After 13 wins in a row, the Portland Trail Blazers suffered another defeat against the Houston Rockets. Despite a strong Dirk Nowitzki, the Pelicans win against the Dallas Mavericks because Anthony Davis once again towers above them.
In the end only victories count. The same was true for the Toronto Raptors, who struggled in the absence of DeMar DeRozan (Wade) but secured their home advantage in the first round. This was mainly due to suffocating defense in the fourth quarter, when Orlando was kept out of the field at 15.8 percent (3/19 FG).
The whole thing was once again initiated by the Raptor reservists, even though Fred VanVleet (Hand) was still missing. Led by Delon Wright (10, 8 in the final section) Orlando missed the first 11 litters of the section and found no rhythm until the end. When Nikola Vucevic finally met a Jumper, the Canadians had taken the lead a long time ago (84:80).
The guests’ best scorer was Kyle Lowry, who was hot from the outside again and scored seven threesomes for a total of 25 points. Serge Ibaka (13), Wright and Norman Powell (10) scored in double figures. Jakob Pöltl scored 4 points and 2 rebounds in 11 minutes, but in the fourth quarter coach Dwane Casey preferred Lucas Nogueira to the Austrian.
For Orlando, backup playmaker Shelvin Mack (17) attracted attention with Aaron Gordon scoring 16 points. D.J. Augustin (9, 10 assists) missed a double double.
Important victory for the Wolves, who scored a real big point in the battle for eighth place against a direct competitor. It looked like an exciting game for a half, but then Minnesota took a decisive lead. A 13:0 run provided for clear conditions, the Clippers could no longer approach. Coach Doc Rivers waved the white flag early and brought the reservists.
Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau nevertheless left Karl-Anthony Towns a good 40 minutes on the field, the Big Man used this to 30 points and 10 rebounds. Beside KAT Andrew Wiggins convinced with 27 points (9/16 FG) and also finally played a good defense (3 blocks), among others in some sequences against Austin Rivers. Furthermore, Jeff Teague (20, 12 assists) and Jamal Crawford (20) also had a hot hand on his birthday.
For the Clippers DeAndre Jordan (18, 12 rebounds) made a good game, but this time the center received too little support from the Guards. Especially Lou Williams (15, 4/11 FG) and Rivers (11, 4/14 FG) did not get a good evening. Tobias Harris played despite a flu, but also had little influence with 10 points (5/16 FG).
It was another tightrope walk for the Pelicans – ultimately with a good ending. In the second quarter Anthony Davis completed a spectacular Alley Oop game and brought the hall to a boil. A little later, however, the brow limped on the bench, fans of the Pelicans had to tremble again.
But in the end it wasn’t so bad and Davis returned to the second half. The Pels also needed each of his 37 points (15/21 FG) to win against uncomfortable Mavs. Coach Alvin Gentry had to do without Point Guard Jrue Holiday, who signed out before the game with illness. But Rajon Rondo got more playing time again and was really motivated against his former team. The former Celtics player just missed a triple double with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 14 assists and even pocketed his two free throws when Mavs coach Rick Carlisle deliberately fouled the notoriously weak free-thrower.
Dallas kept the game open for a long time and was only two minutes before the end in double figures, also because Dirk Nowitzki (19, 7/13 FG) once again scored well against New Orleans. Meanwhile, in the second quarter, the guests had taken the lead with a 14-2-run and 13 points, before Davis was unstoppable again.
Dallas had big problems especially in transition, which the Pels mercilessly exploited with their fast style of play. The hosts generated 21 points (Dallas: 4). One of the profiteers was Ian Clark with 19 Zöhler, Cheick Diallo scored a good double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. For Dallas Barnes scored 19 points like Nowitzki, while Maxi Kleber was only allowed to score 6 minutes, 1 point and 2 rebounds.
Page 1: Raptors-Defense suffocating – Good Dirk is not enough against Davis
Page 2: Brave blazers are subject to furious hard work