The Dallas Mavericks made a slip up at the Houston Rockets and played one of the weakest games of the season. The Boston Celtics fight the New York Knicks in an exciting game.
The Boston Celtics win a highly competitive game against the New York Knicks while Bradley Beal returns to the Wizards.
Indiana Pacers (23-27) – Minnesota Timberwolves (13-39) 141:137 (BOXSCORE)
- It’s almost the same old story with the Timberwolves, they just wake up too late. The guests hibernated three quarters of the time against injury-ridden Pacers, again the push came too late in the final section. A three-point game by D’Angelo Russell (17, 5/15 FG) had brought the Wolves back to three points 50 seconds before the end, but then TJ McConnell struck.
- The Pacers point guard was the outstanding man on the field with 19 points (9/12 FG) and 15 assists and hit a completely open three from the corner after the D-Lo-And-1 with the clock running out, which was the decision . Caris LeVert and Aaron Holiday then brought the game home from the free throw line.
- Indiana had to do without its three best players in Malcolm Brogdon (hip), Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner (both ankles), but caught this as a collective. Seven players scored double digits, including the two Holiday brothers Justin (21, 5/8 threesomes) and Aaron (22, 4/4 threesomes). The two bigs Goga Bitadze (14) and JaKarr Sampson (16) also did a good job, Caris LeVert contributed 18 points to the victory.
- Minnesota was still 22 points behind in the second half, even in the fourth quarter it was 15. The comeback followed thanks to Anthony Edwards, who made a terrible game before but then 17 of his 27 points (11/21 FG) in the last scored twelve minutes. Karl-Anthony Towns (32, 12/17 FG, 12 rebounds, 6 assists) collected the most points, his backup Naz Reid (16) got the highlight of the game with this crashing dunk.
- Finally, a nugget from the Timberwolves broadcast, which is always good: Edwards has 5 boxouts this season – over the entire season. That actually seems completely impossible.
Orlando Magic (17-34) – Washington Wizards (18-32) 116:131 (BOXSCORE)
- Bradley Beal had to watch for five games due to an injury, the last four of them all pissed off. In Orlando the best scorer in the NBA was finally ready for action again and Washington quickly won again. Against the Magic, Beal (26, 11/19 FG) collected the most points again.
- Russell Westbrook put on another triple-double with 23 points (8/11 FG), 14 rebounds and 15 assists and sank all three of his distance throws. That fit into the picture, the Wizards hit 19 threesomes (36 attempts), more than ever this season. Gunner Numero Uno was Davis Bertans (22), who welded six triples from the bank through the trap, rookie Deni Avdija (16) made it four times.
- And yet the Wizards had to tremble a little in the end. In the third quarter the lead was meanwhile 21 points, but then Terrence Ross (24, 9/16 FG) and Mo Bamba (19, 7/12 FG) ran hot, suddenly there were only four points difference in the final section. In the end, however, the quality of the wizards prevailed, especially Westbrook stifled the momentum of the hosts.
- The Magic mainly had problems with their starters, Wendell Carter Jr. (15) was already the best scorer. The bank did a lot better and Cole Anthony, who last played on February 9, came from them. The rookie did well with 13 points and 7 assists and this nice bucket.
Boston Celtics (26-26) – New York Knicks (25-27) 101:99 (BOXSCORE)
- Take a deep breath with the Celtics, who won a hard-fought game with the Knicks. In the end, Marcus Smart made the difference, the point guard scored 14 of his 17 points (4/11 FG, 9 assists) in the fourth quarter and made the important plays in crunchtime.
- It was Smart, who set 96:93 with a threesome 36 seconds before the end, secured an important rebound a little later and then made everything clear with two free throws. In the absence of Kemba Walker (Schonung), the Guard took over most of the set-up of the game and still watched the ball best at the Celtics.
- The hosts lost the ball 20 times, which resulted in 21 points for New York. Jayson Tatum (25, 10/21 FG) alone was responsible eight times, but the forward left it have a good bang with a dunk over Taj Gibson. On the other hand, the Celtics had advantages at the basket, where the return of Tristan Thompson (7, 8 rebounds, +24) helped.
- Boston grabbed 16 offensive rebounds for 20 second chance points, so just under 42 percent were enough from the field. Top scorer was Jaylen Brown with 32 points (12/26 FG) and 10 rebounds. RJ Barrett (29, 10/14 FG) played big for the Knicks, the Canadian hit all of his six threesomes. Julius Randle (22, 9/23 FG, 9 rebounds), on the other hand, did not have his best evening. The forward could not prevent the Knicks from converting an early 7-point lead in the fourth quarter into a victory.
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