Kyrie Irving Returns to Lead Mavericks to Victory; Lakers Celebrate Third Straight Win

Kyrie Irving is back and has led the Dallas Mavericks to a win at the Philadelphia 76ers. The Los Angeles Lakers celebrate their third win in a row, with Anthony Davis recording a triple-double.

The Cavs remain the hottest team in the league and James Harden decides a wild shootout for the Clippers.

Philadelphia 76ers (30-19) – Dallas Mavericks (27-23) 102:118 (BOXSCORE)

• The Mavericks’ hospital is thinning out, against Philadelphia Kyrie Irving celebrated his return from his thumb injury and was also the guests’ top scorer with 23 points (10/17 FG) and 8 assists. The playmaker scored 11 points in the third quarter as the Texans slowly took control of the game. Luka Doncic was content with 19 points (6/15 FG, 4/10 3P) and 8 rebounds.
• Nevertheless, Dallas initially had sand in its gears, so the hosts were quickly able to gain a double-digit lead even without Joel Embiid. Fastbreaks and offensive rebounds caused problems for Dallas, and this was only eliminated after the change. Doncic put the Mavs back in front with a stepback three in the middle of the third quarter before more threes fell in the fourth quarter.

• Within the first five minutes of the final period, Dallas converted four three-pointers from four different players, resulting in an 18:6 run that extended the lead to +15. Maxi Kleber was also able to distinguish himself here, as he once again played center for the injured Dereck Lively II. The Würzburger found the free shooters three times and converted a turnaround jumper and a layup. In just under 28 minutes, Kleber recorded 14 points (6/8), 4 rebounds and 5 assists.
• As a team, the Mavs made 17 of their 43 three-pointers, four of which went to the strong Josh Green (20, 6/9). Grant Williams (14, 3/5, 7 rebounds) and Jaden Hardy (17, 6/10) also impressed off the bench. For Philadelphia, Kelly Oubre Jr. (19, 7/17) was the top scorer, while Tyrese Maxey (15, 6/16, 7 assists) remained pale. Tobias Harris (17, 8/11) played a good first half but then disappeared.

Cleveland Cavaliers (32-16) – Sacramento Kings (29-20) 136:110 (BOXSCORE)

• Things are going well for the Cavs, who picked up their 14th win from their last 15 games against Sacramento. And it’s running, Then things like this from Donovan Mitchell will also work, who threw the ball to the board from the post in the fourth quarter and finished with a dunk. With 29 points (11/20), Mitchell was again the best scorer for the hosts.
• They are now actually in second place in the East after only being tenth in mid-December when Evan Mobley and Darius Garland were injured on the same day. Both are now available again, Mobley (11, 14 rebounds) set a career high with 7 assists, and Garland also scored 11 points.

• And the Cavs have been shooting lights out from outside ever since. Against Sacramento, 23 of 41 throws came from downtown, and six players hit at least two triples. Max Strus (22, 6/10 3P) did it best, but sixth man Caris LeVert (17, 6/12, 7 assists) also did well.
• The Kings, on the other hand, never really got into the game; Harrison Barnes was the busiest point collector with 22 points (6/10 3P). Domantas Sabonis (12, 19 rebounds, 15 assists) posted another triple-double, while De’Aaron Fox scored 19 points.

Charlotte Hornets (10-39) – Los Angeles Lakers (27-25) 118:124 (BOXSCORE)

• Third consecutive win for the Lakers and the second triple-double of the season for Anthony Davis, who put up 26 points (12/16), 15 rebounds, 11 assists and 3 blocks in Charlotte. In the end it was tight again because No. 2 pick Brandon Miller turned up the heat. The rookie first recorded this dunk in transitionthen he followed up with two three-pointers and Miles Bridges cut it to -4 with an and-1 with 1:20 minutes left.
• Despite a temporary 21-point lead, the Lakers had to tremble briefly again, but a block from Davis against Bridges and four free throws from AD and Austin Reaves (9, 11 assists) calmed their nerves. Like Davis, LeBron James scored 26 points (12/22) and turned back time a little with this dunk. The guests’ top scorer was D’Angelo Russell (28, 10/21 FG), who was responsible for five of the Lakers’ only eight three-pointers (34 attempts).

• The injury-hit Hornets relied primarily on Bridges (41, 16/26) and Miller (33, 13/25), with PJ Washington coming off the bench with 15 points. However, the Hornets gave up 78 points in the zone, which was too much.

Brooklyn Nets (20-29) – Golden State Warriors (22-25) 98:109 (BOXSCORE)

• Stephen Curry is the first player in NBA history to hit at least 3,600 three-pointers. The Warriors star converted four more triples in Brooklyn and led the Dubs to another win with 29 points (12/24). No less important was Jonathan Kuminga, who contributed a double-double with 28 points and 10 rebounds.
• It was also the youngster who stopped a late Nets run. Dennis Smith Jr. had cut it to -4 from the line with three minutes left before Kuminga responded with a dunk and free throws. A drive from Curry and a pulled And-1 from the chef were ultimately the decision. Klay Thompson (8, 4/9) only watched from the bench; instead, youngster Gui Santos (9) was preferred in the fourth quarter. Rookie Brandin Podziemski (15, 11 rebounds) also had a double-double, while Draymond Green put up 8 points, 10 boards and 7 assists.
• Brooklyn rested Ben Simmons, but was still leading at the break with +6, but very little offensively came over 48 minutes. As a team, the Nets only shot 38 percent from the field, with top scorer Cam Thomas (18, 4/21) being emblematic of this. Nic Claxton (15) blocked seven shots, and Royce O’Neale (15) converted five three-pointers. Mikal Bridges (13, 5/15) remained pale.

Atlanta Hawks (22-28) – L.A. Clippers (34-15) 144:149 (BOXSCORE)

• The Clippers finish their Grammy road trip 6-1 and decided a shootout in a thrilling finale in Atlanta. Kawhi Leonard was the man of the evening with 36 points (13/20), while James Harden contributed an efficient 30 points (7/14 FG, 6/9 3P), 8 rebounds and 10 assists to the victory.
• Leonard had led the Clippers to victory in crunch time with a three-pointer and an and-1 in an 8-2 run, Harden then drew a foul on Trae Young on a stepback three and completed the four-point game with Brett to take a 9-point lead with just over a minute left in the game. Bogdan Bogdanovic reduced the score to -3 from the corner, but Harden showed no nerves from the line and secured the win.

• Both teams were red hot from downtown (ATL: 20/39, LAC: 21/35), but the Clippers shot a whopping 58 percent from the field. Paul George had 18 points, Daniel Theis had 9, 8 rebounds and 2 assists in just under 20 minutes. The other three bench players Russell Westbrook, Norman Powell and Amir Coffey recorded 13 points each.
• De’Andre Hunter was the top scorer for Atlanta with 27 points (10/12) coming off the bench, while Trae Young (25, 8/14, 12 assists) recorded another double-double. Dejounte Murray scored 21 points.

New Orleans Pelicans (29-21) – Toronto Raptors (17-33) 138:100 (BOXSCORE)

• After double overtime the day before in OKC, there was absolutely nothing to be gained for Toronto in New Orleans, especially not when Brandon Ingram is running so hot. The forward had 41 points (16/21 FG, 8/11 3P) and 9 assists in just three quarters, and in the third quarter the former All-Star converted five three-pointers in a row. He didn’t lose a single ball.
• Toronto was down by as many as 20 points in the first quarter and never found its way into the game. Of the starters, only Scottie Barnes (17, 5/12) and Jakob Pöltl (14, 9 rebounds) scored in double figures, while Dennis Schröder (0, 0/4, 5 assists in 17 minutes) was a total loss as sixth man. The bright spot was the performance of Gradey Dick, the rookie scored 22 points (9/16).

• CJ McCollum (20, 6/10 3P) also had a good evening for New Orleans, while Zion Williamson contributed a comfortable 16 points. The Pels didn’t need anything more from the forward that day.

2024-02-06 05:23:00
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