NBA: Butler scuppers the Lakers – Bucks win summit against Toronto

The Los Angeles Lakers have suffered their next defeat with LeBron James. Jimmy Butler leads the Minnesota Timberwolves to victory. The Milwaukee Bucks win the top match against the Toronto Raptors, who were also loss-free before.

It wasn’t the game of the stars, instead it was the role-players who shaped the game. The Blazers bigs had early foul problems, so the sophomores Zach Collins (17) and Caleb Swanigan (11, 10 rebounds) got a lot of playing time and used it by playing both career highs.

So it didn’t matter to Portland that Damian Lillard was long without points in the first half, but still collected 13 in the end. Similarly cold was Victor Oladipo (21, 9/24 FG, 9 Rebounds, 7 Assists) on the opposite side, who had big throwing problems like the whole Pacers team.

Only 41 percent of the attempts went through the cage, in addition there were lots of litters from the middle distance near Indiana. The threesome was hardly taken, it took almost a whole quarter before the Pacers even tried. In the end there were only six hits in 19 attempts.

And yet the game was open for a long time before the visitors from Portland were able to pull away in double figures in the final section and save this cushion across the finish line. C.J. McCollum (17) was the top scorer at Portland alongside Collins, with a total of seven players breaking the 10 points. Indiana did the complete Starting Five, including Darren Collison (17) and Thaddeus Young (16).

The Wells Fargo Center for the Sixers, who didn’t really find their way into the track against the Atlanta Hawks in the first run, was hailing with whistles during the break. Nevertheless it was 47:47 after 24 minutes – but the expectations in the city of fraternal love are certainly quite different.

But after the change Philly finally put his horsepower on the road and Ben Simmons was the most important one. The Australian scored 15 of his 21 points (8/11 FG, plus 12 rebounds and 9 assists) in the third quarter and was thus the engine for the 31:13 run in these twelve minutes – the preliminary decision.

“Our team needed an initial spark and I was able to deliver it,” said the current Rookie of the Year after the game. The playmaker also concealed the fact that Joel Embiid (10, 3/9 FG, 4 TO) played his weakest game of the season. Mike Muscala (14, 4/6 three), another big player, who had previously spent his entire career with the Hawks, jumped into the breach.

Kent Bazemore was the best at those Hawks with 18 points, while Trae Young (11, 1/6 three, 8 assists) remained cold from a distance. This also applied to the weak Taurean Prince (5, 1/11 FG). On the other side Markelle Fultz (16, 7/16 FG, 7 Dimes) showed his skills again.

This victory had the Heat probably firmly planned and it looked at the beginning actually also well. The guests from Sacramento didn’t get a chance at all, while Miami dominated the boards thanks to Hassan Whiteside (16, 24 rebounds, 5 blocks) and had quickly played out a 12-point lead.

But after the first quarter the dynamics changed completely and the Kings showed more and more what distinguishes them in this season. Sacramento scored 68 points (Miami: 38) in the zone and the guests generated 27 points (Heat: 9) from 19 ball losses of the Heat.

Sacramento was simply fresher, disturbed the rhythm of the heat and was successful even from a distance. 12 of the 26 attempts of the perimeter sat, alone Buddy Hield (23, 14 in the third quarter) sunk four of them. But the man of the evening was Willie Cauley-Stein, who had a strong double-double with 26 points and 13 rebounds. De’Aaron Fox (20, 8 assists, 6 TO) showed light and shadow.

The best actor of the Heatles was Josh Richardson, who could play a new career high with 31 points, but in the end received too little support. With the exception of Goran Dragic (20) and Whiteside not much came, not even from veteran Dwyane Wade (8, 2/10 FG), who still had enormous problems with his litter.

Page 1: Sixers wake up after whistling – Sacramento continues to surprise

Page 2: Butler kills the Lakers – Knicks with canters victory

Page 3: Bucks win summit of the undefeated against Toronto