Equaling their all-time 3-point record, the New Orleans Pelicans beat Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks (36 points) 131-126 on Friday’s NBA round, in which the Brooklyn Nets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder without Kevin. Durant.
The Bucks, who remain in second place in the Eastern conference with 11 wins and 7 losses, were unable to contain the offense from the line of three of the Pelicans, who equaled the best record in the franchise with 21 triples in 48 attempts. (43.8%).
Point guard Lonzo Ball (27 points) and guard Eric Bledsoe (25) scored seven triples each while young power forward Zion Williamson finished with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists for the Pelicans, who are second to last in the West with a balance of 7-10.
The Bucks recovered from a bad start (68-45 at halftime) but could not finish the comeback in the final stretch, despite the good performances of their star Giannis Antetokounmpo (38 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists) and Jrue Holiday (22-9-5).
In the second game in which Kevin Durant was rested, the Brooklyn Nets were an offensive hurricane in a 147-125 win over the young Oklahoma City Thunder.
James Harden had a triple-double with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists and Kyrie Irving had 25 points and 7 assists while secondary Joe Harris and Bruce Brown contributed 20 and 19 points.
The Nets have begun giving Durant, who has reappeared in spectacular form after a year and a half out, to prevent any relapse of the severe Achilles tendon injury he suffered in mid-2019.
For the Thunder, their young leader Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and French rookie Theo Maledon both finished with 24 points on their locker.
On their return to the courts after overcoming the coronavirus prevention protocol, stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard scored 26 and 24 points in the Los Angeles Clippers win against the Orlando Magic 116-90.
The two Los Angeles figures, who were out the last two games, led a win that places the Clippers in provisional first place in the West.
The Magic, for their part, had a gray night with only two players with double digits in points: Terrence Ross (24 points) and Nikola Vucevic (10).
In Washington, the Wizards fell 116-100 to the Atlanta Hawks in a game in which point guard Russell Westbrook was ejected after receiving two technical fouls in two runs with Rajon Rondo.
In the first incident, both players received the technique after an argument and in the second, with 10 minutes and 18 seconds left, Westbrook was sent off for pushing Rondo in off-the-ball action.
Westbrook, traded this season by the Houston Rockets to the Wizards in exchange for John Wall, had 26 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists while the other figure of the team, Bradley Beal, also scored 26 points. With three wins and 12 losses, the Wizards remain in last place in the Eastern conference.
For the Hawks, who rose to sixth in the East with 10 wins and 9 losses, young point guard Trae Young had 41 points and power forward John Collins another 17.
Young, 22, thus added the 14th game of his career with more than 40 points, a figure that, since the NBA-ABA merger (1976-77), only three players surpassed in his first three seasons: Michael Jordan (44 games), Shaquille O’Neal (19) and LeBron James (16).
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