For his last outing before the All-Star Break, where he will participate in the Rising Stars and the Skills challenge this weekend in Indianapolis, Victor Wembanyama managed a two-part performance. Author two days earlier of a triple-double with ten blocks, the French pivot made another high-flying start against the Mavs by scoring 20 points in the first half alone… before sinking, image of his team, in a one-sided third quarter which definitively extinguished San Antonio’s hopes.
Omnipresent at the start of the match, Wembanyama then faded and finished the match with 27 points (more than double the second Spurs scorer), 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks. The rookie was far too alone to resist the infernal duo composed of Luka Doncic (27 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists) and Kyrie Irving (34 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists), notably author of a basket at the Exceptional blindside in the third quarter on “Wemby”. The Spurs, last in the Western Conference, have lost 8 of their last 9 matches.
Detroit, which brings up the rear in the East, offers Evan Fournier the possibility of relaunching after having been kept on the bench for several months in New York. The French rear, author of 13 points for his first outing the day before, benefited from a significant new playing time (26 minutes) against Phoenix coming off the bench: the Pistons lost again (116-100) but Fournier compiled 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block and 1 steal and continues to make his mark in the rotation of the Michigan franchise.
Théo Maledon took advantage of the opposing rout to make his second appearance in the Suns jersey since his signing in mid-December: used during almost the entire last quarter, the French leader scored 5 points, delivered 1 assist and lost 3 balloons.
Holder with Washington, Bilal Coulibaly had a mixed evening: hampered by mistakes (5), he scored 6 points (including a nice alley-oop) and lost 4 balls in 27 minutes of play… and the Wizards lost against New Orleans (133-126). Their eighth defeat in a row.
Nicolas Batum, injured in his hamstrings for two weeks, still did not come into play during Philadelphia’s defeat against Miami (104-109). Finally, Moussa Diabaté, rarely used by the Clippers, was not used during his team’s stunning success on the floor of Golden State (130-125).
2024-02-15 06:36:16
#night #Blues #NBA #Victor #Wembanyama #Dallas #Evan #Fournier #mark
