Dwyane Wade shot his Miami Heat at the free-throw line to victory, while Anthony Davis of the Charlotte Hornets was not to be held. At the same time the Sixers win with two newly styled stars and the Spurs celebrate an important victory against Trail Blazers.
When Anthony Davis plays, the New Orleans Pelicans are a power. So the Pels didn’t give Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Hornets a chance. At the beginning of the game, however, the Hornets were still at eye level. No team managed to gain a lead of more than 4 points in the first quarter.
In the second section, however, the Pelicans hit very hard out of the field (61.9 percent) and worked out a small cushion. 4 points from Julius Randle, a layup from Jrue Holiday and a free throw from Davis brought New Orleans to the front with 11 points at the end of the first half.
In the second half, the Hornets were unable to reduce the gap significantly. Davis was the outstanding player on the field with 36 points (14/19 FG), 19 rebounds and 8 assists. “If they try to double him, he will also be able to play a smart pass,” Alvin Gentry praised his protégé after the game. Davis was supported by Holiday, who got 19 points and 8 assists.
In the Hornets, Frank Kaminsky, who had big defensive problems with Davis, was the top scorer with 19 points. A total of seven players scored more than 10 points in the Hornets. Tony Parker scored 10 points and 5 assists. He thus climbed to 18th place on the eternal list of assistants. Kemba Walker caught a rather weak day and came up with 13 points (5/16 FG) and 5 templates. “If you look at Walker’s Statline, you can see that Hoiday did a very strong job in defense today,” said Alving Genty, coach of the Pelicans.
What a back and forth in Miami: The Utah Jazz started strongly into the game and led with 20:5. They hit 65 percent out of the field and used the first six turnovers of the Heat to 12 points. Then, however, the spit turned around. Miami started a 20-0 run (!), Utah did not hit 14 throws in a row and was suddenly behind after a passable 19 lead.
As a result, no team was able to stand out particularly well: It came to an exciting final phase. 2:03 minutes from time Wayne Ellington scored an important trio that put Miami in the lead. They didn’t give them up. Shortly before the end, Dwyane Wade took the Heat 100:97 lead before Ricky Rubio made up for it from outside. Donovan Mitchell missed the chance to put jazz in the lead. Miami put the ball back into the hands of Wade, who passed Mitchell and was fouled by Rudy Gobert. 3.2 seconds before the end he casually converted two free throws, 112:110: Game.
In the Heat, Hassan Whiteside was the top scorer with 23 points and 20 rebounds. “He was a real force today,” praised heat coach Erik Spoelstra Whiteside. Josh Richardson scored 16 points just like Kelly Olynyk, the boxing score was 15 points and 8 assists from Wade. All starters scored double figures in the Jazz category. Rubio scored 23 points (9/13 FG) while Gobert played a double (12 points, 18 rebounds). Mitchell had throwing problems (8/24 FG) and scored 18 points.
In the night from Tuesday to Wednesday the San Antonio Spurs are guests in Utah. The Heat have to go against the Orlando Magic the same night.
Page 1: Davis too strong for Hornets – Wade game winner against Utah
Page 2: Headband-Sixers wins – Spurs shoot Blazers down