Wembanyama vs Edwards: Heat Drama & NBA Highlights

Saturday in the NBA had two highly dramatic final phases to offer. Victor Wembanyama had a high-class private duel with Anthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s gala performance was spoiled by the Miami Heat.

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Game of the Night: Heat win thriller against OKC

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s (25-8) dreams of a new record season are rapidly crumbling into dust after the 120:122 defeat at the Miami Heat (22-20). The Golden State Warriors’ 73-9 record from the 2015/16 season is now nothing more than a utopia.

The Heat handed the guests from OKC their eighth defeat of the season thanks to a late three-pointer from Andrew Wiggins with 31 seconds left on the clock. The Heat prevented two opportunities to equalize and win away in defense. Chet Holmgren in particular left the far greater chance of a potential overtime.

The Thunder big man missed a point-blank dunk during the timeout following Wiggins’ three-pointer. Since the Thunder regained possession through a defensive stop, the reigning champions had the opportunity to leave South Beach with a win. But Alex Caruso’s three-pointer bounced off the board and ring and back onto the floor with the clock running out.

Players from both teams left their mark on the game. For the Heat, Bam Adebayo set a new career high with 6 three-pointers (6/10), which brought his total to 30 points. Thanks to 12 rebounds, the Heat big recorded a double-double. However, the outstanding man of the game was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the other side. The Canadian put up 39 points and hit 12 of his 29 field goals. He was perfect at the free throw line on 13 attempts.

Unlucky person of the night: Jalen Williams

In addition to the defeat, the away trip to Florida was sobering for head coach Mark Daigneault’s team from a health perspective. With Jalen Williams, the Thunder had to cope with the next loss of a starter after Isaiah Hartenstein (calf) has also been condemned to watch for ten games.

After a drive to the basket, Williams, who was slowed down by a wrist injury earlier in the season, grabbed his right thigh and struggled to shift weight onto the injured leg. The Thunder declared his injury as a hamstring soreness but provided no further information.

MVP of the night: Edwards gala is not enough in San Antonio

The Minnesota Timberwolves (27-16) had to admit defeat to the San Antonio Spurs (29-13) 123:126 despite a brilliant performance from Anthony Edwards. Edwards ended the evening with a new career-high 55 points! He took a total of 33 throws from the field, 19 of which found their target. In addition, Edwards, who became the youngest player to break the 1,000 three-pointer mark just over a year ago, increased his career tally by nine more three-pointers (9/16).

The 24-year-old’s new record wasn’t enough for his team, among other things, because Victor Wembanyama also had a good day on the other side. The Frenchman ultimately scored 39 points and narrowly missed a double-double with 9 rebounds. It was Wemby who held on to Spurs’ lead in the final seconds. The center cleared Joan Beringer with 40 seconds left to give the Spurs a 120-119 lead.

A three-pointer from Keldon Johnson (20 points) then gave the hosts a supposedly decisive 123:119 lead with 17 seconds left on the clock. But since Edwards had an answer ready from downtown in no time, the free throw game began in the Frostbank Center. With De’Aaron Fox recovering at the line and Edwards’ subsequent foul attempt to intentionally miss his second freebie to regain possession of the ball, the Spurs held on to win in San Antonio.

Quarter of the night: Celtics torch in Atlanta

The Boston Celtics (26-15) scored an easy 132:106 win over the Atlanta Hawks (20-24) on Saturday. The guests laid the foundation for this with their superstar Jaylen Brown (41 points) in the second quarter. At the break, Brown already had 29 points and in the fourth quarter the superstar was no longer on the court.

In the second twelve minutes, head coach Joe Mazzulla’s team produced spectacular offensive fireworks, which resulted in 52 points. 19 of their 25 field goals hit the Hawks’ basket, including 11/15 three-pointers. The Celtics extended a 30:23 lead at the start of the second twelve minutes to 82:51 by the halftime break.

Sam Hauser caught fire in this intermediate spurt: The three-point specialist sank five shots from downtown and even increased his total to 10 threes by the final whistle. In the end, he was Boston’s second best scorer behind Brown with 30 points. He narrowly missed the record for most three-pointers by a Celtics player. Marcus Smart holds this with 11 hits from beyond the three-point line.

Voices of the night:

Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs) raves about the duel with Anthony Edwards: “It’s an honor and the best thing when the best players play as hard as they can. That makes me better and it’s a sign of respect and progress. The standings show that we are a respectable team.”

Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves) explains why he enjoys playing against the Spurs: “They have Wemby. He’s supposed to be the face of the league. I can always motivate myself to do that. (…) I wish we could just push everyone else aside and just play me against him.”

Sam Hauser (Boston Celtics) started with 8/10 three-pointers, then followed up with 2/11 in the final quarter: “At that point I just thought, ‘Let them fly and see what happens.’ Then I became dead tired. The last few were far too short. It is what it is. I’m happy that Joe [Mazzulla] let me try it [den Celtics-Rekord aufzustellen, Anm. d. Red.].”