Incredible performance by Kevin Durant! The New York Knicks keep up well with the Warriors for over 36 minutes – but then KD shoots out all the lights. Meanwhile, the Houston Rockets’ series of bankruptcies continues, the Pelicans win a crime thriller against Brooklyn and Minnesota gets under the wheels against the Bucks.
A few days ago the Hornets had to accept a bitter bankruptcy against the Bulls, Kemba Walker showed with 23 points his “worst” performance in the still young season 2018/19 – now he and the Hornets get their revenge.
However, Charlotte did not succeed in everything, especially at the beginning of the game. The first 11 attempts from Downtown were all unsuccessful, but at the latest in the second quarter the hosts turned up the heat. Charlotte swept with 45:29 over the Bulls and set herself apart. The Bulls could not recover from this.
One of the reasons for this was that Charlotte had now found his throwing rhythm. After the 11 tickets, the Hornets sunk a strong 11 of the remaining 22 triple attempts, Walker sunk 5 triples (5/10) on the way to 30 counts alone. In addition, the Point Guard put on 7 assists and 6 rebounds at 11 out of 18 from the field and just 2 turnovers – in 26 minutes!
Also Tony Parker showed a strong performance, he had with his 18 points and 8 templates especially in the second quarter a big share in the dominance of the Hornets. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and rookie Miles Bridges (15 points each) also attracted positive attention. On the other hand, besides Zach LaVine (20, but 6/16 FG) only Jabari Parker (19, 7/14 FG) succeeded in doing so.
What a performance by Kevin Durant at Madison Square Garden! After several Knicks fans had recently tried to convince KD to switch to the Big Apple in the Free Agency 2019 with advertising banners, the 30-year-old thanked KD with an incredible show in the fourth quarter.
For a long time it looked as if the Knicks could bring the reigning champion to the brink of defeat. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the hosts were even in front with 3 points – but then Durant and Co. turned up the heat. Durantula overtook the Knickerbockers with 25 of his 41 points in the last run (plus 9 rebounds and 5 assists, 17/24 FG, 5/9 three).
But that’s not all: The Warriors sunk an incredible 19 out of 26 out of the field in the final section, Stephen Curry contributed 29 points (6/11 threes) in addition to the outstanding Durant. Draymond Green scored 18 points (7/8 FG) and 6 assists, while Klay Thompson continued to struggle with the throw (6/18 FG, 0/4 threesome).
“He was simply spectacular,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr after the match, shaking his head about the performance of his protégé. Its 25 points in the fourth quarter also represent a new career high for most points in a quarter for Durant.
KD’s performance pushed the overall good performance of the Knicks into the background. Coach David Fizdale sent a new Starting Five with Frank Ntilikina, Noah Vonleh, Damyean Dotson, Mitchell Robinson and Tim Hardaway Jr. on the floor, which it thanked him with a 16:10 start against the Dubs.
Hardaway Jr. was the best scorer of his team with 24 points, Ntilikina scored 17 points. In addition, Trey Burke scored 15 points from the bench. But in the last quarter no herb had grown against Golden State. A curious scene already occurred in the first quarter when DeMarcus Cousins was ejected by the Referees after he was involved in continuous trash talk with Enes Kanter – even though the center was sitting on the bench in street clothes.
The Houston Rockets continue to start incorrectly. Without the injured James Harden at the thigh as well as without James Ennis (also problems thighs) the Rockets already had to accept the fourth bankruptcy in five games. Neither Chris Paul’s comeback (ban) nor Carmelo Anthony’s best game in the Rockets jersey changed anything.
Melo made his debut as a starter thanks to the failures in the Rocket Staring Five and showed a strong performance from the start. Already after the first quarter, the 34-year-old had 11 points (4/6 FG) on his account, Anthony scored a total of 24 points. Otherwise the Rockets remained however as far as possible pale.
Especially CP3 could not fill the hole in the absence of Harden, the Point Guard only managed 12 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds with 5 ball losses and weak odds from the field (3/13 FG). After all Clint Capela put on a strong double-double (14 and 15 boards) and also Isaiah Hartenstein showed an overall good performance from the German point of view (6 points, 3 assists, 1 block, 1/4 FG).
He was also the one who started a 6-0 run of the Rockets in the middle of the third quarter with a crashing Dunk, with which Houston shortened the gap to 78:81. But then the clippers took complete control.
Until the start of the final section, the guests took a 13-point lead, then Shai Gilgeous-Alexander turned up the heat. The rookie led his team with 7 points to an 11:0 run of the Clippers, with which L.A. set itself off decisively. Montrezl Harrell also put on a fabulous performance with 30 points (career high), Lou Williams also contributed 23 points.
Page 1: Kevin Durant deconstructs the Knicks – Rockets lose again
Page 2: Pels win crime thriller – T-Wolves get under the wheels