Again without Doncic and Irving, the Dallas Mavericks struggled through to San Antonio. The Los Angeles Lakers need to tremble more than ever. The NBA on Thursday morning.
Kleber is too late: The Spurs save themselves in overtime.
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The Dallas Mavericks landed an important win even without their two remaining superstars, Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. In the fight for the play-off participation, however, the 137:128 after extra time at the West basement child San Antonio Spurs was an unnecessary ride on the razor blade.
What happened? Victory seemed secure with less than two seconds remaining in the fourth quarter as Dallas had a throw-in in their own half. Maxi Kleber (three points), who was allowed to start this time, did not throw the ball to a teammate, but far too far over the court. Spurs got the ball in the opposing half and equalized spectacularly with an alley-oop pass from Malaki Branham to Keldon Johnson – Kleber did not look good here either – and unexpectedly saved themselves in extra time.
There, the Mavs – Christian Wood was the match winner with 28 points – pulled the reins and galloped towards the all-important victory after a 13-0 sprint. “We made two mistakes late in the game,” said Jason Kidd. “Something happens, we’re only human,” said the head coach of the Mavs, who tied their account at 35:35 and are eighth in the West. Everything is possible: direct play-off participation, play-in tournament and long summer break.
Lakers lose in Houston – Curry makes 50 full
Before the direct duel with the Mavs on Friday, however, the Lakers suffered a painful defeat. Without LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the record champions lost 110:114 to the Houston Rockets and suffered a setback against one of the weakest teams in the league. The best man for LA, which dropped to 34:36 and is ranked P10, was Austin Reaves with 24 points, Schröder had 16 points.
City rivals Clippers are back on track, holding the weak Golden State Warriors (7:27 abroad) at home with 134:126 and putting the lead at 37:33. Kawhi Leonard (30 points) won the duel with Stephen Curry, who scored an amazing 50 points but didn’t get enough support from his teammates. The “Dubs” fell back to 36:34 and can’t be sure either.
Embiid’s sixth foul is retracted
The Philadelphia 76ers are currently unstoppable in the east. The 118:109 with the Cleveland Cavaliers was the sixth success in a row. Joel Embiid led the way with 36 points. When he seemed to have conceded his sixth foul four minutes before the end, his coach Doc Rivers took the right to a challenge – and was successful. The star center was allowed to stay on the court during crunch time and secure the win for the Sixers.
The Sixers are third in the east at 46-22, behind the idle Milwaukee Bucks (50-19) and the Boston Celtics, who went up to 48-22 from a 104-102 at the Minnesota Timberwolves. Jaylen Brown underlined his class with 35 points.
