The best team to start the season, with 15 consecutive victories, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost their second consecutive game, once again against Atlanta (117-101), after having already been defeated on Wednesday by the Hawks.
Cleveland thus totals 17 wins and 3 defeats and remains at the top of the Eastern Conference ahead of Boston, while Atlanta remains ninth (9-11). Facing Darius Garland’s 29 points, interior De’Andre Hunter was invaluable for the Hawks (23 points), offering them qualification to the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup.
In the same group, Boston beats Chicago (138-129) and can still hope to secure a ticket reserved for second. Jayson Tatum once again played a solid game (35 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists), assisted by Payton Pritchard, who scored 19 of his 29 points at the beginning of the 4th quarter.
The New York Knicks struggled to beat the Charlotte Hornets (99-98), despite being without LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges. Jalen Brunson (31 points) allowed the Knicks to obtain their third success in as many games in their NBA Cup group. New York will then play the last decisive match on Tuesday against Orlando, which holds the same record after the success in Brooklyn (123 -100). Without their star Paolo Banchero for several weeks now, Franz Wagner’s Magic (29 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists) have won 11 of their last 12 games.
After Anthony Edwards’ outburst on Wednesday, the Minnesota Timberwolves recovered with a victory against the Los Angeles Clippers (93-92), despite once again a complicated finish. Winners of the first edition of the NBA Cup last year, LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers (12 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) lost against the Oklahoma City Thunder (101-93) and have almost no chance of recovering by moving on to quarters. With two wins and two losses, the Lakers can no longer finish first in their group and only an unlikely scenario could offer them qualification on Tuesday as the best runners-up in one of the three West groups.
“OKC” remains at the top of the Western Conference for the regular season, thanks in particular to its Canadian leader Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (36 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists).
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