TORONTO RAPTORS 100 – 108 LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Kawhi Leonard’s 24 points and a season-high 12 rebounds together with Paul George’s 23 points was enough as the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Toronto Raptors 108-100
Leonard double double sunk his former team with which he won the NBA title in 2019.
Ivica Zubac added 17 points for the Clippers who have now won two straight after suffering from a torrid five-game losing streak.
The Clippers had a 60-42 advantage in the paint along with 20-10 edge in fast-break points.
For the Raptors, Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes each scored 20 points, and OG Anunoby had 18 points.
The loss means the Raptors have now dropped two straight for the first time since February 1.
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER 101 – 132 PHOENIX SUNS
Devin Booker scored 44 points as the Phoenix Suns defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 132-101.
Prior to the game meant to be his home debut, the suns lost Kevin Durant to an ankle injury during pregame warmups when he rolled his left ankle while driving to the basket as he prepared to play. The 6-foot-10 forward immediately hopped up and was walking, but several minutes later, the Suns confirmed that he would miss the game.
Remember, KD, a 13-time All-Star, joined them in a blockbuster trade deadline deal with Brooklyn and the Footprint Center was buzzing in anticipation to see him play in Phoenix.
Even In KD’s absence, Booker expectedly ran the show with the three-time All-Star guard shotting 17 of 23, making 6 out of 10 3-pointers. Devin Booker also became the first player in Phoenix Sunshistory to drop 35+ points in 4 straight games.
Terrence Ross who ended the game with 24 points also scored 6 out of his 10 three-pointer attempts while Chris Paul posted 18 points and 9 assists making 4 out of his 5 three-pointers.
For the Oklahoma City Thunder, Lindy Waters III led them with 23 points and Josh Giddey could only cough out 10 points and 7 rebounds.
The team were without their All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander because of “abdominal strain injury management”.
CHICAGO BULLS 117 – 96 DENVER NUGGETS
Nikola Vucevic scored 25 points and 15 rebounds, Zach LaVine scored 29 points with a 12-of-18 shooting performance as the Chicago Bulls resuscitated their playoff hopes with a shocking victory of 117-96 against the Western Conference-leading Denver Nuggets.
The victory which was just the fourth in the last 13 games for the Chicago outfit means they are now within a game behind the Washington Wizards for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 16 games left in the regular season. .
Reacting to the victory, Bulls forward Patrick Williams said: “We’ve got a stretch of games that we need to win to get to where we want, I think it was good to kind of show ourselves that, but also show other teams that we’re here.”
For the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic led with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists, and Aaron Gordon added 17 points and 9 rebounds.
It wasn’t really a good game of the big man and the reigning MVP – Jokic who could only muster 7 out of his 16 shots, ending a 51-game streak in which he shot at least 50 per cent from the field.
DALLAS MAVERICKS 106 – 113 NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
CJ McCollum scored 32 points (13 in the final four minutes) for the Pelicans as they held off the Dallas Mavericks to a 113-106 victory.
Trey Murphy III also scored 16 points with Herb Jones and Jaxson Hayes each adding 14 points apiece for the Pelicans.
In his post match reaction, McCollum said: “No excuse, just produce. Figure out a way to get the job done. That’s what it’s going to take for us down the stretch… Make or miss, I’ve got to be aggressive for us and make something happen.”
Both teams lost a top player with the Pelicans’ Brandon Ingram suffering from a sprained right ankle late in the second quarter with after scoring 12 points. Dallas Mavericks also lost star guard Luka Doncic in the third with a strained left thigh after scoring 15 points.
For the Mavericks, Kyrie Irving scored 27 points and 6 rebounds and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 17 points and 5 assists.
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS 104 – 100 MIAMI HEAT
Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell scored 25 and 18 points respectively as the Cavaliers got a 104-100 victory over the Miami Heat.
Also for the Cavaliers, Jarrett Allen had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Evan Mobley also scored 15 points, and Isaac Okoro had 13 points.
Speaking after the victory, Cleveland’s coach Bickerstaff said: “The grit and the resilience that we showed,…It was an ugly fourth quarter for both teams. These are two really good defenses that put you in difficult situations, forced a ton of turnovers both ways, but I thought our guys did a great job of maintaining their poise.”
For the heat who are now 35-32, Jimmy Butler had 28 points, they also got 22 points from Tyler Herro and 17 points from Bam Adebayo.
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS 93 – 115 BOSTON CELTICS
Jayson Tatum scored 30 points which included 6 three-pointers as the Boston Celtics beat the Portland Trail Blazers 115-93 to end their three-game losing streak.
In perspective, that was Tatum’s 36th game this season with 30 or more points.
Also for the Celtics, Derrick White added 21 points and 5 assists. Al Horford finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
The Celtics welcomed Tatum and Horford back into the team as they both who sat out of their monday’s overtime loss at Cleveland with a sore knee and back pain respectively. But they are still without their big man, Robert Williams for the third straight game as he continues to recover from a strained left hamstring.
Horford said the game: “Just getting out of that losing streak is good for our group, I guess you could say it’s a breath of fresh air.”
For the Blazers, Damian Lillard scored 27 points and had 8 assists while Jerami Grant added 13 points.
The loss means the Blazers have now dropped to 14-20 on the road this season.
ATLANTA HAWKS 122 – 120 WASHINGTON WIZARDS
Trae Young got a double-double for the Atlanta Hawks as they held off the Washington Wizards 122-120 eclipsing a career-high 43 points game from Kristaps Porzingis.
Young led Atlanta Hawks with 28 points and 10 assists. He shot 11 of 14 from the field. Dejounte Murray added 17 points and 6 assists too.
Hawks coach Quin Snyder reacting to the victory said: “Happy with the effort and proud of, really as much as anything tonight, in my mind for our team, was about just competing,…I thought we really competed.”
Porzingis really put in a show for the Wizards posting 43 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. He made all five of his shot attempts in the fourth quarter, which included 4 three-pointers but his last-second three wasn’t enough as it could only cut the final deficit to two. He finished 17 of 22 from the field, 7 of 10 beyond the arc. Bradley Beal also posted 24 points and 8 assists for them.
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