The Los Angeles Clippers and San Antonio Spurs are in a hot exchange – in the end Lou Williams defies the strong DeMar DeRozan. Meanwhile the Denver Nuggets show no mercy with the Hawks – Nikola Jokic and Co. shoot Atlanta out of the hall with 45 points!
Directly in the first quarter Denver made clear in which direction this game should go. After four losses in a row, the Nuggets opener exploded and gave the Hawks, who were hopelessly overburdened, no chance at all – Denver started the match 13-0, after the first 12 minutes the hosts were in front with 35-23.
Especially the high pace of the nuggets caused Atlanta a lot of trouble, they ran out of breath in the third quarter at the latest. Denver pressed continuously on the pace and decided the third round with 36:16 in his favour, so the game was decided.
For the nuggets, however, this was no reason to show mercy. Also the reservists did not let themselves be lumpen on this evening and extended the lead further and further, shortly before the end Denver was even in front with 46 points.
Best man was Juan Hernangomez, who led his team with 25 points (season-high), 9 rebounds and a plus/minus value of +46 (!). “Everyone played hard, especially in the defense,” the Spaniard praised his teammates after the match.
“Thanks to our defense, it was easy to play fast. Everyone cut, everyone ran, everyone threw.” As a result, a total of seven players in the nuggets scored double-digit points. In addition to Hernangomez, Paul Millsap and Gary Harris also performed well with 18 points each. Jamal Murray scored 14 in a new role from the bench.
On the Hawks’ side, Jeremy Lin was the best thrower with 16 points, which also broke the 5,000 point barrier in his NBA career. But that was the only bright spot for the Hawks. Rookie Trae Young pocketed only 2 of his 11 throws from the field for 6 points.
Already after the first twelve minutes Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had enough of Lou Williams. “He was to be disqualified for the rest of the game,” the 69-year-old explained with an ironic grin during the quarter-note interview.
By this time, the microwave from the Clippers bank had already 6 counters on its account and, against Pop’s wishes, a few more were to be added. He was the leader of an extremely strong bench that had already scored 20 of the 37 clippers by the middle of the second quarter, giving the hosts a 7-point advantage.
In the meantime, L.A. even lost 14 points, but it wasn’t an early decision yet. San Antonio always knew very well how to take the tempo out and force his opponent to play his own game.
DeMar DeRozan did an outstanding job, not only with an incredible 360 degree layout, but also with a total of 34 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.
LaMarcus Aldridge, on the other hand, remained a little pale and could not really gain a foothold offensively (10, 3/15 FG), but was able to set some defensive accents (16 rebounds, 2 blocks). In the complete second half, however, the Big Man did not manage a single successful field goal. But as Rudy Gay (19) and Bryan Forbes (17), among others, jumped strongly into the breach, it remained fiercely contested until the final minute.
And then Lou Williams came along. The 32-year-old seemed to fulfill all Popovich’s fears when he hammered a threesome to 110:107 around the ears about 40 seconds before the end of the Spurs. After Danilo Gallinari had extended his lead from the line back to three points, DeRozan did an expensive turnover against the defending Montrezl Harrell 14, 6 Rebounds, 5 Assists) – only one of 5 ball losses of the Spurs in the whole game!
Afterwards the Clippers didn’t let anything burn any more, Williams transformed his free throws and secured the Spurs the third victory in a row. The Shooting Guard also increased his score to 23 points (9/20 FG), Danilo Gallinari (19) and Tobias Harris (18, 8 rebounds, 5 rebounds) also showed strong performances.