The Celtics maintain the plenary session in the NBA Cup, the Bucks sweep and Fox knocks down ‘Wemby’

Chicago (USA), Nov 17 (EFE).- The hard-fought victory of the Boston Celtics in the field of the Toronto Raptors, the resounding victory of the Milwaukee Bucks in the field of the Charlotte Hornets and the amazing performance of De ‘Aaron Fox (43 points) against Frenchman Victor Wembanyama scored this Friday on the day of the NBA Cup.

SPURS 120 – KINGS 129

De’Aaron Fox had an extraordinary 43-point performance and led the Kings’ 129-120 victory over the Spurs, who lost their sixth consecutive game despite 27 points from Frenchman Victor Wembanyama.

Fox scored 43 points (14 of 24 shooting), with five triples, eight rebounds and seven assists. He was supported by Domantas Sabonis with a double double of 27 points and fourteen rebounds to which he added seven assists.

Wembanyama led Greg Popovich’s team with 27 points and nine rebounds, along with Zach Collins’ 28 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.

HORNETS 99 – BUCKS 130

The Bucks defeated the Hornets at home and added their second victory of two in the NBA Cup, on a night in which Miles Bridges reappeared with the Charlotte team after his suspension for sexist violence.

Damian Lillard starred in the Bucks’ victory with 27 points, 18 of them in the third period, to which he added five rebounds and five assists. Malik Beasley scored 20 points, while Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo contributed 16 points, eight rebounds and nine assists in 28 minutes on the court.

For the Hornets, the best was LaMelo Ball, with 37 points, while Miles Bridges returned after more than a year of absence due to a case of sexist violence and child abuse. He had 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 33 minutes.

RAPTORS 105 – CELTICS 108

The Celtics encountered more resistance than expected in Toronto but were finally able to claim their second victory in the NBA Cup by beating the Raptors 105-108 in an irregular game.

The Raptors managed to stop Jayson Tatum once again, which made life more difficult for the Celtics. The Celtics star scored only 17 points. His teammate Jaylen Brown was his team’s top scorer with 23, while Kristaps Porzingis had a double double of 12 rebounds and 14 points.

PELICANS 115 – NUGGETS 110

The 110th triple double of Nikola Jokic’s career (26 points, 16 rebounds and fourteen assists) in the NBA was not enough for the Nuggets to win in the field of the Pelicans, in which Zion Williamson (26), Jonas Valanciunas (22) and Brandon Ingram (21) starred in the local victory.

The Nuggets, who are still without Jamal Murray due to injury, lost for the first time in the NBA Cup (2-1), while the Pelicans increased their record to 2-1 in this tournament.

HAWKS 116 – 76ERS 126

Joel Embiid (32 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists) and Tobias Harris (29 points and 10 rebounds) led the 76ers’ victory over the Hawks with which Nick Nurse’s team added its second victory in three Cup games.

The group sees the Indiana Pacers in control with two wins out of two. The Hawks, in which Trae Young scored 22 points and distributed thirteen assists, lost for the first time in the tournament (1-1).

WIZARDS 99 – KNICKS 120

In a duel between teams that began by losing the Cup, the Knicks won with authority in the capital driven by 32 points, seven rebounds and seven assists from Jalen Brunson and 27 points from Immanuel Quickley coming off the bench.

The Wizards are still in free fall and lost their fifth consecutive game. They are bottom with only two wins in ten regular season games.

CAVALIERS 108 – PISTONS 100

After falling in their debut, the Cavaliers reactivated themselves in the tournament with a victory at home against the Pistons, last with the Wizards in the East, led by Darius Garland (28 points).

Without Donovan Mitchell, the Cavs could count on a solid performance from Max Strus, with 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists, four steals, in addition to a spectacular one-handed dunk that brought the fans at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to their feet.

BULLS 97 – MAGIC 103

For the second time in three days, the Bulls fell at home against the Orlando Magic (103-97), this time in the NBA Cup, and continue in free fall in a season in which they have already lost five times at the United Center in eight games.

Franz Wagner finished his game with 21 points, supported by 18 and nine rebounds from Isaac in 19 minutes off the bench. Gary Harris scored fifteen points and Paolo Banchero, thirteen points, eight rebounds and four assists. The Bulls once again demonstrated serious shortcomings and have a record of 0-2 in the NBA tournament and 4-9 in the regular season despite the 34 points of Zach LaVine, whose future is up in the air.

Toronto (Canada), Nov 17 (EFE).- The Boston Celtics found more resistance than expected in Toronto but were finally able to win their second victory in the NBA Cup by beating the Raptors 105-108 in an irregular game .

The Raptors managed to stop Jayson Tatum once again, which made life more difficult for the Celtics. Of all the NBA teams, Tatum’s worst percentage is with the Raptors.

The Celtics star scored only 17 points. His teammate Jaylen Brown was his team’s top scorer with 23, while Kristaps Porzingis had a double double of 12 rebounds and 14 points.

Pascal Siakam and Dennis Schroder stood out for the locals, with 23 points each.

First game of the new NBA Cup for the Raptors with a Scotiabank dressed in gold and black for the occasion. Meanwhile, for those from Boston, Friday’s game was the fourth of the new tournament in which they are included in Group C along with the New York Nets, Chicago Bulls and Orlando Magic, in addition to the Raptors.

It was also the second game so far this season between the Toronto and Boston teams. On Saturday, the Raptors visited the Celtics and left the American city with a 23-point loss, 117-94.

The Raptors entered Friday’s game with a substantial improvement on one of their weaknesses this season: slowness to get into the game.

Toronto’s new coach, Darko Rajakovic, had pointed out the problem after the loss his team suffered on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks. After losing 112-128 in Toronto, Rajakovic declared that his players were too passive in the first minutes.

Against the Celtics, the locals finished the first quarter six points ahead, 32-26. Under the direction of Dennis Schroder and with the offensive contributions of Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Jr., the Raptors held Jayson Tatum and company.

Tatum finished the first 12 minutes with just four points after missing all three of his three-point attempts. The Celtics only shot 38.5% from the field to the Raptors’ 56%.

But the defensive effort cost the Raptors dearly. Before the end of the first quarter, Siakam already added his third personal which forced Rajakovic to sit him on the bench.

Siakam did not play a minute in the second quarter. And the rotations showed that this season the Raptors do not have a bench.

As soon as the Raptors’ starters sat down, the Celtics began to assert the superiority of their bench.

In the second quarter, the Raptors only scored 17 points to the Celtics’ 39. Tatum scored nine points, including a 3-pointer that went into the basket as the clock signaled the end of the first half. And Jaylen Brown, with only two points in the first quarter, added 10 in the second.

When the two teams went to the locker room, the scoreboard read 49-65 for the Celtics, who improved their shooting percentage in the second quarter to 62.5%.

But after the break, the Toronto team listened to their coach again.

With the starters on the court, including Siakam, the Raptors scored four consecutive three-pointers in 90 seconds, for just two points behind the Celtics. With a 12-2 run, the locals closed the gap to six points, 61-67.

Rajakovic found that the only way the Raptors could stand up to the Celtics was with their starters on the court.

Schroder, Jakob Poeltl and Gary Trent Jr. played all 12 minutes of the quarter. Siakam 11.45. And the Raptors scored 32 points to the Celtics’ 19 in the period. Tatum went through another slump again, with only two points, while Jrue Holliday was left at 0.

With the locals only three points behind, 81-84, the final quarter began.

Neither the Celtics nor the Raptors could get away. With two minutes left in the game, the Raptors were up 101-99. With one minute left, the scoreboard showed a tie, 103-103. But a triple by Derrick White with 28 seconds left definitively unbalanced the Raptors, who could no longer recover.

The Toronto team lost their first game of the NBA Cup 105-108.