The Dallas Mavericks have the highest win of the season against the grizzlies – thanks in part to Doug McDermott, who delivers his best ever game in a Mavs jersey. The wizards get under the wheels in Miami, while the Hornets give a huge head start almost out of hand. The Clippers manage an important win in the playoff fight.
The Charlotte Hornets have certainly not lost sight of the playoffs yet. After five losses from five games, the gap to the Bucks eighth place has increased sharply. No wonder Head Coach Steve Clifford was relieved after his win against the Suns and the end of the negative series – even if his team played a 22-point lead lightly.
“We had to win the game and we won the game. That’s all that matters,”explained Clifford at the press conference that followed. However, the Hornets’ performance was not particularly convincing, at least not in the fourth quarter. After an 8-point lead at halftime, Charlotte overtook the guests in the third section according to all the rules of the art (35:21).
With a comfortable head start, we entered the final section, in which the hosts almost gave up the victory, which they believed to be safe. Phoenix simply did not want to give up without the injured Devon Booker (triceps) and hammered the Hornets in the fourth quarter 9 Threesome through the reuse (at 15 attempts).
Above all, Troy Daniels (17 points, 5/10 threesomes), Dragan Bender (16) and Elfrid Payton (14) played a major role in the comeback, and just a few minutes before the end Phoenix even had the chance to take the lead. Payton’s jumper was too short, however, which immediately penalized Nicolas Batum with a threesome on the other side. It was the Frenchman (29 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists) who, together with the equally strong Dwight Howard (30 points, 12 rebounds, 10/15 FT), turned the last free throws into a win.
The Heat looked back on this evening against the Wizards with a laughing and crying eye. Both Dwyane Wade (top leg) and Justise Winslow (knee) injured themselves towards the end of the match, how long they will be missing or whether it is not clear at all. Hassan Whiteside also missed the duel with Washington due to hip problems.
The heat at the end of the evening brought in a casual blowout win, which should help to overcome some of the injury worries. Miami was particularly dominant in the Zone (76:42 points in the paint) and was highly efficient, with over the full 48 minutes the hosts drowned almost 60 percent of their litters, with James Johnson and Josh Richardson leading the way.
The two forwards met 14 of their 15 litters together, Johnson was also top scorer of his team with 20 points (8/9 FG, plus 5 assists). The starting five had a throwing rate of 77 percent, Wayne Ellington contributed 17 points (4/9 threesomes) from the bank.
The wizards had absolutely nothing to counter this offensive fireworks display. Thanks to Jodie Meeks (23 points) and Bradley Beal (14 points) the visitors kept up quite well in the first half, but afterwards nothing could be done. Miami won the third round with 43:28 – the Heatles did not score that many points in a quarter since October 2013 – and so the game was over. After five away victories in a row, the capitals were now hailing a hefty chorus of applause in southern Florida.
Page 1: Hornets lose a huge advantage – Wizards without chance in Miami
Page 2: Mavs celebrate Blowout Victory – Clippers beat the Magic
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