The Philadelphia 76ers clinched a comeback win and remain undefeated on court with James Harden and Joel Embiid – but Tyrese Maxey becomes a hero against the Cavs. Jrue Holiday takes down the Bulls, DeMarcus Cousins explodes with a vintage performance and Cameron Johnson saves the Suns with a mad buzzerbeater.
Detroit Pistons (17-47) – Indiana Pacers (22-43) 111:106 (BOXSCORE)
- The Pistons are on a roll! Five of the last seven games went to Detroit, for the Pacers, however, after the tenth bankruptcy in 13 games, the trend points in the opposite direction. Indiana had no answer to Saddiq Bey and Cade Cunningham in the final minute.
- The Pistons built up a double-digit lead in the first half thanks to a small shower of three (9 of the first 10 triples shot in the basket), but when shots faded from long range (15/30 threes overall), Indiana was quick to catch up. After that, neither team was able to gain an advantage and it went into an exciting final phase.
- The Pacers even went into the final minutes with a 6-point lead, but then almost only the home side played. Cunningham (20 and 9 rebounds) and Bey (25, 6/8 threes) equalized from distance, a little later the No. 1 pick of 2021 gave the Pistons the lead with a strong drive. The Pacers, on the other hand, were unable to do anything offensively, Jerami Grant set the final point on a 12-1 run from the free-throw line, with which Detroit ended the game and bagged the win.
- Indiana even had the chance of overtime – and a really good one at that. Malcolm Brogdon created a completely open corner three for Jalen Smith (12 and 11 rebounds) after a drive, but the Big just put the three to the ring to equalize. Brogdon was the best man among the guests (26, 9/23 FG), on the other hand Marvin Bagley was able to collect plus points (18 and 8 boards, 9/16 FG).
Philadelphia 76ers (39-23) – Cleveland Cavaliers (36-27) 125:119 (BOXSCORE)
- Not James Harden, not Joel Embiid, the hero for the Sixers heard that night’s name Tyrese Maxey. The 21-year-old confirmed his top form and led Philadelphia to the comeback win with 33 points and five successful three-pointers (10/15 FG overall). The hosts had initially overslept the initial phase completely.
- Defensively, the Sixers weren’t up to the task at all at the beginning of the game, Cleveland sank the first 9 shots and dominated the painted area. The guests already had 60 points in the middle of the second quarter, and with a zone defense they also posed problems for Philly on the other side of the court. The result was an interim 21-point lead.
- When the Sixers also unpacked a zone defense, the Cavs also got more problems. And then in the third quarter Maxey caught fire. His 14 points in that segment plus Harden slowly waking up put Philly back in the game. In the final section, Maxey finally became the man of the day. Two threes in a row plus another dunk completed an 8-0 personal run that put the Sixers on the winning track.
- Then Harden (25 and 11 assists, 6/10 FG) and Embiid (22 and 9 rebounds, 7/14 FG) also helped bring the win over time. Georges Niang (17, 5/8 threes) also performed well. The Cavs, on the other hand, could not gild their good start. Darius Garland led the offense with a strong 26 points and 19 assists, while Isaac Okoro (22), Jarrett Allen (20) and Cedi Osman (20) also scored well.
Washington Wizards (28-34) – Atlanta Hawks (31-32) 114:117 (BOXSCORE)
- This game saw three buzzerbeaters at the end of the first three rounds – but the fourth only landed at the ring and spoiled the Wizards’ late catch-up race. Earlier, De’Andre Hunter and Trae Young put the Atlanta guests on the road to victory.
- In fact, Atlanta was not a second behind and seemed to be in control of the game by a double-digit margin for a long time. As Washington closed in in the third quarter, the Hawks and Bogdan Bogdanovic (17) responded with a 13-5 run and the visitors pulled back to +11 in the fourth quarter.
- But giving up was not an option for Washington. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma and Deni Avdija put the Wizards back within striking distance with threes in the closing minutes, KCP leveled -2 with another triple with 26 seconds remaining. After Young free-throws, Raul Neto reduced the penalty again from downtown (114:115), but again Young showed no nerves on the line. With just under 4 seconds left on the clock and no timeout, the Wizards were left with one last desperate throw from Kuzma from the halfway line. The forward had plenty of room, but the three went a tad too long and bounced off the ring.
- Kuzma (22 and 11 assists but 0/6 trebles) and Caldwell-Pope (28, 10/12 FG and 6/6 trebles) were the top Wizards players, with Rui Hachimura contributing 19 points from the bench. At the other end, Hunter (26, 8/12 FG) and Young (25 and 8 assists) took the brunt on offense, but the point guard struggled with his shot (6/22 FG). Ultimately, that shouldn’t matter to the Hawks, who have now moved past the Charlotte Hornets in ninth place in the east.
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