Latvian basketball player Kristaps Porziņģis, playing the second game in two days, scored 23 points in the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) match against Toronto tonight and almost collected his second “double-double” of the season, but he defeated the Dallas Mavericks away with 93: 116 and suffered his third loss in a row.
Porziņģis played the second game tonight in two days, but nevertheless spent 31 minutes and 53 seconds on the field, during which he scored 23 (1p. 5/7, 2p. 6/9, 3p. 2/5) points. The Latvian played his most productive match of the season so far and, winning nine rebounds, stayed one step away from the second “double-double” of the season. Porziņģis also made one effective pass, blocked two throws, made one mistake and earned two notes. Liepāja ended the match with a negative +/- indicator (-9).
At the beginning of the match, Porziņģis scored the first five “Mavericks” points and helped the guests to be in a small lead practically all the time in the first minutes of the game, but at the end of the first quarter, Toronto achieved a six-point lead and finished the first quarter with four points – 22: 18. Porziņģis scored seven points in the first quarter. The Latvian also scored the first points in the second quarter and helped the guests regain the lead for a while (26:24), but a moment later the Raptors made a 17: 5 breakthrough and achieved a ten-point lead – 41:31. At the end of the first half, Dallas responded with a 13: 2 breakthrough and took the lead (44:43). Both teams went on a big break to a draw – 47:47.
At the beginning of the second half, Porziņģis hit the ball in the basket from above and regained the Mavericks’ lead (49:47), but in the third quarter, making a 16: 2 break, the home team gained the biggest advantage in the match (75:61) and waited for the last quarter with a convincing lead – 81:72. In the opening of the fourth quarter, Porziņģis made a half-throw, despite the violation of the opponents’ rules against him, and then also accurately executed a free throw, reaching a new best score of the season in points, but the home team then made a 9: 0 break and reached +16. In addition, the Raptors did not stop at what was achieved and later increased their lead in the last minutes of the match. In the end, Toronto won a very convincing victory with 116: 93 and celebrated their third success in a row.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHKlusrJY64
The winners tonight were Kail Laurijs, who scored 23 points and scored nine rebounds. Chris Busher stood out with a “double-double” by adding 21 points and collecting ten balls under the baskets. Pascal Siakam, meanwhile, scored 19 points.
In turn, in Dallas with 23 points the most productive was Porziņģis. The second most successful player in the away ranks this time was Trejs Bērks, who added 17 points. Luka Dončičs scored only 11 points, seven rebounds and nine assists in just 11 shots. Meanwhile, Tim Hardard played an unsuccessful match without hitting any of the 12 shots and without losing points.
The next match “Mavericks” will take place in two days (January 21), when at 2:00 will visit one of the strongest teams of the Eastern Conference, the “Pacers” of India.
Meanwhile, in another game, the Houston “Rockets” represented by Rodion Kuruc, the Latvian basketball player had announced for the match, but did not go on the field, admitted the superiority of the Chicago “Bulls” with 120: 125 away and suffered a fourth failure in the last five matches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiP_FvNGb_k
The winner in the ranks tonight was Zeks Lavīns, who scored 33 points. Meanwhile, Finn Lauri Markanen added 18 points and won seven rebounds.
Houston’s top scorer was Viktor Oladipo, who scored 32 points and made nine assists. While Christian Woods scored 30 points and collected nine balls under the baskets.
The Rockets will also play the next match in two days (January 21), when at 4:30 they will host one of the leaders of the Western Conference “Phoenix” in their field.
