On Tuesday, the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs fought a duel between local rivals that was not determined by the superstars. The Minnesota Timberwolves’ game in Utah was different.
This article will be continually updated.
| Heim | Away | Result |
| Philadelphia 76ers | Phoenix Suns | 110:116 |
| Chicago Bulls | LA Clippers | 136:110 |
| Houston Rockets | San Antonio Spurs | 111:106 |
| Utah Jazz | Minnesota Timberwolves | 127:122 |
| Denver Nuggets | Los Angeles Lakers | 107:115 |
| Golden State Warriors | Toronto Raptors | 127:145 |
| Sacramento Kings | Miami Heat | 117:130 |
Texans of the night: Houston Rockets
With a 111:106 home win, the Houston Rockets (26-15) retained the upper hand in the duel between local rivals and the San Antonio Spurs (30-14). It wasn’t a night for superstars on either side, as both Kevin Durant (18 points) for the Rockets and Victor Wembanyama (14) for the Spurs missed the 20-point mark.
Instead, there were other match winners in a Texas duel in which the Spurs were in the lead for long stretches. For the guests, Julian Champagnie came to the fore with a three-point barrage. He scored eight times from the three-point line. Only one of his 17 field goals came from two-point range. That ultimately meant he had 27 points. For the Rockets it was again Alperen Sengun, who narrowly missed a triple-double with 20 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists with 4 turnovers.
Senguns Rockets staged a 16-point comeback in the second half. At the beginning of the final quarter, Ime Udoka’s team was still behind 82:92, but then got back on track impressively. His team only allowed 14 Spurs points in the last twelve minutes. Reed Sheppard gave the Rockets their first lead since the first quarter with two three-pointers at the start of clutch time. With two minutes left, he blocked a three-pointer from Champagnies, which resulted in two points from Jabari Smith Jr. at the other end of the field.
Since the subsequent two Spurs attacks yielded nothing, Sengun took the opportunity to give the hosts a 108:104 lead with 36.8 seconds left – the decision.
MVP of the night: Keyonte George
The Delta Center in Salt Lake City became the venue for a showdown between Keyonte George of the Utah Jazz (15-29) and Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves (27-17). Despite 38 points (11/28 FG) and 8 rebounds, Edwards lost out to George, who scored 43 points to lead the Jazz in a 127:122 home win and set a new career high.
George fired at the basket a total of 28 times without Lauri Markkanen, who was still ill. He found the target a strong 15 times. He also gave the guests from the Twin Cities 6/13 threes. The fact that he lost 6 balls and only made 3 assists was of no consequence because he received active support from Jusuf Nurkic.
The Bosnian big man recorded his first triple-double since his time with the Portland Trail Blazers with 16 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists with only 2 turnovers. The Jazz duo fueled a 15-point comeback over the T-Wolves, who pulled ahead 94-79 at the end of the third quarter.
Dunk of the night: Bailey takes off
The Jazz’s win had more stories to tell than just George, Nurkic and a blown Timberwolves lead. Added to this is the performance of Jazz rookie Ace Bailey, who also had an impact on the game with 20 points. With a fastbreak dunk over the powerless Donte DiVincenzo, he gave the hosts’ comeback a significant boost.
Returner of the night: Jalen Green
For the second time this season, the Phoenix Suns (27-17) were pleased to see Jalen Green return after a long injury layoff due to thigh problems in their 116:100 away win at the Philadelphia 76ers. In Pennsylvania, the summer newcomer was on the floor for the third time this season. In 20 minutes, he recorded 12 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds with 2 turnovers.
In his first appearance since November 8th, he showed no teething problems in the first half. By the break he had recorded 7 points in just 9 minutes.
Voices of the night:
Keyonte George (Utah Jazz) scored a three-pointer one minute before the end to make it 124:119 for the Jazz: “Will [Hardy, Head Coach der Utah Jazz, Anm. d. Red.] often talk about the fourth quarter. This is what the best players in the league get paid for. I had that focus no matter how the game was going until then. Regardless of whether I hit shots or not. It wasn’t necessarily a hard throw, but I was focused and made it.”
Steve Kerr (Head Coach, Golden State Warriors) has to make do with the loss of Jimmy Butler: “Everything is possible at the moment. I think if not just one of your best players gets injured, but one of the best players in the league, then that just changes everything. The whole puzzle suddenly looks completely different.”
