The Denver Nuggets collapsed in the fourth quarter against the Toronto Raptors while Jordan Clarkson hit a new career high. The Wolves defied a show from Tyler Herro.
Miami Heat (45-24) – Minnesota Timberwolves (39-30) 104:113 (BOXSCORE)
- After losing a huge lead against Orlando on Friday, the Wolves made a comeback against Miami, who were leading by 17 points. With a strong team effort and eight players in double digits, Minnesota fought back in the second half, defeating the top team in the East.
- Like last night, Karl-Anthony Towns started very well on offense, but committed three fouls in the first quarter. Towns’ quick 11 points (15 overall, 4/9 FG, 10 rebounds) quickly gave the Wolves a +12 lead, but Miami’s reserves turned up in the second quarter and scored 35 points in the period (42-25), ending the game was rotated.
- Tyler Herro was particularly involved in this, scoring 21 of his 30 points (6/10 3P) in the first half, while Max Strus also came off the bench with 19 points (5/11 3P). However, the Wolves presented Miami with enormous problems on offense after the break and only allowed 37 points in 24 minutes. Malik Beasley (12, 4/9 3P) crowned his team’s strong second half with the Dagger from Downtown in the final minute.
- Wolves’ top scorer was Jaylen Nowell with 16 points coming off the bench, Anthony Edwards (15) made himself useful with 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. D’Angelo Russell had little success with the throw (14, 1/6 3P) but played 9 assists on 5 turnovers.
- Bam Adebayo (19, 12 rebounds) and Kyle Lowry (14, 7 assists) scored well for Miami, Duncan Robinson was a total failure with 3 points and 1/6 3P in just under 16 minutes. Markieff Morris (6) was back on the floor for the first time since he was injured in an altercation with Nikola Jokic in early November. Jimmy Butler sat out with a toe injury, and Victor Oladipo was also rested in the second game of a back-to-back.
Chicago Bulls (41-26) – Cleveland Cavaliers (38-29) 101:91 (BOXSCORE)
- An important victory for the Bulls against a direct pursuer in the east, and there was also the return of a fan favorite to celebrate: Alex Caruso was available to the team for the first time since January 21 and helped Chicago with 4 steals directly to an excellent defensive performance. Chicago hadn’t won a single game against a neutral or positive team in Caruso’s absence, but did so immediately with the guard’s return.
- The Bulls’ top scorer was DeMar DeRozan with 25 points (9/26 FG) and 6 assists. Nikola Vucevic followed with 20 points (2/5 3P) and 14 rebounds, Ayo Dosonmu hit 3/4 from long range for 17 points. Zach LaVine sat out with a knee problem, Caruso finished the game with 11 points and 4 assists in almost 30 minutes.
- After a balanced first quarter, Chicago took control from the second period and led by double digits for long parts of the slowly played duel. Cleveland only hit 5/24 from distance (20.8 percent), after 8 turnovers in the first quarter, Chicago played the remaining 36 minutes very disciplined (only 4 more turnovers left).
- Darius Garland was again entrusted with a lot of responsibility on the offensive and reached 25 points, but needed 24 throws in just under 42 minutes. In addition to his 7 assists, he also had 6 turnovers. Behind Evan Mobley (17, 8/17 FG), Kevin Love (10, 11 rebounds) and off the bench Cedi Osman (14, 1/8 3P), Garland got little support. Cleveland was without long-term absentees Collin Sexton and Jarrett Allen, as well as Caris LeVert and Lauri Markkanen.
San Antonio Spurs (26-42) – Indiana Pacers (23-45) 108:119 (BOXSCORE)
- “The record is in the box, rest my best players first,” apparently thought Gregg Popovich, who kept Keldon Johnson, Dejounte Murray and Jakob Pöltl out of the game and unleashed his secret weapon called Jock Landale on the Pacers. The undrafted rookie center became the top scorer of the game with 26 points (12/15 FG) in almost 35 minutes coming off the bench.
- “I’m totally exhausted,” Landale admitted after the game. He had never played more than 26 minutes or scored more than 18 points in 41 games in the league before. However, the Spurs were hardly close to victory, Indiana was already leading by 19 points before the break and did not give up the lead.
- Tyrese Haliburton (3/5 3P, 10 assists) and Duane Washington Jr, who scored all of his points before the break, also had the same number of points. His only two misses from the field came in the second half. Four other pacers got double digits, including Chris Duarte (15, 3/5 3P). Indiana hit 48.9 percent from the field.
- Behind Landale, Lonnie Walker IV (20, 4/9 3P), Devin Vassell (19) and Josh Richardson (16, 6/20 FG) scored well for the Spurs. “I think we worked hard, but we didn’t play very cleverly. We didn’t shoot well,” Popovich concluded.
