In the shadow of Joel Embiid’s historic night, the Dallas Mavericks suffered a narrow defeat against the Boston Celtics. Karl-Anthony Towns scores 62 points, but his Minnesota Timberwolves still embarrass themselves.
Kevin Durant also leads the Phoenix Suns to a comeback win against the Chicago Bulls with a furious second half – game winner included.
NBA – Game of the Night: Mavericks vs. Celitcs
Dallas Mavericks (24-19) – Boston Celtics (34-10) 110:119 (BOXSCORE)
- Kristaps Porzingis’ return to Dallas had to be canceled, the Latvian was missing in a back-to-back with knee problems, but the unicorn’s services were not needed at all in Texas. This was mainly due to Jayson Tatum (39, 11/21 FG, 11 rebounds) and Jaylen Brown (34, 13/22), who totaled 73 points. In the fourth quarter, the two scored 21 of the 25 Celtics points and thus prevented a Mavs comeback.
- After a good start, they had to give up, and in the third period the Mavs’ deficit grew to -16. In the end, Luka Doncic turned it up again with 13 points in the final period, but when Dallas was down to -7 again, Tim Hardaway Jr. fouled Brown on the three-pointer, which allowed him to record a four-point game. The Mavs shouldn’t get any closer.
- Doncic’s 33 points (12/30 FG), 18 rebounds and 13 assists weren’t enough. Kyrie Irving scored 23 points (9/20), but sprained his thumb on a play against Tatum. Hardaway Jr. had 23 points off the bench, while Jrue Holiday backed up the Jays for the Celtics. Derrick White (6, 2/12) had an off night.
NBA – Mavericks vs. Celtics: Die Stats-Leader
NBA – Performance of the night: Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers)
No question who has to be in this position. The MVP scored 70 points (24/41 FG, 21/23 FT) in a direct duel with Victor Wembanyama in the 133:123 win against the San Antonio Spurs. The Cameroonian is only the ninth player to score at least 70 points in a game – and that on the anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s legendary 81-point performance against the Toronto Raptors 18 years ago. You can find out more about Embiid’s historic night here.
NBA – Performance of the Night II: Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves)
Somehow it’s fitting for Towns’ career that his 62 points are on the table because of Embiid. Even more fitting, he scored it in an embarrassing loss to the Charlotte Hornets, who had only won nine times this season, none of which had ever been in double digits.
Towns already had 44 points at halftime (14/17 FG, 8/9 3P), but only added 4 in the fourth quarter and the Hornets snatched victory thanks to a 36:18 final period. However, the Wolves were a bit unlucky in the end as Towns went to the basket at -1 with 5 seconds left and didn’t receive the foul whistle. It actually couldn’t be clearer.
Ultimately, there were 62 points (21/35 FG), 8 rebounds and 7 turnovers for KAT, who also converted 10 of his 15 three-pointers.
NBA Commentator of the Night: Eric Collins
Let’s be honest, life as a Hornets commentator isn’t really easy; after all, there isn’t much to cheer about. Nevertheless, Eric Collins always stands out with his emotional accompaniment to the game, you can find it exaggerated or simply acknowledge that the man is having fun with his work.
When the Hornets left Towns open again in the second quarter, Collins couldn’t hold back any longer either and screamed loudly Nooooooooooooo when Towns pulled the trigger again – and hit.
But not only that. Like Collins, the game-winning free throws by rookie Leaky Black (previously 0/2 FT in his career) was great cinema.
NBA – Quote of the night: Chris Finch (Minnesota Timberwolves)
As I said, nobody really wanted to talk about Towns’ 62 points, not even in the Timberwolves camp, who probably had their worst performance of the season. It was a throwback to old times for the Wolves, which particularly angered coach Chris Finch.
“That was an absolutely disgusting performance on defense,” said Finch. “It was childish basketball. We should have taken control of this game, but in the end it slipped out of our hands and that’s what happens when you approach a game the way we did.”
NBA – Game winner of the night: Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns)
Thanks to Durant, the Suns’ streak is holding, as they have now won six games in a row and are actually now in one of the playoff spots. It was KD who netted a heavy jumper against Alex Caruso with 1.3 seconds left and refined the Suns’ comeback.
In the third quarter the hosts were down by up to 23 points, but then KD took over. The forward scored 30 of his 43 points (16/32 FG) in the second 24 minutes and 17 points in the final period. With a three-pointer after an offensive rebound from Drew Eubanks, Durant put the Suns in front in the final minute (113:111), DeMar DeRozan (21) responded with a short jumper before KD once again had the last word.
Durant is the fourth oldest player to score at least 40 points in a back-to-back.
NBA – German Corner: That’s how it went for Dennis Schröder and the Wagner brothers
Dennis Schröder
The Raptors probably won’t win many more games this season, even against the Grizzlies, who are also on the decline, they lost 100:108. Schröder is also currently in a small hole; against Memphis, Schröder only played 22 minutes and had 11 points (3/9 FG), 3 assists and 2 turnovers. His plus-minus rating of -15 was the worst on the team.
RJ Barrett scored 29 points, Scottie Barnes filled the stat sheet with 22 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists and 6 blocks. Jaren Jackson Jr. (27) was the best scorer for Memphis.
Franz Wagner
Bad abrasion for Orlando, who had no chance in a back-to-back against Cleveland (99:126). Wagner only played 24 minutes in the second game after his ankle injury and recorded 17 points (6/11 FG, 2/5 3P), 3 rebounds and 2 assists. This made the Berliner one of the better players for the hosts, but they offered far too little offensively, especially in the first half when they only managed to score 47 points.
Wagner scored 10 points in the third quarter, but by then the kid had already fallen into the well.
Moritz Wagner
Moe Wagner is at least back in the rotation, with 15 points in 18 minutes the big man was already the third best scorer on the team after Paolo Banchero (18, 6/14) and his brother. His only three-pointer was in, and Wagner once again worked diligently under the basket (6/8 FT). It seems that the DBB player is ahead in the team duel with Goga Bitadze, the Georgian was only used in garbage time.
Maxi glue
Although the threesome didn’t fall for the Würzburg team (0/3 3P), it was still a performance that was encouraging. Kleber seemed much livelier than last, rotated well in defense and defended several shots at the three-point line by quickly closing the gaps. This is one of the reasons why the German big ended up playing for just under 26 minutes (best of the season); he had 7 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks.
NBA – Crossover der Nacht: Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics)
Tim Hardaway Jr. was “not amused”. During a break in play, the Mavs actually had the audacity to to show the replay of a Jaylen Brown crossover against Doncicwhich sent the Slovenian onto the boards.
THJ has a point, actually highlight plays of the opponent are almost never shown in NBA halls, but Brown’s crossover was at least worthy.
NBA – The games of the night at a glance
Philadelphia 76ers (29-13) – San Antonio Spurs (8-35) 133:123 (BOXSCORE)
Orlando Magic (23-21) – Cleveland Cavaliers (24-15) 99:126 (BOXSCORE)
Detroit Pistons (4-39) – Milwaukee Bucks (30-13) 113:122 (BOXSCORE)
Second win in three days for the Bucks in Detroit. The Pistons held on for a long time before Milwaukee made it all clear in the final quarter. Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded a triple-double with 31 points (11/25 FG), 17 rebounds and 10 assists, while Khris Middleton contributed 26 points to the win. Damian Lillard (17, 4/15, 8 assists) hit poorly from the field again. For Detroit, rookie Marcus Sasser (23, 9/17) was the best scorer, Isaiah Stewart (19) blocked 5 shots.
Toronto Raptors (16-28) – Memphis Grizzlies (16-27) 100:108 (BOXSCORE)
Minnesota Timberwolves (30-13) – Charlotte Hornets (19-31) 125:128 (BOXSCORE)
Dallas Mavericks (24-19) – Boston Celtics (34-10) 110:119 (BOXSCORE)
Phoenix Suns (25-18) – Chicago Bulls (21-24) 115:113 (BOXSCORE)
Sacramento Kings (24-18) – Atlanta Hawks (18-25) 122:107 (BOXSCORE)
Without Trae Young (concussion), the Hawks suffered another defeat, and 35 points from Dejounte Murray (plus 10 rebounds, 6 assists) weren’t enough. The Kings led almost the entire game, and at the beginning of the second half there was a 24-point difference at times. Domantas Sabonis had 14 points, 21 rebounds and 6 assists, this time the top scorer was Harrison Barnes (32, 10/20).
2024-01-23 05:30:00
#NBA #Luka #Doncics #tripledouble #Dallas #Mavericks #Boston #Celtics
