The Dallas Mavericks dig a deep hole in Denver, but can almost turn the tables in the final phase. The Minnesota Timberwolves pat in Orlando and a gala gala of Devin Booker is not enough for the Phoenix Suns in Portland.
The Magic won their first victory in 2018, ending the series of seven bankruptcies at once. In a tight game, the hosts had more grains at their disposal than the guests from the far north. The deciding factor was a 14:4 run in the fourth quarter, in which Evan Fournier and D. J. were the winners. Augustin met important distance throws. Augustin scored two important free throws two minutes before the end, which gave the Magic the highest lead of the evening with 9 points.
At the break, the Timberwolves were still close in front, although they had clear disadvantages under the boards. With 51:37 the duel went somewhat surprisingly over the 48 minutes to the Orlando Magic. Bismack Biyombo (10) played a great game, even though his limitations were clearly visible in the offensive. The Congolese grabbed 16 rebounds (6 of them offensive) and also blocked 5 throws. Backup, Khem Birch, who has hardly been used in this season so far, also had a double-double (12.10 rebounds) and played important minutes in the final section.
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Magic’s top scorer was Fournier with a strong 32 points (12/22 FG, 6/12 threesomes). Augustin delivered 18 as a reservist. Aaron Gordon (14,5/17 FG) is still looking for his litter. Andrew Wiggins (9.4/12 FG) did not find it in Minnesota either. So the load was a little too much for Jimmy Butler (28,11/22 FG, 5 Steals). Also Karl-Anthony Towns (15,12 Rebounds) remained inconspicuous for a long time.
In the middle of the second quarter, Arron Afflalo provided the negative highlight of the game. While his fellow players fought for a rebound, the veteran ran into each other with Nemanja Bjelica on the free-throw line. Afflalo started to swing and barely missed the Serbs. Bjelica kept Afflalo away and the referees were able to calm the players down. Bjelica, however, was thrown out of the game as a matter of course Afflalo.
With a strong clutch performance, the Mavs have barely missed a huge comeback. After a good first quarter, in which Dallas led almost exclusively, the Mavs collapsed completely. Nikola Jokic had more offense rebounds (6) in the second section than Dallas had taken boards at all.
The nuggets’ lead grew to 23 points and the fans in the sparsely visited Pepsi Center expected a clear home win. But it turned out differently. Although Dallas to JJ. Barea, it was the bank of the Mavs that breathed life back into Rick Carlisle’s team. Especially Devin Harris (16,4/9 threesomes) brought Dallas a little closer with some heavy litters.
One minute before the end the Mavs were after some drives of Dennis Smith Jr. (25 points, 11 in the fourth quarter, 11/18 FG, 5 Assists) on four points again, but the rookie lost the spalding afterwards. Gary Harris (25.8/14 FG, 4 Steals), who managed the steal, showed nerves at the free-throw line and missed both attempts, while DSJ shortened again by And-One. Then it became controversial. With 10 seconds left on the clock Dallas tried to foul, but the refs did not whistle several attempts of the Mavs. The clock ran down and only one second before the end the foul succeeded. Carlisle and the entire Mavs team were beside themselves. But it didn’t help. Harris turned the free throws this time and Dallas couldn’t make a throw without time off.
The nuggets took their breath away and celebrated an important victory in the battle for the playoffs. Best man was Jokic. Not much of the Serb could be seen in the final phase, but he had already filled the boxing score with 29 points, 18 rebounds and 7 assists. Will Barton (22) was also convincing.
Dirk Nowitzki (6.3/5 FG, 4 rebounds) remained inconspicuous, while Maxi Kleber (3.2 blocks) drew attention with a spectacular alley oop and a nasty chasedown block against Jamal Murray. The rookie was once again in the starting five. Harrison Barnes scored 17 points.
The Blazers were forced to pull out by the victory of the nuggets and at least they made it a bit exciting, but didn’t let anything burn in the final phase. The Suns got off to a better start, but by the end of the first quarter Portland turned up and won the 36:31 section.
The hosts’ lead grew steadily and a run at the start of the second half extended the lead to 27 points. Blazers coach Terry Stotts could rely on his guards. Shabazz Napier had a strong second quarter, where he scored most of his 11 points and 6 assists. Also Damian Lillard (31,11/19 FG) and C. J. McCollum (27.9/18 FG) had a good touch.
The Suns didn’t give themselves up, though. Devin Booker almost threw the shop on his own in the attack. At the beginning of the final section, he positioned Troy Daniels three times at the perimeter, so that the hosts’ lead was a little bit fuzzy. After that Booker played a lot of Hero Ball – and quite rightly so. 21 points (7/9 FG) in the fourth quarter brought the Suns up to 8 points. 3:30 minutes before the end, however, Al-Farouq Aminu (14,4/7 Dreier) countered with a rainbow trio from the corner and broke the morale of the guests, even though Booker was still doing some result cosmetics.
The Shooting Guard finished the game with 43 strong points (14/29 FG), 6 rebounds and 8 assists. Daniels contributed 18 points (6/11 threes) coming in front of the bank. Tyler Ulis (11) and Isaiah Canaan (10) also scored double-digit points.