Detroit Pistons at Washington Wizards 92-106
The Washington Wizards picked up a much-needed win here against a lesser Detroit side who saw Jerami Grant go to the locker room early thanks to an injury.
For the Pistons, Isaiah Stewart flirted with a double-double as he scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds with a block and a steal on 55.6% efficiency. Wayne Ellington also scored 15 points on the back of five triples while Mason Plumlee had an 11/81/1 game.
Russell Westbrook put up another triple-double, 19/19/10 while Bradley Beal scored 17 and dished out six assists in a limited 29 minutes. Deni Avdija got the start scoring five points, grabbing five rebounds, and stealing the ball twice. Rui Hachimura scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds while being 54.5% from the field to contribute to this win.
New York Knicks at Milwaukee Bucks 102-96
The Bucks put up a scrappy fight, but lost without Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, and Donte DiVincenzo against the New York Knicks, who were missing Julius Randle and lost Mitchell Robinson to a fractured foot in the first half.
Alec Burks had a magnificent outing for the Knicks. He scored 21 points, hauled in 10 rebounds, and had five dimes and two blocks. RJ Barrett also continued his excellent run of form scoring 21 points while sinking three triple and grabbing seven rebounds with seven assists. Nerlens Noel also racked up double-digit rebounds with 11 while also blocking three shots and stealing the ball twice.
For the short-handed Bucks, the story of the night was Jordan Nwora who scored 21 points with four triples and 10 rebounds with a steal. The only starter, Brook Lopez had a 12/10 double-double with four steals to go along with it. Thanasis Antetokounmpo also had a career game of 23 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
Houston Rockets at Minnesota Timberwolves 129-107
The Houston Rockets get their revenge on KAT and the T-Wolves in this blowout win.
Kevin Porter Jr. came back into the lineup and scored 25 points that went with four rebounds and two assists while John Wall dished out 12 assists and scored 13 points. Kelly Olynyk had 16 points and three steals with four threes in his debut and Sterling Brown, Ben McLemore, and DJ Augustin, all finished in double digits with 16, 12, and 20 respectively.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 27 points, 15 rebounds, and four assists. Anthony Edwards had another excellent scoring night with 27 points on the back of three triples while Malik Beasley returned with 13 points, two steals, and four rebounds. Rick Rubio also contributed with 10 dimes and three steals.
Chicago Bulls at San Antonio Spurs 104-120
The new-look Bulls did not come out all guns blazing and instead got molly whopped by Gregg Popovich and the Spurs.
Nikola Vucevic, in his debut, piled on 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds with four assists while Zach LaVine provided 18 points and not much else last night. Tomas Satoransky stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Thaddeus Young had another solid game with 10 points, six rebounds, and nine assists.
For the Spurs, Jakob Poetl scored 20 and grabbed nine rebounds and Dejounte Murray had a near triple-double, 14/8/8 with two steals. DeMar DeRozan had seven assists and four steals to go along with 17 points while Derrick White also had seven assists and four rebounds with 16 points.
Dallas Mavericks at New Orleans Pelicans 103-112
The Pelicans picked up a much-needed win once again against a depleted Mavericks side with no Luka and Porzingis.
Someone had to step up in the stead of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis and that came in the form of Tim Hardaway Jr. who scored 30 points with five rebounds and three assists, and Jalen Brunson, who put up 24 points and four assists. Boban Marjanovic also took advantage of his start and put up a 13/11 double-double in 28 minutes of action.
Zion Williamson had another wild game scoring 38 points and grabbing five rebounds while dining up his teammates on five occasions. Brandon Ingram poured in 19 points and grabbed four rebounds, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker reached 20 points to go with five rebounds. Josh Hart had a peculiar night, scoring only two points, but grabbing 10 rebounds.
Boston Celtics at Oklahoma City Thunder 111-94
The Celtics pick up a second win here in a back-to-back for them against a Thunder team that announced that Al Horford will not play another game this season.
For Boston last night, Jayson Tatum had another great game with 27 points on 40.7% efficiency to go along with a steal, five rebounds, and three assists. Jaylen Brown also contributed with 25 points on the back of three threes while Robert Williams III hauled in 14 rebounds, blocked two shots, and stole the ball twice. Rookie Payton Pritchard also had a solid game with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Now, for the OKC Thunder, Moses Brown was nothing less than phenomenal. He had a 21/23 game and was the second-fastest player in the history of the franchise to reach a double-double. If by some miracle of God, he is available in your league, please run don’t walk. Theo Maledon, the rookie from France, also had a solid outing with 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Memphis Grizzlies at Utah Jazz 110-126
The Utah Jazz are on a roll as of late once again and keep their home streak with a win over an underwhelming Ja Morant (once again) and the Memphis Grizzlies.
On the Grizzlies side of the ball, we saw Jonas Valanciunas put up a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Kyle Anderson poured in 16 points with two steals and four assists. Brandon Clarke contributed to the team with 12 points, six rebounds, and two steals, but, once again, Ja Morant disappointed. Just as we start thinking Ja turned a corner after three great performances, he comes out tonight with 12 points and only a rebound with four assists. He also shot a meager 33.3% from the field. This might actually be the norm from Ja now. A few good games and then a few bad ones and then repeat.
Donovan Mitchell continued his hot streak for the Jazz pouring in 35 points with seven assists while Rudy Gobert hauled another double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds to go with two blocks. Jordan Clarkson also regained some form finally, since he drained five threes that helped him on his way to 28 points.
Philadelphia 76ers at Los Angeles Clippers 112-122
The Embiid-less Sixers fell to a Los Angeles Clippers side that seemed superior on the night.
Tobias Harris had another solid game with 29 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, but was not enough for the win. Ben Simmons had an underwhelming night in the box score scoring 15 points, grabbing seven rebounds, and stealing the ball once. Dwight Howard had a near double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds but was tossed out of the game before he could get to the double-digit point mark.
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both had great nights. Kawhi scored 28 points, had three steals to go along with four rebounds and four assists. On the other hand, Paul George had a near triple-double with a 24/9/9 stat line with three steals to top it all off. Terance Mann also had a career night. He scored 23 points to go along with three rebounds and an assist.
Cleveland Cavaliers at Sacramento Kings 98-100
Now this game went down to the wire and was decided on a Harrison Barnes game-winner to seal an important win for Sac Town.
On his return, Collin Sexton scored 26 points and hauled in six rebounds while dishing out four assists and stealing the ball twice. Larry Nance Jr. added another solid game to his game history in which he scored 17 points to go along with nine rebounds and two steals as well as five assists. Dean Wade, who has also been on the up lately played 31 minutes and scored 13 points, grabbed six rebounds, and also stole the ball twice.
For the Kings, De’Aaron Fox had another excellent game. He scored 36 points and assisted his teammates six times. He also had an impressive two blocks for a guard. We also saw two double-doubles from Harrison Barnes, 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Richaun Holmes, 10 points and 14 rebounds. Rookie of the year contender Tyrese Haliburton had an efficient night out shooting 54.5% from the field while getting two rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
