More than three quarters of the Heat and Thunder have a balanced duel. But then Russell Westbrook takes control and leads his team to victory with 17 points in the final section. The Celtics and Raptors make comeback victories while Minnesota pops the champagne corks. The Nuggets manage an important victory in the playoff race.
Serious setback for the Clippers. After the defeat against the Pacers, the gap to the play-off ranks in the Western Conference continues to grow. Indiana, on the other hand, are getting closer and closer to their seventh appearance at the post-season in the past eight years. The Pacers only need one victory to secure a place in the playoffs.
“That would mean a lot to this organisation,” said Bojan Bogdanovic, “Nobody expected us in the race for the playoffs. Bogdanovic had a big part to play against the Clippers after the hosts lost an 18-point lead.
The Croatian sunk 12 of his 18 attempts out of the field and scored 28 points, with a midrange jumper about 1’40” before the end he also started a 9’0″ run with which the Pacers won the game. Victor Oladipo also contributed 18 points, while Darren Collison scored 13 points and 10 assists.
The fact that the Clippers were able to make it even more exciting in the final minutes was mainly due to Lou Williams. The sixth man from the City of Angels led the chase of his team with 27 points (10/18 FG, 4/6 threesome) and 10 assists. Tobias Harris scored 18 points, DeAndre Jordan collected 14 points and 11 rebounds. But that shouldn’t be enough in the end.
While the Clippers tripped in Indiana, the Nuggets increased the pressure on the Utah Jazz with an away win in the Wizards. Denver are now just one game behind eighth place at the Western Conference, so the playoff hopes are far from over. The guests from the Rocky Mountains owed this evening above all to a team of three.
The strong performances of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Will Barton were ultimately too much for the Wizards. Barton in particular put Denver on the winning streak with a strong final section, scoring 13 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, “We’re every game in absolute winner mode,” said Barton after the game, “Everyone wants to play their part to make sure we win.”
Murray and Jokic, both with 25 points each, were also on hand with clutch shots in the important moments of the game. The trio thus prevented the nuggets from giving up a 12-point half-time lead. The Wizards reduced the gap to 2 points thanks to a rain of three in the third quarter and led by Bradley Beal (24 points, 6/9 trio). But in the end there were no stops in the defense to stop the guests.
An evening full of good news for the Cavaliers: First the Cavs were allowed to talk about the return of Tristan Thompson, Larry Nance Jr. and Rodney Hood after their injury breaks, followed by a deserved and safe victory against the Suns.
“Our huddle was almost complete before the game,” said LeBron James enthusiastically – only Head Coach Ty Lue continued to be absent due to illness. At the beginning of the game, however, the three returners did not change the fact that the appearance of the Cavaliers seemed somewhat uninterested. The first seven attempts from downtown all landed at the ring, after the first quarter Cleveland even ran behind (27:23 Phoenix).
Then, however, the hosts took them seriously. Led by a strong LeBron the Cavs started a 32:7 run, the second quarter went to Cleveland with 39:18. So the game was already decided at half-time. James had 27 points (11/16 FG), 6 rebounds and 9 assists. Kevin Love contributed 20 points to the fourth success in series.
On the side of the Suns, without their two best players Devin Booker (right hand problems) and T.J. Warren (Knie) competed, Troy Daniels advanced to the topscorer with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Marquese Chriss scored 19 points and 10 rebounds, but otherwise the Suns had almost no chance.
Page 1: Nuggets succeed in important victory – Cavs roll over Phoenix
Page 2: Raptors tremble to the SIeg – Timberwolves historically
Page 3: Westbrook explodes – Boston achieves comeback victory