After almost six years, the Los Angeles Lakers can win again in Minnesota thanks to Dennis Schröder and LeBron James. The Milwaukee Bucks, however, lose the fourth game in a row. Damian Lillard saves the Portland Trail Blazers with an amazing crunchtime.
The Bucks lose their fourth game in a row despite a strong Giannis Antetokounmpo, while Boston can breathe easy. Zion Williamson dominates against his favorite opponent.
Boston Celtics (14-13) – Denver Nuggets (15-12) 112:99
- After the last weak performance against Detroit and Washington, the game plan made the Celtics a present and Boston accepted it with thanks. Jaylen Brown led his colors to victory with 27 points against weakened replacement nuggets. “We had two weak games now so we needed a win,” said the forward. “We needed more effort and that’s what we did.”
- With Will Barton (private reasons), Gary Harris (adductors), Paul Millsap (knee) and Monte Morris (shoulder strain), Denver was missing four important rotation players, so it was Nikola Jokic’s show for 48 minutes. The Serb put on 43 points (16/23 FG), 6 rebounds and 5 assists, but otherwise only Jamal Murray (25, 9 turnovers) and Facundo Campazzo (15, 8 dimes) scored double digits.
- But that was not enough back and forth, Boston gained a 15-point lead in the first half and also led with 11 points before the fourth quarter. The nuggets didn’t get closer than 7 points, but that didn’t matter because players like Michael Porter Jr. (0, 0/8 FG) and JaMychal Green (2, 1/7 FG) as starters did not produce any production.
- It was a little different with the Celtics, eight of the nine players used scored at least 8 points. Jayson Tatum (21, 6/18 FG) had difficulties with his throw again, but played 8 assists. Kemba Walker contributed 17 points to the win, Tristan Thompson (9, 12 rebounds) narrowly missed a double-double. Daniel Theis was missing with an injury to his index finger, Isaiah Hartenstein saw a good 10 minutes of the Nuggets and put on 6 counters (3/3 FG) and 1 rebound.
Memphis Grizzlies (11-12) – New Orleans Pelicans (12-15) 113:144
- The Grizzlies are slowly but surely becoming the Pelicans’ favorite opponents. Led by Zion Williamson (31 points, 13/16 FG, 7 rebounds, 6 assists) the Pelicans drove their fifth win in a row against Memphis and dominated the FedEx forum by every trick in the book.
- New Orleans hit nearly 62 percent of its throws, sank 19 of 38 threesomes and scored 70 points in the zone. The Grizzlies led quickly with 11 points, but then took over Zion and Josh Hart (27, 6/11 threesomes, 9 rebounds), who both put up 15 points in the second quarter. New Orleans then won the third quarter with 38:23 and further expanded the lead in the final section.
- Brandon Ingram contributed 22 points and 7 assists to the win, Lonzo Ball came on 13. JJ Redick (7), on the other hand, missed a free throw for the first time this season. The Shooting Guard had previously sunk all of its 32 attempts.
- On the part of the Grizzlies, the strong performance of Ja Morant (28, 12/16 FG, 8 assists) was not enough, after all, the point guard provided the highlight of the game with a mighty slam, which also impressed Williamson visibly. The bank was particularly problematic for Memphis, while the starters Dillon Brooks (18, 4/6 threesomes) and Kyle Anderson (19) did well.
Detroit Pistons – San Antonio Spurs
This game was canceled on Monday because San Antonio could not have eight players due to tracing. The next three Spurs games have also already been canceled.
Milwaukee Bucks (16-12) – Toronto Raptors (13-15) 113:124
- The Milwaukee Bucks slide into a minor crisis, against the Toronto Raptors it has now been defeated for the fourth time in a row. That last happened for the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals 2019, when they played four games in a row against those Raptors after a 2-0 lead. Man of the evening was Fred VanVleet, who poured the Bucks 33 points (12/22 FG).
- The Raptors were also able to compensate for Kyle Lowry’s injury, who set 18 points in 22 minutes but had to leave the field with an ankle problem in the third quarter. Toronto was just ahead at this point and held that lead until the end of the game. Five minutes before the end, Donte DiVincenzo (12) had the chance to equalize for the Bucks, but missed. Toronto made seven counters in a row and then gave it no more.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (34, 11/20 FG, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals) made a strong game at the Bucks, but the Greek got too little support from Khris Middleton (11, 4/8 FG), who completely stayed pale. Jrue Holiday was still missing after his positive corona test, so Bryn Forbes (11) started again. Coming from the bank, at least Pat Connaughton (20) and Bobby Portis (16) convinced.
- Toronto, on the other hand, could rely on a strong starting five. Pascal Siakam (23, 8/23 FG, 13 rebounds, 6 assists) made up for him on center, OG Anunoby (13) hit some important throws on his comeback after injury. Sixth Man Chris Boucher (14, 4/7 threesomes) posed big problems for the Bucks with his stretch five qualities.
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