The Houston Rockets have added their first home defeat in over two months to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Toronto Raptors shake their way to victory against the Miami Heat and Giannis Antetokoumpo defies the Hawks late. The Dallas Mavericks play shamefully against Sacramento.
If the two teams would now meet in the first play-off round and this could be a really fun series. Like the first game in Toronto, this match was fiercely contested and exciting until the end. Right to the end, the Raptors were leading double-digit in the fourth quarter, but the South Beach visitors did not want to give up after two field goals from Goran Dragic (28 points, 10/19 FG) to three points.
Afterwards, the formerly secure hosts showed some nerves on the line (15/17 FT after 47 minutes). Both Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan left a freebie behind and so the Heat were two points after Wayne Ellington’s fifth threesome six seconds to go. After that, C. J. also met. Miles only had one free-throw and so Josh Richardson (10) of Downtown had the opportunity to send the game in extra time, but his attempt was too long.
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Despite the late weaknesses Toronto could rely on Backcourt again. Lowry (22) pocketed two important throws just before the break, bringing momentum, while DeRozan (27) scored 17 points in the following section and played a major part in the Raptors giving guests a sleek 41 points in the quarter. Jakob Pöltl played inconspicuously 18 minutes in which he could contribute 4 points (1/1 FG) and 1 rebounds.
At Miami Dwyane Wade, who came back from the bank again, played a double double double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, just like Hassan Whiteside (10,10 rebounds). James Johnson (16) was visibly motivated against his former team and did not miss a single roll (5/5 FG) in the first half.
It wasn’t nice and convincing how the bucks beat one of the cellar children of the Eastern Conference, but no one will be interested in that tomorrow. The Hawks presented themselves once again as tough opponents and did not let themselves be demoralized by a strong third quarter of the Bucks (33:18) and a 14 point gap.
3:30 minutes before the end, Kent Bazemore (17) hit one of his four threesomes and suddenly it was 84:84. This was followed by Giannis Antetokounmpo (15,7/16 FG, 15 Rebounds), who the Hawks had well under control and put under constant pressure. The Greek initiated an 8:0 run with a midrange jumper and a basket. For this he also picked up Bazemore at the drive.
“If it’s decided in the last three minutes of the game, you’ll have to do everything you can to win this game,”the Greek Freak talked shop afterwards. Khris Middleton was the top scorer of the Bucks, who scored only 43.2 percent of the field, with 21 points, and Tyler Zeller (14.8 rebounds) showed his best game as a bucks player so far.
At the Hawks Dennis Schröder (18,8/16 FG, 4 Assists) collected the most points, also the other starters scored at least 11 points. However, the Bank Unit was disappointing and scored only 18 points, which meant that the actually thin bucks bench had advantages (29 points).
Page 1: Raptors tumble to the finish – Giannis saves weak bucks
Page 2: Rockets conquer Wolves Fortress – Mavs off the roll