The Lakers defeated the Spurs in the NBA, and James and Hammon rewrote history

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.

Scott Wachter, Reuters

The duel was also groundbreaking because San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich was ruled out for protests in the second quarter for the first time in NBA history by a woman: six-time WNBA winner Becky Hammon, who has been Popovich’s assistant since 2014.

“I didn’t go to the hall today to coach, but it just developed that way. I mainly tried to motivate the players. But I’d rather win more than anything else today,” said Hammon, who took over the team at the direct behest of the disqualified Popovich. “He just pointed at me. He said, ‘You have them on command.’ And it was. Just a typical Pop, “added the 43-year-old American.

Six-time WNBA winner Becky Hammon was the first woman in NBA history to get a chance to lead the team after San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich was disqualified in the second quarter for protests.

Eric Gay, ČTK / AP

Jubilant James praised Hammon for her historical record: “She definitely deserved a chance, she lives in basketball every day. I have to congratulate both her and the league. It was great to see her give instructions.”

The Spurs, who will face the Lakers again on New Year’s Eve, were not enough for Dejounte Murray’s career maximum of 29 points. The 24-year-old also collected seven jumped balls and assists. “None of this matters when we lost,” he said. DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points, Patty Mills from the bench 12.

The Clippers celebrated Kawhi Leonard’s return by winning 128: 105 over Portland. The team’s tug of war scored 28 points and seven final passes after a two-game break due to a facial injury, Paul George added 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. 25 points for CJ McCollum and 20 points for Damian Lillard were not enough for the home team.

The first loss of the season had to be bitten by Atlanta, which he defeated high 145: 141 Brooklyn. The star of the duel was Kevin Durant with 33 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, Kyrie Irving helped with 25 points, of which 17 in the last quarter. The Nets helped their third triumph of the year with 19 threes out of 41 attempts. The Hawks pulled Trae Young with 30 points, 11 assists and six rebounds and John Collins, who jumped 10 balls to 30 points.

The day after losing 47 points to Milwaukee, Miami returned the opponent to a 119: 108 defeat. The hero of the day was 20-year-old Tyler Herro, who with 21 points and 15 rebounds became the second youngest player in club history, accumulating at least 20 points and 15 rebounds. The first was Michael Beasley.

Heat’s top scorer was Slovenian Goran Dragič with 26 points, Bam Adebayo scored 22 points and 10 rebounds. The Bucks, who succeeded only twice out of the first five duels, were not even able to triple Janis Adetokunb’s triple double for 26 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

Boston succeeded against a weakened Memphis 126: 107 also thanks to a career maximum of 42 points by Jaylen Brown. The Celtics hit seven threes and 15 out of 21 shots.

So far, the best performance in the NBA was demonstrated by the trio of this year’s LaMelo Ball draft, which helped Charlotte to win 118: 109 against Dallas with 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Miles Bridges added 20 points. Luke Dončič did not succeed in the Mavericks jersey, who remained on the field at 12 points in just 24 minutes.