The Los Angeles Lakers, without the Slovenian Luka Doncic, crashed this Saturday on the Portland Trail Blazers court (132-116) by Brazilian coach Tiago Splitter, in an NBA day in which Anthony Edwards set the best scoring mark of his career (55 points) without a prize.
In addition, the Boston Celtics, with thirty minutes on the court for the Spanish rookie Hugo González, walked in Atlanta and put pressure on the leaders of the East, the Detroit Pistons.
The Lakers competed in Portland without Doncic, out due to a groin problem suffered after scoring 39 points in the last Los Angeles loss against the Charlotte Hornets. Added to his absence were those of Deandre Ayton, Jaxon Hayes y Austin Reaves.
Without Doncic, who is averaging 33.6 points per game this year, JJ Redick’s team lost its fifth game in the last six, which leaves it sixth in the West (24-15).
Shaedon Sharpe led the Blazers with 25 points and Jerami Grant and Caleb Love each contributed 22 points.
LeBron James touched the triple double for the Lakers with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, on a night in which Marcus Smart was the Lakers’ top scorer with 25 points.
Spurs and Nuggets pressure OKC
The Heat scored against the NBA champions, who fell 122-120 at the Kaseya Center and interrupted their five-game winning streak.
Bam Adebayo dominated with a double double of 30 points and twelve rebounds, accompanied by Norman Powell’s 19 points, to stop the Thunder in which Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was left alone, with his 39 points.
OKC remains in control of the West with a balance of 35-8, but both the San Antonio Spurs and the Denver Nuggets took advantage of their defeat to close the gap. Both have a record of 29-13.
The Spurs survived the best scoring night of Anthony Edwards’ career (55 points) and defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-123.
Edwards shot 19 of 33 from the field and made nine three-pointers, but his team ended up surrendering to the 39 points and nine rebounds of Frenchman Victor Wembanyama.
The Nuggets, who are still without Serbian Nikola Jokic due to a knee problem, relied on Jamal Murray to defeat the Washington Wizards 121-115.
The Canadian shone with 42 points and was supported by a Tim Hardaway with 30 points. Murray scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and Hardaway scored fifteen in that segment to deliver a hard-fought victory to the Nuggets.
Triumph for Hugo González
Hugo González contributed with seven points and nine rebounds in 30 minutes on the court in the Boston Celtics’ comfortable victory against the Atlanta Hawks (132-106).
The Celtics, second in the East (26-16), had a 43-point lead in Atlanta, where Jaylen Brown led Joe Mazzulla’s team with 41 points.
Sam Hauser also participated in the Boston party, scoring ten triples for thirty points.
Pistons defeat Pacers
The Pistons reinforced their lead in the East with a resounding 121-78 victory against the Indiana Pacers, completely nullified by Detroit’s defense.
Indiana only scored 25 points in the first half of the game, in which they only connected ten of their 43 field goals and only one triple of 18 attempts.
The Pacers’ score was the third worst scoring record in a first half in NBA history, after the Phoenix Suns’ 22 points in a game against the Lakers in 2016. The second worst record also belongs to the Suns, with 24 points in a duel with the Spurs in 2015.
Among the other results, the Dallas Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz 138-120 with 23 points from Klay Thompson (6 triples) and the Phoenix Suns assaulted Madison Square Garden with a 106-99 victory over the New York Knicks, led by 27 points from Devin Booker.
