NBA: Lillard’s three-way show rescues the blazers in L. A., Tony Parker prevents spurs-blamage.

Thanks to Tony Parker, the Spurs turn a disgraceful face against the grizzlies, even though in the end it becomes controversial once again. The Celtics and Heat are cutting their opponents to pieces, while the Pacers celebrate a big point against the bucks. Furthermore: Jazz coach Quin Snyder is freaking out, although his team has to win the race and…

This was an extremely important victory for the Pacers, as on the one hand they kept the bucks in the standings and on the other hand, thanks to their third victory in the fourth and final duel against the division opponent, they also secured the tie-breaker.

At first, it was obvious to the teams that there was a lot at stake. Both teams came out of the starting blocks nervously and left some chances for a throw. However, the defense was also quite intense from the tip-off. The result was a game in which no one was able to break away until the Pacers took advantage of a dry spell in the third quarter and pulled away to 15 points.

However, the people of Bierstadt quickly came back into the match by starting a 19:5 run, which meant that they were only one point behind at the beginning of the final quarter. But they couldn’t do the whole thing completely, but it was still exciting until the final seconds. 10 seconds before the end (90:89) Khris Middleton managed a steal, but Pacers-Guard Corey Joseph managed to prevent Middleton’s layup on the other side. The ball jumped into the out and since even after a video review it was not possible to clarify who was the last to have his fins on the spalding, there was a jump ball.

After this Bojan Bogdanovic secured the leather. He was fouled and hit both free throws. The Bucks had 6 seconds to equalize, but Giannis Antetokounmpos Dreier only hit the ring. The Greek won with 18 points (7/16 FG) and 12 rebounds not his very best evening, Bucks topscorer was Eric Bledsoe (26 points). On the other side Bogdanovic shone with 29 points (9/13 FG, 5/7 3FG), Victor Oladipo came in 14 and 5 Assists.

That was a good evening for the Heatles in two respects. After all, the pistons, who are lurking in 9th place behind Miami, had to face another defeat in the Cavs. And since Phoenix – one has to say, as expected – did not have much resistance, the guys from coach Erik Spoelstra extended their lead over Motor City to 5 victories. There shouldn’t be any more burning fire.

After a more or less balanced first quarter, the hosts set themselves apart bit by bit, which had a lot to do with Hassan Whiteside’s performance. With 24 points and 14 rebounds, he dominated the game in just 25 minutes, pocketing 10 of his 13 field throwing attempts,”If he plays like that, he will bring us a few more victories,”said veteran Dwyane Wade after the match.

Wade himself scored 12 points coming from the bank, Goran Dragic (17 points, 5 assists) and Kelly Olynyk (15 points, 8 assists) also made a big contribution to the success. On the other hand, Devin Booker’s score of 31 points for the solo entertainer and the non-existent defense was as follows:”The fact that we played back-to-back is an explanation, but no excuse.”

Celtics are the best defender of the league this season and the Bulls the second worst offense. Especially the first half was the proof: such figures usually don’t lie.

Chicago was completely overwhelmed against the intensity of Boston and couldn’t manage to get proper throws. After 24 minutes they had collected 29 points and scored 11 out of 39 throws (28.2 percent) from the field. On the other hand, it was hardly noticeable that All-Star Kyrie Irving was once again abandoned due to his painful knee and was represented by Shane Larkin in the Starting Five.

Even without Uncle Drew, the Greens managed to get into the zone thanks to their ball movement and Jaylen Brown’s slasher skills. Halfway through, they already led 55:29, and in the third quarter their lead grew to a gigantic 37 points. So the final section, which the Bulls snapped at 36:19 and made the final result look halfway normal, was in principle superfluous.

Brown was with 21 points (9/13 FG) the top scorer of his colours, Jayson Tatum supported with 14 points. Daniel Theis got 18 minutes of playing time, which he used for 4 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block. His compatriot Paul Zipser was not used on the other side because of foot problems, Denzel Valentine was a team top scorer with 20 points.

Page 1: Pacers with key win over Bucks, Heat and Celtics with blowouts

Page 2: Parker avoids spurs-blamage, Lillard pulls off show against Lakers