DeMarcus Cousins leads the Pelicans to victory after Double-OT with a monstrous performance. The Mavericks beat frighteningly weak wizards, the Hawks with Schröder confirm the upward trend. And: The rockets can also get dirty, the bucks win game 1 after Kidd and the sixers fall for Memphis.
The question of whether you should continue to attack the playoffs or whether you should start the rebuild is not a question for Kemba Walker at this point in time:”I want to win – every game at all -” And he doesn’t want to think about the fact that he is supposedly on the trade block.
No sooner said than done: With 26 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds, Walker led his team to a compulsory victory in front of the home crowd. In the second and third quarters, the Hornets set themselves apart to 17 points and led permanently in double digits. But the kings rebounded thanks to a 32:30 final stage: 1:25 minutes to go, Bogdan Bogdanovic met a threesome to the 102:105. But the fouled Dwight Howard showed nerve power and in return, he struck both free throws.
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Howard scored a total of 14 points, 16 rebounds and 6 blocks, Jeremy Lamb (18 points) supported by the bank. For the Kings, Skai Labissiere with 23 points was recommended, Buddy Hield reached 18.
The small upward trend of the Hawks continues: Against Utah there was the fourth win of the last 10 games, which is remarkable for their circumstances. So Dennis Schröder’s team doesn’t only have the worst record of the Association, the Magic team also has 14-32.
The Hawks set the course for victory in the third quarter. For a long time the game was even, but then the hosts managed a 13:3 run, which raised the score to 74:63. This was the highest guided tour of the evening to date. Malcolm Delaney shone with a four-point game. The jazz were so dazed by it that they started the fourth quarter with a dry spell and promptly took the next run – a 10:0. That was the final decision. In the meantime, Atlanta led with 26 points.
Dennis Schröder was once again the top scorer of his team. He hung up 20 points and scored 7/18 from the field (6/6 FT). Taurean Prince supported with 17 points, Jazz top scorer was Alec Burks with 17 points. Donovan Mitchell (13 points, 5/13 FG) was once inconspicuous.
If you want to be a top team, you have to win the games where you don’t completely dominate – and that’s what the Rockets did in their home game against Miami. That’s how Chris Paul saw it:”There’s just these games that you have to win and then forget about. It’s normal for 82 matches to get ugly sometimes.”
And indeed, the Texans’ offense did not run as smoothly as usual. As a result, the South Beach visitors were still in the lead in the first half with 10 points and also held up well after the change of sides. 3 minutes before the end the score was balanced, then James Harden hit a threesome with the shotclock buzzer. This was the start of a decisive 7:2 run.
The beard hung up 28 points, but was not the efficiency in person (10/26 FG, 6 TO). CP3 scored 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, Eric Gordon scattered 16 points coming from the bank. On the other side Hassan Whiteside scored 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Goran Dragic had to pass with a knee injury.
Page 1: Schröder’s Hawks in an upward trend, the rockets can be ugly too
Page 2: Monster Boogie with Monster-Trip-Dub, Patting Sixers
Page 3: Mavericks beat weak wizards, nuggets win key duel