The Dallas Mavericks confirmed their good form against Orlando, Luka Doncic clashed with Moritz Wagner. In the Nets, a dominant performance was overshadowed by an injury, and the Hawks’ crisis is getting worse.
Milwaukee Bucks (27-18) – Toronto Raptors (21-19) 96:103 (BOXSCORE)
- Impressive performance from Toronto, who especially had to thank Pascal Siakam for the success with the champion. Spicy P not only put on his first triple-double of the season (30 points, 11/20 FG, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 6 turnovers), he also brought victory over time: in the last 1:10 minutes of the game, Siakam scored 7 points.
- The Raptors fought back from a terrible start in the first half: Milwaukee was leading 16:2 after a few minutes of the game, with Grayson Allen in particular having 10 points in the first quarter (18 at the end) at first. A few minutes later the gap was only 4 points, at the break Milwaukee was still ahead 49:46.
- In the second half, the Raptors finally turned the tide and were temporarily ahead by 8 before the Bucks reared up again. Giannis Antetokounmpo ended up with 30 points (6/17 FG, 17/17 FT), but had very little support; Khris Middleton (16, 3/12) was one of various Bucks with a lousy rate (as a team: 34 percent FG).
- On the Raptors side, OG Anunoby (24), Fred VanVleet (17, 7 assists) and Precious Achiuwa (14, 10 rebounds) stood out alongside Siakam. Chris Boucher also scored 15 points coming off the bench. Isaac Bonga is still with the G-League team but is missing with an ankle injury.
- “I think that shows our potential,” said VanVleet. “We’re a team that can compete with anyone if we do our best. If we don’t, we’re very average. The challenge is to become more consistent.”
Washington Wizards (22-21) – Portland Trail Blazers (17-25) 110:115 (BOXSCORE)
- Is there someone ready for bigger tasks? Anfernee Simons confirmed his recent better performances in the absence of Portland’s starting backcourt with another blast – in the first half alone, the 22-year-old sunk seven three-pointers en route to 26 points and 6 assists.
- It wasn’t quite as brutal, but with 31 (11/21 FG) and 11 assists in the end, Simons was the decisive figure in what was only the third Blazers away win of the season. Largely thanks to him, Portland led by 14 going into the last quarter before things got exciting in the final minutes.
- Especially Spencer Dinwiddie (27 points), Kyle Kuzma (16, 12 rebounds) and Montrezl Harrell (16) reared up on the other side; a Dinwiddie three-pointer brought Washington back to 4 points with 24 seconds to go. However, it wasn’t enough for more, also because the Wizards produced a proud 20 turnovers in total.
- On the Blazers side, alongside Simons, Jusuf Nurkic also dominated with 23 and 14 rebounds before he fouled out after 31 minutes. Nassir Little (18) and Robert Covington (15) also had their share of the win.
- Corona-Protokoll: Wes Unseld Jr. (Head Coach), Bradley Beal (beide Wizards) – Norman Powell (Trail Blazers).
Atlanta Hawks (17-25) – New York Knicks (22-21) 108:117 (BOXSCORE)
- As the schedule sometimes dictates, the two teams played each other just days after the first major trade of the season, though neither Cam Reddish played for the Knicks nor Kevin Knox for the Hawks. Instead, the Knicks were led by their established top performers.
- RJ Barrett scored 10 of his 26 points right in the first quarter, then Julius Randle caught fire in the second and led New York to a 65-51 halftime lead. In this phase, the forward was responsible for 18 Knicks points in a row either via score or assist, overall he showed one of his better games of the season with 24 and 9.
- The entire starting five of the Knicks was in a good mood: Evan Fournier had 18 points, Alec Burks scratched the triple-double with 17, 9 rebounds and 8 assists, Mitchell Robinson delivered 14 points and 13 rebounds. “It feels really good. That’s what we’ve been working towards. We had a tough month in December, but it’s going in the right direction,” said Barrett.
- Trae Young (29, 11/23 FG) tried his best and the Hawks were able to make the game tight again in the second half, but it was never enough for a lead. The decision then came towards the end of the last quarter when New York ran 10-0 after a Young layup to make it 100-103 from a Hawks perspective.
- Even against the supposed favorite opponent, Atlanta was not able to liberate themselves. The conference finalists from last season have now lost a whopping ten home games in a row.
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