In a high-class duel at the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers won against the Bucks without their coach. Meanwhile, Miami and the nuggets are having two overtimes. Paul Zipser gets to work again from the beginning.
Thanks to an outstanding performance by LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to suppress the acute restlessness surrounding Tyronn Lue’s time-out, at least for a short time. With 40 points (16/29 FG), 12 rebounds and 10 assists LeBron dominated the Bucks and collected his third triple-double within the last four games.
Giannis Antetokounmpo answered in the superstars’ duel with another spectacular performance (37 points, 13/20 FG, 11 rebounds), but after the match he could only take his hat off to James: “I talked to myself in the shower and wondered what I did wrong because he was the first to score 40 points against me,” explained Antetokounmpo.
Khris Middleton also delivered 30 points (11/16 FG) for the Bucks – only Eric Bledsoe (13 points) dropped within the Big Three and struggled with his throw (1/8 3FG). Jabari Parker and Thon Maker each contributed 12 points at 5/10 FG.
Cleveland fans also enjoyed the return of Kevin Love. Love returned to the stage for the first time after a six-week break with 18 points (5/13 FG) and 7 rebounds, “It felt pretty good”, Love commented with satisfaction after the match and after 25 minutes of play indicated that he would have had room for more.
After two consecutive defeats, it looked as if the Pacers would continue their descent at the beginning of the game. Strong Brook Lopez (23 points, 10/15 FG) took the lead in the first quarter with 37:25 and the defense of the Pacers seemed sluggish again.
Indiana then showed the face known from the first half of the season with poisonous defence and a dynamic offensive and, led by Victor Oladipo in the middle of the third quarter, were able to extend their lead for the first time. Oladipo scored 13 of his 20 points (8/15 FG) in the second half, but also got a lot of help from his teammates. Myles Turner was top scorer of the Pacers and Collison (15) with 21 points, Young (18) and Joseph each scored in double figures.
“With Oladipo, they have someone with the skills to break the defensive,” Nate McMillan wanted to spread the credit more towards the defensive: “We did a better job today, running back after the attack and keeping them in front of us in general,” he said.
However, Kyle Kuzma, who led the Lakers with 27 points (10/18), had big problems in the visitors’ defence. Julius Randle scored 19 points (9/19 FG) and Lonzo Ball was rather passive with 4 points (1/4 FG) and 8 assists.
The young duo of the Philadelphia 76ers is hungry for the playoffs and made a statement with a dominant performance against the Hornets. Joel Embiid gave Dwight Howard (10 points, 4 rebounds) no chance and ended the evening with 25 points and 19 rebounds – Ben Simmons played another triple double (11 points, 12 rebounds, 15 assists).
After a mixed start to the game, the 76ers allowed a whopping 38 points in the second quarter, but then showed a very strong reaction after the half-time break. Charlotte despaired at the Sixers’ defence in the next 12 minutes and scored a meager 14 points, “Without our defence we are worth nothing,” commented 76s coach Brett Brown, “a mentality I have established since I arrived here.
We’ve been saying we want to get into the playoffs all along and we’re very close,” said Coach Brown, admitting that the desire for more has grown, “Now we’re all getting a little greedy and want to have a home advantage and I’m in the lead in this plan – but it can only work out.
For the Hornets, Kemba Walker (24 points, 8/19 FG) stood up to the threat of defeat. Newcomer Willy Hernangomez delivered his best performance in the Hornets jersey so far with 17 points (6/11 FG). Dwight Howard pushed his frustration towards the referees, although his team got 22 more than the Sixers with 30 free-throw attempts.
Page 1: LeBron James outdoes Giannis Antetokounmpo
Page 2: Mad 2OT game between Miami and Denver
Page 3: Paul Zipser is allowed to start if the Bulls go bankrupt