently demonstrated two unacceptable defensive performances, the Cavaliers appeared to be seeking redress from the Pacers. Though Isaiah Thomas and Dwyane Wade were paused for a break, they got off to a flying start: LeBron led by LeBron James, the runner-up won the first quarter 34:12.
But if the Pacers don’t let themselves be impressed by one thing this season, it’s a big backlog. Without falling into hectic pace, they worked their way through the rest of the game and turned the spit around in the third quarter. Thanks to an 11-0 run, they reached 55:58 – at the latest at this point in time, Bankers Life Fieldhouse was awake and the game was completely open.
Thanks to a few small runs, the Cavs managed to break away a bit, but a well-connected Lance Stephenson let the momentum with Victor Oladipo and Darren Collison topple again. Stephenson was the one who kept annoying LeBron and gave him a technical one – to the delight of the fans.”Sometimes he plays a bit dirty,”the king said.”I’ve known that since high school.”
5 seconds before the end, LBJ had made the decisive mistake: When the Pacers led with one point, he searched for the drive against Collison, but stepped on the baseline with his foot on what the Refs saw and blew the whistle – the decision. Nevertheless James had collected 27 points and 11 assists, Kevin Love scored 21 points. Top scorer Indianas was Collison (22 points), Oladipo came in 19th, Stephenson (11 rebounds, 4 assists) in 16 points.
When it came to 98:98 after three quarters, Bradley Beal had had enough of this casual shootout with no serious defense “I saw the score and said in the quarter rest:’ That can’t be. We have to start defending – because whichever team makes the first stops wins’, he explained after the game.
And lo and behold, after the game was a three-quarters party for friends of shooting drills, the wizards began to work at the back of the field in the final section. They suddenly kept the Magic out of the field at 27 percent (previously it was 60 percent) and thus laid the foundation for the compulsory victory.
The capital cities have taken an offensive approach to a problem of the last few games. Often they were unable to keep the attack in more intensive phases of flow. This time it was different: Led by John Wall (9 points, 3 Assists in the last quarter) they brought the Crunchtime sovereignly over the stage. Wall himself hit two jumpers during the decisive 11:2 run just before the end.
Just like Beal, he had 30 points in the end, plus 9 submissions. Ian Mahinmi contributed 17 points from the bank. On the other hand, Elfrid Payton convinced with 27 points and 8 assists, Jonathon Simmons scored 23 points. Coach Frank Vogel didn’t want to blame his boys:”They gave everything, at both ends of the field. But the results just aren’t there right now.”
Page 1: Cavaliers give mega-leadership out of the hand, Wall and Beal are in good shape
Page 2: Schröder spoils new career high, Towns dominates Knicks
Page 3: Davis shines on return, Rockets disassemble Phoenix