The Boston Celtics have suffered a defeat after two wins in a row – despite a good performance by Dennis Schröder, who drives his team to a comeback. The Nets lose despite a new franchise record. Franz Wagner convinced the Bucks to lose and Harrison Barnes shocked the Suns.
Orlando Magic (1-4) – Charlotte Hornets (4-1) 111:120 (BOXSCORE)
- The Hornets are back on track, but had to tremble longer against Orlando than they would like. In the end, the duo of Gordon Hayward and Miles Bridges was too strong for the Florida men. Bridges delivered the next 30+ point game (31, 11/21 FG), Hayward provided good support with 24 points.
- The Magic got off to an excellent start, which Franz Wagner gilded with a three to make it 16: 8. A little later, brother Moritz increased it to +11, but the strong Hornets bank around Jalen McDaniels (16) and Cody Martin (12) brought the guests back into the game. In the second round, Bridges and Hayward kept the situation even and it stayed that way until the final section.
- In the middle of the last round, Charlotte made an 11: 3 run, Bridges himself took care of the dagger from downtown to 116: 107 one minute before the end. Orlando continued to defend himself, including with an intelligent play from Franz Wagner, who played an inbounds pass from Mason Plumlee’s back to himself and drew free throws, but the deficit was too great.
- The 20-year-old rookie knew how to please again with 15 efficient points (5/7 FG and 3/4 threesome), Moritz got 4 points in 10 minutes. The home team’s best scorer was Cole Anthony (24 and 6 assists), Wendell Carter Jr. (20 and 10 rebounds) and Mo Bamba (14 and 10) each collected a double-double. In the final section, however, the 8 ball losses hurt (Hornets: 2).
Boston Celtics (2-3) – Washington Wizards (3-1) 107:116 (BOXSCORE)
- “We have to be better than that!” Celtics-Big Al Horford was visibly served in the fifth game after the third defeat of the season, even with the teammates the expressions were rather gloomy after the bankruptcy against the Wizards. Despite 23 points from Jayson Tatum and 22 from Dennis Schröder, who came off the bench due to Horford’s return, Boston received nothing in front of its own audience.
- At the start of the game, the home side didn’t get much together, this manifested itself in a comfortable Wizards lead in the second half (+14). Then Schröder breathed new life into the offense, the Guard scored 15 points in this section alone and kept Boston within striking distance. After the change of sides, however, a similar picture, again Washington separated, again the Celts fought back.
- A three of the German, one of 4 that evening (with 6 attempts, a total of 6/15 FG, plus 6 assists) put two minutes before the end to 105: 108, but afterwards Bradley Beal and Spencer Dinwiddie brought the victory with important buckets home. “That was awful. I did [Dinwiddie] to score points far too easily, “said Schröder, who took responsibility for himself.
- Dinwiddie scored 11 of his 22 points in the last round, Montrezl Harrell kept pounding the Celtics from the bench (25 and 11 rebounds), Daniel Gafford had to leave the floor early after a moment of shock with a thigh contusion. Beal had 17 points and 10 rebounds, but had problems with his throw (7/25 FG) – and even with wide open lay-ups. On the other hand, there wasn’t much to gain for Jaylen Brown (13, 5/16 FG) either.
Toronto Raptors (2-3) – Indiana Pacers (1-4) 118:100 (BOXSCORE)
- After two defeats in a row, Toronto celebrated a sense of achievement again. It was the first Scotiabank Arena win in over 20 months as the Canadians had to play their home games last season due to the coronavirus pandemic in Florida. Indiana, on the other hand, has now lost four of its first five games, the false start is perfect. Fred VanVleet was the outstanding man, in addition to 26 points (season high), the point guard contributed 10 rebounds (career high) and sank 6 of his 7 triple attempts.
- The injured Pascal Siakam enthusiastically cheered on his teammates from the sidelines. A key factor in the game was the Raptors’ overwhelming defense. Again and again, Pacers players were swarmed by the long and athletic raptors and forced to turnovers, the bottom line being that Toronto had 18 steals.
- Malcolm Brogdon was the best thrower at the Pacers. The Guard came up with 18 points (15 of them in the second quarter) in just 22 minutes of play. The Pacers star sustained an injury to his left thigh in the third quarter and was out for the remainder of the game. Rookie Chris Duarte again showed a strong performance with 14 points, but this was not enough to avert the defeat.
- Brogdon’s injury was the turning point of the game. The game was relatively even up to half-time, but towards the end of the third quarter the Raptors pulled away and were now leading with 16 points. The master of 2019 could not be taken away from this tour. In addition to VanVleet, OG Anunoby (25) also impressed, rookie Scottie Barnes put on 18 points as well as 7 rebounds and assists. Isaac Bonga was only allowed to run for less than a minute and did not put anything countable on the scoreboard.
– .
