The Rockets had only won one of the first 17 games of the season and looked doomed to sink to the bottom of the Western Conference.
However, the Houston team now have the best consecutive winning streak in the league after achieving six consecutive wins, the last of them this Sunday against the New Orleans Pelicans (118-108).
Christian Wood (23 points and 8 rebounds) and Eric Gordon (23 points and 5 assists) were the top referents for some Rockets who will have the most difficult on Wednesday even when they face the Brooklyn Nets of James Harden and Kevin Durant.
Brandon Ingram’s great game (40 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists) was not enough for some Pelicans in which the Spanish Willy Hernangómez consolidated his great moment with another double-double of great merit: 10 points, 14 rebounds (9 of them offensive), an assist and 2 steals in just 16 minutes on the court.
For their part, the Hornets appeared on Sunday with four very important casualties due to the coronavirus protocol: Lamelo Ball, Jalen McDaniels, Mason Plumlee and Terry Rozier.
However, Charlotte’s men became strong in this moment of weakness and achieved a very valuable away victory against the Atlanta Hawks (127-130).
Miles Bridges (32 points) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (28 points) led the Hornets who had six players over 10 points.
On the other hand, the Cleveland Cavaliers, one of the fashionable teams in the NBA, faced the powerful Utah Jazz of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert this Sunday.
After accumulating four victories in a row, the Cavaliers came very close today to a great comeback against the Jazz (108-109) as Darius Garland (31 points) had a triple to have won the game in the final seconds.
The Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio was instrumental in the resistance of the Cavaliers in the fourth quarter and got 15 points (6 of 11 shooting), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block in 31 minutes off the bench.
In the Jazz, Mitchell had 35 points and Gobert dominated the zone with 6 points, 20 rebounds and 5 blocks.
Finally, the Washington Wizards fell to the Toronto Raptors (102-90) from a great Pascal Siakam (31 points).
Brazilian Raul Neto contributed 9 points, 2 rebounds and an assist in 13 minutes for the Wizards.
EAST CONFERENCE:
1.- Brooklyn Nets (16-7).
2.- Chicago Bulls (16-8).
3.- Milwaukee Bucks (15-9).
4.- Miami Heat (14-10).
5.- Washington Wizards (14-10).
6.- Charlotte Hornets (14-11).
7.- Cleveland Cavaliers (13-11).
8.- Boston Celtics (13-11).
9.- Philadelphia 76ers (12-11).
10.- Atlanta Hawks (12-12).
11.- New York Knicks (11-12).
12.- Toronto Raptors (11-13).
13.- Indiana Pacers (9-16).
14.- Orlando Magic (5-19).
15.- Detroit Pistons (4-18).
WEST CONFERENCE:
1.- Golden State Warriors (19-4)
2.- Phoenix Suns (19-4).
3.- Utah Jazz (16-7).
4.- Memphis Grizzlies (13-10).
5.- Los Angeles Clippers (12-12).
6.- Dallas Mavericks (11-11).
7.- Denver Nuggets (11-11).
8.- Los Angeles Lakers (12-12).
9.- Minnesota Timberwolves (11-12).
10.- Portland Trail Blazers (11-13).
11.- Sacramento Kings (10-14).
12.- San Antonio Spurs (8-13).
13.- Houston Rockets (7-16).
14.- Oklahoma City Thunder (6-16).
15.- New Orleans Pelicans (7-19).
