Dwight Howard of the Charlotte Hornets has entered himself in the history books and, eight years after Kevin Love, he has once again set 30 points and 30 rebounds. Otherwise there are a lot of favorite victories. The Milwaukee Bucks, on the other hand, must be trembling over Giannis Antetokounmpo.
That’s what they call an easy win on duty. Unlike the Denver Nuggets, for example, the Sixers made short work of Memphis, leading 35 points in the second half. The fourth quarter was then only a very, very long garbage time, in which the guests could at least improve the result a little.
Philly was able to build on a balanced team performance. Already after 36 minutes all starters plus Sixth Man had scored Marco Belinelli in double figures. The Sixers thus jumped to fourth place in the Eastern Conference, the team’s declared goal, as Coach Brett Brown once again underlined: “We want to take home advantage in the first round under all circumstances”.
Dario Saric, Robert Covington and J.J. Redick each scored 15 points, the stars Ben Simmons (13, 7 rebounds, 9 assists) and Joel Embiid (14) could save their strength a little, also because Memphis did not resist: “For the first time in a long time we gave up”, a crushed grizzlies coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
Marc Gasol (5, 2/8 FG) was a complete disappointment, while Wayne Selnden (18) and Deyonta Davis (16, 11 Rebounds) could still pimp their statistics in the fourth quarter.
A 30-30 game? Dwight Howard hadn’t even managed to do that in his prime with the Orlando Magic, but now he did it in Brooklyn. Kevin Love last managed such a feat in 2010, at that time still in the Minnesota Timberwolves jersey.
And the 32 points (10/17 FG, 12/21 FT) as well as 30 boards were not only empty state, because also thanks to Superman the Hornets made up a gap of 23 points in New York. However, many spectators did not see this, only about 10,000 spectators were officially announced, as the Big Apple was hit by a snowstorm.
They missed Charlotte’s 102:105 defeat two minutes before the end and then decided the game with a 9:0 run. Next to Howard, Kemba Walker was an important factor with 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter. Among other things, he used a three-point game, which put the Hornets in the lead with 107:105. Caris LeVert (14) could have equalized the match 11 seconds before the end, but Howard defended the basket strongly. Even better: The center on the other side converted its two free throws.
Afterwards Howard grabbed his 30th place 1.5 seconds before the end. Rebound: “I told Quincy Acy not to foul me so I could get that rebound,” smirked D12 after the game.
For the Nets, D’Angelo Russell was the busiest scorer with 19 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Spencer Dinwiddie contributed another 13 points.
Page 1: Historic 30-30 game for Dwight Howard
Page 2: Davis wears the Pels again – Denver shoots Bulls out of the hall
Page 3: Bucks worry about Giannis – Spurs sovereign