No less than 11 games were played tonight (Friday through Saturday) in the NBA and some interesting results were recorded. Among others Phoenix recorded a ninth straight home win over Minnesota with a Chris Paul play, freshman All-Star Jea Morant led Memphis to a win over Utah with a triple-double, teammate in the All-Star top five in the West Nikola Jokic provided another play in Denver’s victory In New Orleans, Miami continued to establish itself at the top of the East thanks to a win over the Clippers and a surprising loss to Chicago in San Antonio, Milwaukee defeated the Knicks and the Lakers lost without LeBron and despite a Russell Westbrook performance.
Phoenix (9:39) – Minnesota (25:24) 124: 134
Chris Paul continues to prove he can certainly be at the peak of his career even at 36. Tonight he recorded a wonderful triple-double of 21 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds and led Phoenix to a ninth straight win at home against Minnesota. Devin Booker led the Suns as usual with 29 points and handed out nine assists, Cam Johnson (24 points) and Bismak Biombo (14 points and 12 rebounds) continued to star in the absence of Jay Crowder and Dandra Eyton and the Suns, who led almost the entire game, Overcome 27 points and 10 assists (career highs) by Anthony Edwards and 28 points by Malik Beasley off the bench.
Memphis (17:34) – Utah (20:30) 109: 119
Ja Morant, in his first game since being selected to the All-Star quintet for the first time in his short career, proved to those who gave him all they did mentally. The Grizzlies star recorded a wonderful triple-double of 10-10-30 (the triple-double with the most points in the history of the franchise), and after a close quarter and a half in the opening game led his team to a 13-point lead towards the end of the second quarter, an advantage the host did not lose until To finish. The Jazz, still without their two star stars Rudy Guber and Donovan Mitchell injured, continued to deteriorate with a fourth straight loss and tenth in 12 games.
Charlotte (22:28) – Lakers (26:24) 114: 117
Without LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers trailed throughout the game in Charlotte, including a 20-point deficit early in the second half, but a play by the infamous Russell Westbrook, who scored no less than 30 points just in the second half after 5 points in the first half, was nearly enough for a big comeback. Unfortunately – only almost. The Lakers with a second straight loss and a seventh in ten games, Miles Bridges led the winner with 26 points.
New Orleans (30:18) – Denver (21:27) 116: 105
Nikola Jokic provided another performance, this time with a triple-double of 29 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, leading Denver to a fourth straight win and establishing itself in sixth place in the East (leading directly to the playoffs, without the need for a play-in), with a three-game gap And a half from Seventh Minnesota. The Nuggets led from the middle of the first quarter to the end (except for the Pelicans’ two flickers in which the host led by a point) and escaped in the fourth quarter to a double-digit lead to secure a win. Aaron Gordon assisted Yukic with 20 points, Willie Hernandez stood out with 18 points and 16 rebounds.
Miami (17:32) – Clippers (25:26) 114: 121
The Heat opened a gap of a game and a half at the top of the East with a third straight win, a game in which they led from the fifth minute to the end, including a record 23-point lead in the third quarter before the visitors approached in the final quarter but failed to complete a comeback. Jimmy Butler led the East with 26 points, Gabe Vincent recorded one of the best games of his career with 23 points and Bamadbaio added 20 points and 12 rebounds. Luke Kenard led the disappointing Clippers, who came down to a negative balance, with 23 points off the bench.
Additional results:
San Antonio (31:19) – Chicago (18:30) 122: 131
Atlanta (25:23) – Boston (25:25) 92: 108
Houston (35:14) – Portland (28:21) 125: 110
Oklahoma City (34:14) – Indiana (32:18) 113: 110
Orlando (40:10) – Detroit (37:11) 103: 119