Tim Hardaway misses Rudy Gobert’s comeback in Utah, while the Toronto Raptors finally end their dry spell against the San Antonio Spurs. The heat is embarrassing against Brooklyn, while Jordan Clarkson almost shoots down the Pacers on his own.
Kyle Lowry seems to be back after his injury. In a close affair against the Spurs, it was the Point Guard who made the difference in the third game after returning home from coccyx problems. Lowry scored 9 of his 24 points in the last quarter (8/16 FG) and was responsible for Toronto’s first-time defeat against the Spurs in four straight games.
“I was just being aggressive,”Lowry said afterwards.”It’s the time of the year when everyone’s getting a little slow. But we must continue to improve and take the next step towards becoming a better team.”
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However, the Raptors are already a good team, especially at home: 17-3 is their result in their home arena, but only the Spurs with 19-2 are better. In addition to Lowry, DeMar DeRozan (21 points) and Jonas Valanciunas (15.11 rebounds), while Jakob Pöltl experienced a rather quiet evening with 3 points and 3 rebounds in 18 minutes.
However, the Austrian also contributed to Toronto’s strong defence, which kept the Spurs out of the field at only 34.1 percent. Without Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard San Antonio didn’t want to do anything – LaMarcus Aldridge was the top scorer of his team with 17 points, but he only scored 6 of his 25 throws.
In this duel the favourites role was clearly distributed and when Miami was ahead with 16 points early in the third quarter, the matter seemed to be already decided. However, the Heat then rested more or less on it, scored the rest of the round only 5 points and watched as Brooklyn came back step by step.
“It should have been over,”Hassan Whiteside said afterwards,”If you’re leading in the third quarter at 16, there should be no way for the other team to come back. We just need to play better with a lead behind us.”
Whiteside was still the best Heat player with 22 points and 17 rebounds, but he was not able to stop the comeback of the Nets, who took the lead in the last quarter. It was Caris LeVert (12) who finally got the victory for Brooklyn with an acrobatic layup and a jumper.
The top scorer among the Nets was DeMarre Carroll, who set a career high with 26 points, while Spencer Dinwiddie scored 15 points and 6 assists. The comeback of D’ Angelo Russell was also pleasing, although the long injured guard was still very rusty (14 minutes, 1 point, 0/5 FG). Goran Dragic scored 17 points in the Heat.
Actually, John Wall didn’t feel that his team did anything different in the third quarter than in the other rounds,”It was exactly the same looks we had in the first half,”said the Point Guard. They only met her better. How much better? In the third quarter, Washington scored sensational 45 points at 16/20 from the field and 6/8 from downtown.
After one of the quarter with the highest number of points in the season, the Wizards took a 20-point lead into the last round, but they almost completely gambled away again. Detroit scored another 4 points before Wall (16 points, 11 assists) managed to clear things up with a threesome. A 4-Point-Play by Kelly Oubre (26 points) made the final decision shortly afterwards.
The pistons could not reward themselves for a courageous performance in the end. They had six scorers in double figures, including Andre Drummond with 14 points, 21 rebounds and 8 assists,”I really don’t know what the problem was in the third quarter,”coach Stan Van Gundy shook his head afterwards.
It was the fourth defeat in a row for Detroit, while Washington regained ground on Miami in the Southeast Division. In addition to Wall and Oubre, Bradley Beal (26 points) was once again a major contributor.
Page 1: Raptors end dry spell, Heat embarrass themselves
Page 2: Suns embarrass Denver – Memphis says goodbye Z-Bo
Page 3: Hardaway shoots down the Jazz