The Los Angeles Lakers celebrated a comeback victory against the Kings, in the fourth quarter LeBron James with the support of Malik Monk takes the game to himself. Ja Morant continues his mad run in Cleveland, thanks to whose exploits in the final 30 seconds the Grizzlies remain one of the hottest teams in the league. The Suns hunt down the Pelicans late.
Cleveland Cavaliers (21-17) – Memphis Grizzlies (25-14) 106:110 (BOXSCORE)
- Next act on the Ja Morant show! The youngster secured the sixth victory in a row for the Grizzlies with 6 of his 26 points in the final 30 seconds of the game, only the Bulls are currently riding a longer wave of victories. After his outstanding performance against the Nets, Morant brought his team with one almost absurd clutch bucket on the winning road.
- Almost half a minute was left to play when the 22-year-old decided the game single-handedly. Shortly before, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley had equalized a small Grizzlies advantage, then Morant attacked the basket. Against the good defense of Brandon Goodwin and over the outstretched arms of Mobley, he sank an incredibly difficult throw, including a pump fake while standing in the air.
- Immediately afterwards he got himself a steal and increased with a transition layup, finally Morant made everything clear from the line. “I’m not afraid of anyone. I don’t care if you are 2.30 meters tall or something, I’ll attack you,” said the guard about his crazy throw to the lead. Morant was with his 26 points (9/21 FG, plus 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks) Grizzlies top scorer, Jaren Jackson Jr. (22) or Brandon Clarke (13, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks) performed well.
- On the side of the home side, who conceded the fourth bankruptcy out of five games, Darius Garland was the hardest-working, but not always efficient point collector when he returned from the Corona protocol (27 and 10 assists at 9/26 FG). In addition, Allen (22 and 12 boards) and Kevin Love (18 and 10 from the bench) delivered double doubles, Mobley came up with 17 and 8.
- Corona-Protokoll: Cedi Osman (Cavs) – Kyle Anderson, Dillon Brooks, John Konchar, De’Anthony Melton, Xavier Tillman (alle Grizzlies).
Toronto Raptors (17-17) – San Antonio Spurs (14-22) 129:104 (BOXSCORE)
- There’s a reason to celebrate in Toronto, the Raptors are back on balance for the first time since mid-November thanks to their third success in a row. Fred VanVleet cracked the 30-point mark for the third time in a row and the Canadians set a season high for the points.
- The latter was the result of an offense that went almost like clockwork. Toronto distributed 30 assists and also set the season’s best with 18 successful three-pointers. 7 triples in the second quarter alone helped the Raptors to a 14: 1 run and a comfortable lead shortly before the break. That lasted also in the third section, so that VanVleet or Gary Trent Jr. could be spared in the last round.
- FVV recorded 7 threes on the way to 33 points (12/23 FG, 7/14 threes, plus 7 assists). In addition, six other Raptors scored double digits, including Trent Jr. (21), Pascal Siakam (18, 12 rebounds and 5 assists), OG Anunoby (14) and Justin Champagnie (14, career high). Scottie Barnes flirted with a triple-double (11, 9 rebounds and career-high 8 assists).
- Spurs coach Gregg Popovich saw a “great” Jakob Pöltl on his team, who scored 19 points (9/13 FG), 12 rebounds and 4 assists. Apart from Devin Vassell (15) and rookie Josh Primo (15), Coach Pop complained about too little support. In direct contrast to the Raptors, San Antonio sank only 25 percent of the distance throws (9/35).
- Corona Protocol: Svi Mykhailiuk, Yuta Watanabe (All Raptors) – Devontae Cacok, Doug McDermott, Lonnie Walker IV (All Spurs).
.
