The Grizzles have prevailed over the Bulls in a crime thriller. While DeMar DeRozan finally loses his nerve, the dominating Ja Morant sets up a career high. Also: The nuggets have to tremble for a long time and Boston’s stars deliver as well as Trae Young.
Detroit Pistons (14-46) – Boston Celtics (36-26) 104:113 (BOXSCORE)
- The Celtics’ star duo delivered once again. Thanks to 53 points from Jayson Tatum (26, 8/21 FG, 11 rebounds) and Jaylen Brown (27, 10/24 FG) and a strong final quarter, Boston took revenge on the Pistons and clinched their eleventh win in the last twelve games. The only loss came on February 16 against Detroit. “These guys always play at the limit against us, but we knew we could play better. We did that in the third and fourth quarters,” Brown said in respect of the opponent.
- Especially rookies Cade Cunningham Boston always caused problems, in 27 minutes he scored 25 points (11/19 FG, 7 rebounds). No other piston came close to 20 points. Problem: The youngster committed his fifth foul with 7:30 to go, head coach Dwane Casey had to take him off the field. “We thought hard about what to do. During the time he was out they hit a couple of threes and built up a cushion.”
- The final section went to the guests at 35:22, the score of 88:88 became 90:100 from the Pistons’ point of view. Brown sank 2 threes in this phase, as a result Detroit did not get enough stops to keep the game tight. Thanks to the win, the Celtics have a positive away record (16-15), in addition to the Brown/Tatum duo, the reservists Payton Pritchard (19) and Grant Williams (11) also made a contribution. Boston played with an 8-man rotation, Daniel Theis was not used.
- The Pistons, who hit just 25.9 percent from long range (7/27, Boston 10/26), scored with Jerami Grant (11 but only 3/15), Saddiq Bey (13), Cory Joseph (15) and Marvin Bagley (14) four other players double digits. However, Detroit threw away 14 times, which Boston used to 21 points. The ball was also much worse for the home side, with 18 assists compared to 31 from the Celtics. There was one notable scene in the second quarter: Hamidou Diallo was ejected after “pushing” referee Zach Zarba. However, whether it was really intentional or rather a clumsy stumble cannot be proven.
Atlanta Hawks (29-31) – Toronto Raptors (32-27) 127:100 (BOXSCORE)
- Sure thing in Atlanta, after the second (34:21) and three (38:16) quarters, the message was read against overwhelmed Raptors. Bring Young knew he had something to make up for after the disappointing performance in Chicago in the last game (3/17 FG) and delivered: 41 points, 17/24 FG, 11 assists. “I knew I had to be better for my team and I feel like I did it.”
- The first run of the game belonged to Toronto, with a 13-0 run the guests gained a 5-point lead. Then they built it up to 12 points before the Hawks took over completely. An 18-0 run before the break was followed by 16 unanswered points shortly after the restart. The result was a score of 89:62, which was equivalent to a preliminary decision.
- After Young, Onyeka Okongwu was the Hawks’ best scorer (17, 6/6 FG), while Bogdan Bogdanovic, De’Andre Hunter and Kevin Huerter scored 14 points. The Raptors defense hardly found an answer, as a look at the throw rates shows (57.8 FG, 41.9 3FG). Fred VanVleet led the visitors with 24 points (8/22 FG) and 9 assists after being considered a doubt before the game with a knee problem. Prechious Achiuwa had a season high of 21 points. Pascal Siakam on 14 and 10, OG Anunoby missed his second game with a broken ring finger and will see a specialist on Monday.
- The success was also important from the point of view of the table, the gap to the seventh-placed Canadians in the east is only 3.5 games. There was also good news from John Collins. Although he missed his fifth game in a row due to foot problems, he was able to use his foot with runs and a few throws for the first time on Saturday. A concrete date for a comeback is still pending.
Chicago Bulls (39-22) – Memphis Grizzlies (42-20) 110:116 (BOXSCORE)
- In the final minute, DeMar DeRozan’s emotions ran high. At 110-113, he had a chance to put the Bulls into (or at least shortened) overtime against Memphis. In the drive against Kyle Anderson, Steven Adams came to the rescue and touched DeRozan lightly, but there was no whistle for a foul. While Ja Morant dribbled the ball forward, DeRozan grumbled about the decision and conceded his second technical foul of the day. The decision.
- Previously, DeRozan (31) had at least 30 points for the tenth time in a row, just one game away from the Bulls franchise record (Michael Jordan). However, with a throw rate of 10/29 FG and the outcome of the game, he will not be at all satisfied. The Bulls had fought their way back into the game after a long poor performance and a 17-point deficit. Coby White made it to 105:106 from long range with 2:30 left on the clock. Tyus Jones raised to +3 before DeRozan received the ball for the last time.
- However, one man should not be neglected at this point: Ja Morant! With 46 points, he set a new personal and franchise best (in the regular season). It’s his fifth 40-point game of the season, another unmatched Grizzly. As the reason for the 20 points with which he really picked up speed in the third quarter, he said after the game: “The Jordan video that they played before.”
For the Bulls, who are now 2-12 against teams with at least .600 tally, Zach LaVine scored 28 points (9/19 FG) in the second game after his injury break, Nikola Vucevic put on a double-double (11 and 12) but only hit 5 of his 17 throws. Chicago hit 45 percent from long range (MEM: 30.4), yet the Grizzlies ended the Bulls’ 6-game winning streak. In addition to Morant (15/28 FG), they could rely on Steven Adams (12 and 21!). But it was the Ja Morant show. No other player surpassed the New Zealander’s 12 points (Desmond Bane: 12, 4/18 FG).
