The Los Angeles Lakers have trembled to victory against the Atlanta Hawks. After LeBron James brings the Lakers via Putback-Dunk onto the winning road, Tyson Chandler blocks the possible game winner shortly afterwards. The Houston Rockets win without Carmelo Anthony, while Denver and Milwaukee deliver a thrilling exchange of blows.
Early appearance of Isaiah Hartenstein for the Rockets, because Clint Capela limped off the field after a few seconds. The German used the good 2:30 minutes with the starters to four fast points and one block. But it wasn’t just the rookie that did the trick, the rockets also played their best game in a long time and cut the Pacers apart, especially in the second quarter.
The much criticized Offense grumbled tremendously and produced a whopping 44 points (Indiana: 23), which is why Houston turned early onto the winning road thanks to the strong backcourt around Chris Paul (26, 5/8 threes) and James Harden (40, 8/18 threes, 14/15 FT). And even better: The Rockets had already broken the 100-point mark in the third quarter; the Texans had not managed to do so in the last four games over the entire 48 minutes.
Houston hit almost 60 percent from a distance in the meantime, but then cooled down a little in the fourth quarter. So the Pacers nibbled on the 24-point deficit once more, but the visitors did not get closer than 8 points (103:111, one minute to go). Best scorers of the Pacers were Victor Oladipo (22, 10 rebounds, 7 assists) and Bojan Bogdanovic (20).
Carmelo Anthony was absent from the Rockets, who was officially absent due to illness. Before the game, GM Daryl Morey had talked to the media about a possible buyout, but vehemently denied it. In addition to CP3 and Harden, Capela, who quickly returned to the field, convinced with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Hartenstein played a total of 13 minutes and scored 4 points (2/4 FG), 1 rebound, 1 blocks and a strong plus-minus of +16.
Buhrufe were heard in Madison Square Garden after the Knicks were demonstrated by Orlando for 48 minutes. It all started horribly, the hosts did not score a single point in the first 10 possessions, but the Fizdale team lost 4 balls. So it was not surprising that the Magic dominated the first quarter with 30:10.
New York did not find their way back into the game after the match and was now behind with 34 points, but with throwing odds of 35 percent from the field and just 18 percent (5/28 threes) from a distance, this was not surprising.
Orlando won a loose victory and could spread the minutes over the whole squad. Best scorers were Terrence Ross (22) and Nikola Vucevic (21, 14 rebounds), Evan Fournier scored 12 points. But the story of the game was Rookie Mo Bamba, who grew up in Harlem and played his first game in the MSG with 15 points and 8 rebounds.
But also with the Knicks there were smaller rays of hope. Rookie Kevin Knox scored 17 points, while the other rookie, Mitchell Robinson, set the Knicks rookie record with 9 blocks in 22 minutes and only one rejection missed the franchise record. Enes Kanter, meanwhile, doubled with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Page 1: Rockets explode without Melo – Knicks rookie with record
Page 2: Bucks win wild game in Denver – LeBron and Chandler rescue L.A.