The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves and are already stalking the leadership of the Western Conference, while the San Antonio Spurs regained victory by overcoming the Washington Wizards with Victor Wembanyama as the protagonist.
Below, we present the best of this Saturday’s day in the NBA, with several surprising results and a good number of dominant individual performances.
Milwaukee Bucks 141-135 Detroit Pistons
Damian Lilliard with his 45 points and 11 assists gave the victory to the Milwaukee Bucks (29-13), who also added 31 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists from Giannis Antetokounmpo and remain the second best team in the Eastern Conference.
For the Detroit Pistons (4-38), the second unit was key, contributing 85 of the team’s 135 points, 62.9%. Alec Burks with 33 points and Ausar Thompson with 22 were their top scorers. The Pistons still haven’t risen as the worst team in the league so far this season.
San Antonio Spurs 131-127 Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards (7-34) lost a game they won by 12 with five minutes left despite the good performance of newcomer Marvin Bagley III, with a double double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.
French center Victor Wembanyama was the real protagonist, leading the comeback of his San Antonio Spurs (8-34) with 24 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 blocks; and with Jeremy Sochan as squire with 23 points.
Despite the victory in the federal capital, the Spurs remain the worst team in the West, while the Wizards are the second worst in the East, only above the Detroit Pistons.
Philadelphia 76ers 97-89 Charlotte Hornets
Joel Embiid’s 33 points and 10 rebounds (double double) sealed the victory for the Philadelphia 76ers (28-13), who have made it five in a row, against the Charlotte Hornets (9-31).
The 76ers remain third in the East, behind the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks, while the Hornets are far from Play In spots. The best of the locals was Miles Bridges with 25 points and 11 rebounds (double-double).
Oklahoma City 102-97 Minnesota Timberwolves
The Oklahoma City Thunder (29-13), led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, assaulted the Minnesota Timberwolves (30-12) in the duel between the two best teams in the West.
With the score at 97-100 and with 3.4 seconds remaining, Anthony Edwards had three free throws to tie the game and take it to overtime, but the Timberwolves guard missed all 3.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and dished out 6 assists. On the part of the Timberwolves, the best with a double-double was the Dominican Karl-Anthony Towns who scored 19 points and collected 11 rebounds.
Memphis Grizzlies 96-125 Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls (21-23) defeated the Memphis Grizzlies (15-27) with ease and established themselves in the Eastern Postseason positions.
Ayo Dosunmu, who came off the bench, was the most decisive player for Chicago with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. For the Grizzlies, the best was Jaren Jackson Jr. with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
2024-01-21 05:26:22
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