In the shadow of the Corona’s spread in the NBA and more and more players entering the league’s health protocol, eight games were played tonight (between Saturday and Saturday) in parallel, and between those already coming to an end, Golden State continued to mature with an away win in Boston and Milwaukee surprised New Orleans.
Boston (15:14) – Golden State (5:24) 111: 107
The wandering performance of Steph Kerry and his teammates recorded a fifth win in the last six games after a close battle against the Celtics, who lost for the fourth time in five games and returned to a negative balance. During the second quarter the visitors’ advantage had already climbed to 20 points, but a wonderful third quarter defensively helped the Greens shrink to just one point with the rise to the final 12 minutes. The locals went up to their own advantage, but Golden State woke up and came back to lead by 10 points with 4:25 left. Boston came back again and 51 seconds to the last buzzer Jaylen Brown shrank to 107: 104, but an attack followed by a basket by Kerry closed the deal. The NBA’s top scorer led the winner with 30 points, Jason Taitum stood out on the other side with 27.
New Orleans (21:10) – Milwaukee (12:19) 112: 116 (after overtime)
The champion continues to struggle without Yannis Antocompo and Chris Middleton and recorded a second loss in three games, against the improving Pelicans, who have won for the third time in the last four games and reached a double-digit balance of victories this season. The game was close from the first minute until the last minute, so Devonta Graham raised the hosts to 101: 103. In the absence of the two stars Milwaukee of course went to Jero Holliday, who 33 seconds to the end equalized with a layup and sent the game into overtime. In the next five minutes the Falcons went up to five points, the Bucks equalized with 51 seconds left, but until the end four consecutive points by the host decided the meeting. The Bucks.
Utah (8:20) – San Antonio (17:11) 128: 126
Another surprising result came from Salt Lake City, where the Spurs halted eight consecutive Jazz wins at the end of a dramatic game, returning to win after the loss to Charlotte. After a close first quarter, the Jazz escaped and climbed to an advantage that had already climbed to 17 points, but the visitors’ big third quarter with 23:41, helped them capture the lead with the rise to the decisive quarter, where the advantage kept moving from side to side. 1:01 to finish Donovan Mitchell turned to 123: 124 with a basket and foul move, but Derek White responded immediately with two of his own. Mitchell turned back, and 14.9 seconds to the last buzzer was Lonnie Walker who set a 126: 127 lead. This time Mitchell missed on the other side and the Spurs celebrated a prestigious victory against one of the two strongest teams in the West. Caldon Johnson stood out for the winner with 24 points, Mitchell finished with 27, which unfortunately were not enough to keep the winning streak alive.
Atlanta (15:14) – Denver (14:15) 133: 115
Both teams went up to par with the same balance of 14:14, but at the end the Nuggets climbed to a positive balance with a third win in four games, while the Hawks went down to a negative balance with a third loss in four games. A 28:43 second quarter helped the Nuggets open a gap that crossed the 20-point mark, and cruise to victory all the way. Nikola Jukic recorded a solid evening with 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and Trey Young stood out with a double-double of 34 points and 10 assists.
Orlando (25: 5) – Miami (12:18) 115: 105
Despite quite a few absences, the Heat completed a fourth win in five games, at the expense of the unfortunate Magic, who recorded a seventh straight loss and were left with a lone win in the last 15 games. In the middle of the third quarter the visitors ran away to a double-digit margin and even when the locals made comeback votes, they did not really manage to threaten the victory of the gang from Florida. Max Strauss led the winner with 32 points from the bench, Franz Wagner led the loser with 27 points.
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