:focal(1615x1085:1625x1075):watermark(cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/ipmgroup/UFVD77VYQZHRHBUO5OR7E7I6TY.png,0,-0,0,100)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/ipmgroup/XPGQ67X6IVC6PFS5TYJ3IWDMWA.jpg)
It all started with a harmless action, when Kenrich Williams fell to the ground in contact with Gobert, after scoring a basket. The latter then took his feet against his vis-à-vis, falling in turn. It was when the Oklahoma City winger wanted to get up that the Frenchman tripped him up.
Swept to the ground, as in judo, Williams immediately wanted to do battle with “Gobzilla”. The two players clung to each other, before being quickly separated by their teammates and the referees.
Already deprived of Karl-Anthony Towns, injured in a calf, the Wolves could have to play a few matches without their second “big man”, three-time best defender in the league, if the NBA disciplinary committee were to suspend him.
Simons sparkle
In the meantime, Minnesota slips to 11th place just ahead of OKC, which was still able to count on a remarkable performance from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (33 pts).
In a reverse momentum, Golden State continues its rise in the standings, after a big air pocket at the start of the exercise, pointing to 7th position after its victory (120-101) at the expense of Houston (14th), which remained on a feat in Phoenix the day before.
The outgoing champion started very strong, counting 25 points ahead before the break, carried by Andrew Wiggins who finished with 36 points (14/19 in shots). Then a guilty release let the Texans close to four units with seven minutes remaining.
Moment at which Stephen Curry came to kill all suspense, by planting two banderillas at long distance in a row, which also made for him eight in total (out of 17 attempted), with 30 pawns (10 assists) on arrival.
The performance of the evening came from Utah, where, in the absence of Damian Lillard (calf), Anfernee Simons scored 45 points to give the victory to the Trail Blazers (116-111).
Portland, which remained on three losses, took the opportunity to move up to 9th place, behind the Jazz (8th) and ahead of the Mavericks (10th), wealthy winners (121-100) at the Knicks.
Easy Kings
Luka Doncic, current top scorer in the championship, put 30 pawns (11/21 on shots, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 blocks), well assisted by Tim Hardaway Jr (28 pts).
It was in the 3rd quarter that New York (11th in the East), defeated for the sixth time in eight matches, took on the water, conceding a crippling 41-15, under the helpless eyes of Evan Fournier who waxed the bench again, without getting out.
For its part, Sacramento, one of the surprise teams of the first quarter of the season, had no trouble winning at the Clippers (123-96). The Kings (5th) had folded the meeting at the break, with a twenty-point lead, relying in particular on Domantas Sabonis (24 pts, 6 assists).
On the LA side, it is true deprived of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George spared, only the substitute Brandon Boston Jr stood out (18 pts), unlike Nicolas Batum who only played 11 minutes (3 rebounds).
Finally, in the East, Milwaukee consolidated its second place, winning in Charlotte (105-96), without Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday or Khris Middleton, at rest for this back-to-back the day after the setback conceded to home against the Lakers.
Bobby Portis (20 pts, 8 rebounds, 7 assists) guided the Wisconsin team to its 16th success of the season, against the Hornets (13th) of Terry Rozier (26 pts) and Théo Maledon (5 pts, 1 rebound ) quite discreet.
