Houston (USA), Feb 1 (EFE) .- The fight for the leadership of the Western Conference left a new leader with the Los Angeles Clippers, who achieved their third consecutive victory and took advantage of the defeat suffered by Utah Jazz.
While in the East, despite having the loss of the star center, the Nigerian Joel Embiid got his first win and consolidated as outstanding leaders by also reaching the third consecutive victory.
Forward Kawhi Leonard had 28 points as the best scorer for the Clippers, who beat the New York Knicks 115-129 on the road.
The Clippers scored the highest point total of the season against the NBA’s leading defense and added their 10th victory to put them 16-5, the best in the league, after the Utah Jazz lost 128-117. against the Denver Nuggets and broke their streak of 11 consecutive wins.
Serbian center Nikola Jokic showed his best scoring version and with 47 points led the unstoppable attack of the Nuggets, who won for the sixth time in the last seven games, which has put them with a 12-8 mark and second in the Northwest Division that lead the Jazz (15-5), which fell to second place in the West.
Jokic, who tied his best as a professional, scored 17 of 26 shots from the field and made all four 3-point attempts, and 9 of 10 from the personnel line.
In addition, Jokic, who scored 33 points in the first half, achieved a double-double by capturing 12 rebounds, including nine defenders, gave five assists, recovered two balls and put a block.
Utah lost for the first time since January 6 to the Knicks in New York.
Croatian forward Bojan Bogdanovic was once again the leader of the Jazz attack with 29 points, and guard Donovan Mitchell, who returned after missing two games while under concussion protocol, had 13 in 31 minutes of action.
Forward Tobías Harris had 27 points and eight rebounds as the leader of the Sixers, who beat the Indiana Pacers 110-119 at home.
The Sixers trailed by 16 points at the start of the fourth quarter, but closed with a 31-6 run for their sixth win in seven games, this time without their star Embiid, who was out with a sore back.
Australian point guard Ben Simmons contributed 21 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four ball recoveries to be another of the key players in the triumph of the Sixers (15-6), who are consolidated as leaders of the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference.
Veteran center Dwight Howard, who came out as a backup, asserted his power inside the paint with a double-double of 11 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks, which made him another winning factor for the Sixers.
Point guard Russell Westbrook approached the triple-double in the Washington Wizards’ 149-146 surprise victory over the Brooklyn Nets and snapped a four-game losing streak.
Westbrook, traded by the Houston Rockets before the new season began last December, had 41 points, 10 rebounds and delivered eight touchdown passes, in what was his best performance since joining the nation’s capital team. , which now placed its mark at 4-12.
The Wizards’ star point guard set consecutive scoring records so far this season, but had entered the game with an average of 18.9 points, the lowest since his second NBA season in 2009-10.
In addition, for the first time he showed good harmony in the team game with his new partner, the star guard Bradley Beal, current leader in the league.
Beal maintained his scoring inspiration by scoring another 37 points, including 22 in the fourth quarter, for Westbrook’s 15.
Again, forward Kevin Durant, with 37 points, who is the second best scorer in the league so far this season, finished as the leader of the Nets, being perfect from the personnel line 13-13, with seven rebounds, six assists and two ball recoveries, which did not prevent defeat.
Harris scored 30 points and point guard Kyrie Irving added another 26 that supported Durant’s offensive work with the Nets (13-9) who broke a four-game winning streak.
Guard James Harden was unable to play for the Nets due to a muscle contusion and missed the first game since being traded by the Rockets on January 13.
Cameroonian power forward Pascal Siakam contributed a double-double of 30 points and 10 rebounds and the Toronto Raptors beat the Orlando Magic 115-102, in a duel of teams with losing marks in the Eastern Conference.
Forward Malik Beasley and rookie guard Anthony Edwards scored 23 points each in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ attack that beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-104 and snapped a three-game losing streak.
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