Stephen Curry stays red hot. Against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Finals MVP turned the game almost single-handedly in the closing stages for the Golden State Warriors. The crisis in the Minnesota Timberwolves is getting worse and things are not going well for the Los Angeles Lakers either.
Boston Celtics (9-3) – Denver Nuggets (8-4) 131:112 (BOXSCORE)
- For those who didn’t know, the Celtics have the best offense in the NBA and confirmed that against Denver with a smooth offensive rating of just under 140. As a team, the hosts scored 56 percent from the field and 43 percent from distance. Representing this efficiency: Jaylen Brown, who sank his first ten throws and ended the game with 25 points (11/15 FG), 8 rebounds and 8 assists.
- The Celtics simply had more grip and played with more effort. No scene shows this better than this one, when guard Payton Pritchard (11) hit DeAndre Jordan several times on the rebound. The guests quickly fell behind by 18 points and had to accept a setback after a few minutes in the third quarter when Nikola Jokic (29, 12/20, 8 rebounds) took his place on the bench with four fouls.
- But: Without the reigning MVP, the guests fought their way back into the game thanks to the strong Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (15, 5/6 three). The deficit was reduced to -2, but Jayson Tatum (34, 11/21) and Al Horford came on in the closing stages. The oldie scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and set a new personal record for the regular season with six three-pointers converted.
- In the case of the Nuggets, the performance of Michael Porter Jr. (7, 3/10), who defended catastrophically at times, was particularly disappointing. Jamal Murray (14, 6/17, 10 assists) wanted to force it too much, especially in the second half.
Orlando Magic (4-9) – Phoenix Suns (8-4) 114:97 (MATCH REPORT)
New York Knicks (6-6) – Detroit Pistons (3-10) 121:112 (BOXSCORE)
- In the end, that went well for the Knicks, who were able to reconcile with the fans after the embarrassing performance in Brooklyn. Midway through the third quarter, the hosts led by 17 points against a Pistons team without Cade Cunningham, only to start sweating again towards the end.
- Detroit had sunk just 3/24 triples in the first 36 minutes before Isaiah Livers (11) breathed life back into his team. It wasn’t going to be enough because for the Knicks, Jalen Brunson (26, 8/16, 7 assists) and RJ Barrett (30, 10/17) always had an answer. 40 seconds before the end, Immanuel Quickley finally put the lid on the matter with a corner three.
- Bojan Bogdanovic (25) had reduced the lead to -4 with 80 seconds to go, but the guests couldn’t get any closer. Positive from the Pistons’ point of view: The bank, which was so catastrophic recently, improved, with 53 points coming from the reservists (NYK: 32). This was mainly due to Alec Burks (17), who played for Detroit for the first time against his former team.
- Julius Randle missed all of his 7 threes, but still finished the game with 21 points (8/18) and 8 rebounds. Isaiah Hartenstein was allowed to start and had 6 points and 12 boards in 32 minutes, 5 of them on the offensive board.
