The Los Angeles Lakers have won the next race and benefit from a new addition. Toronto have secured their fifth win in a row, while the Philadelphia 76ers have overcome their away crisis. Hassan Whiteside manages an incredible game for the Miami Heat and the Memphis Grizzlies win with Old School Basketball.
The Pistons last lost five games in a row after remaining unbeaten four times at the start of the season. Now Detroit was able to regain momentum and this was primarily due to Andre Drummond. The center showed the next good game, after he already had a monster-double-double against the Heat.
Against Orlando he contributed 23 points and 19 rebounds to the victory. “Andre was the player of the game to me. The way he got himself into it and just played hard. He didn’t get a kick out of it and didn’t let it upset him. He just walked out, ripped his butt open and reminded us what the important things are to win in this league,” coach Dwane Casey praised his protégé. The highlight was his Buzzerbeater trio at the end of the first quarter.
Orlando saw the reason for the defeat in the lack of support of the starters. They all delivered a decent game. Evan Fournier was the best thrower with 27 points, but also three of the other four starters scored double digits. In addition, Terrence Ross (15 points) was the only ray of hope from the bench. The rest shot 1 out of 14 out of the field.
Coach Steve Clifford was therefore quite clear after the game: “They were really bad, not competitive in any half. That makes it hard to win in this league. The boys need to be professional and ready. The bank was embarrassing, it’s that simple.”
In the duel between two rebuild teams, the Hawks were able to win. 22.8 seconds before the end, Atlanta was back on four points, even though they were two-digit behind for a long time. But first Alex Poytress lost the ball, then Taurean Prince gave away two free throws. Top-Rookie Trae Young scored 15 points and 8 assists, but only hit 6 of his 19 litters out of the field.
Better an ex-Hawk did it. Tim Hardaway Jr. was the best thrower in the game with 34 points and ran really hot in the second run. He scored 27 points in the second run and was mainly responsible for the fact that the Knicks in the third quarter went away.
“In the first half, I tried to find my rhythm again. In the second half we had defensive stops, steals and blocks. That also drove me offensively,” said Hardaway Jr. Beside him, the two Big Men Enes Kanter and Noah Vonleh stood out, both of whom played a double.
What kind of game was that from Hassan Whiteside? The center of the Heat scored 29 points, 20 rebounds and missed the triple-double only wafer-thin with 9 blocks. Whiteside was sure that he would send 10 throws in the other direction. “Whoever is checking, please do it,” he said in a good mood after the game. By the way, he set a new franchise record with 8 blocks in halftime 1.
Coach Erik Spoelstra was also full of praise for his Big Man. “It would have been pretty cool for him if he had taken the triple double,” said the coach, but he also made it clear: “But in the end, his winning plays are independent of the statline. If he shows that intensity, that competitive will, that defensive attitude, we’re a different team.”
The Spurs, on the other hand, didn’t have a lot of convergence. 33 per cent hit rate means the worst value since 2008. LaMarcus Aldridge only scored a measly 6 points on 14 litters, but didn’t want it to be too high: “We all have evenings like this. Hopefully, they’re only very thin on the ground.”
Coach Gregg Popovich changed the starting formation after exactly 4:22 minutes and at 4:15 from the point of view of the Texans, so Jakob Pöltl came on the floor for the first time. After 12:23 minutes of playing time, he scored three points and four rebounds in his seventh season.
Best Spurs thrower was Patty Mills, who contributed 20 points from the bank. Davis Bertans scored 19 points, DeMar DeRozan 18 points. San Antonio started without Pau Gasol (pain in the foot) and Rudy Gay (pain in the heel). On the Heat side, Goran Dragic, Dion Waiters and James Johnson were missing.
Page 1: Whiteside Delivers Monster Game
Page 2: Sixers take first away win of the season
Page 3: LeBron leads Lakers to next victory – the Raptors continue to win too