First the Jazz, now the Suns: The Golden State Warriors shock the next top team in the final minutes – despite Stephen Curry’s off-night. The Los Angeles Lakers saves a game winner from Talen Horton-Tucker in an OT battle against the New York Knicks (click here for the highlights!). The Miami Heat meanwhile perfect their playoff ticket and the Brooklyn Nets fear for Kyrie Irving.
Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. lead the nuggets to victory, the Celtics go to the play-in tournament. Minnesota shoots Detroit out of the hall.
Charlotte Hornets (33-36) – Denver Nuggets (45-24) 112:117 (BOXSCORE)
- After two bankruptcies in a row, the Nuggets are back on the road to success, thanks to the duo Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. they once again owed their narrow success in Charlotte. Both gave the Hornets 30 points, which helped the hosts a furious comeback from Devonte ‘Graham no more.
- Jokic and MPJ gave Charlotte a lot in the first quarter, Denver led with up to 21 points. But that was far from being a preliminary decision, it was the Hornets’ turn again until half-time. And even after Denver had another double-digit lead in the last round, the home side did not give up. Graham brought his team back on with 19 of his 31 points (7/14 threes) in the final section.
- Graham got the most support from Terry Rozier (21) as well as Cody Zeller and Jaden McDaniels with 15 points each. LaMelo Ball had problems with his throw (5 points, 1/9 FG), but distributed 7 assists and grabbed 12 rebounds. But Charlotte could no longer turn the game, in crunchtime JaMychal Green provided the right answer to the Graham run via putback or Facundo Campazzo from downtown.
- The outstanding duo of the Nuggets were Jokic and Porter Jr. The latter sank 12/18 out of the field and 6/10 threes, Jokic (7/16 FG and 16/17 FT) also had 11 rebounds and 6 assists. With the win, Denver can no longer take home advantage in the first round, but Charlotte still has a place in the play-in tournament thanks to the bankruptcy of the Chicago Bulls.
Detroit Pistons (20-50) – Minnesota Timberwolves (22-47) 100:119 (BOXSCORE)
- Instead of playoff races, the Pistons and Wolves focus on the tanking race – with the Timberwolves having torpedoed their chances of keeping their own pick (top 3 protected, otherwise at GSW) with their second victory in a row. Minnesota made short work of a weakened Detroit.
- The home side had nine players, six of them rookies. They had enormous problems offensively, Detroit hit just 34.3 percent from the field in the first half and lost the ball 15 times. Accordingly, thanks to good performances by Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards, the Wolves already cleared themselves by 24 points in the second quarter, but it didn’t get really exciting afterwards.
- KAT led his team with 28 points (10/19 FG), 8 rebounds and 5 assists, Edwards scored 22 points. Behind them, Ricky Rubio (19) and D’Angelo Russell (15 and 10 assists, 5/18 FG) also did a good production. Saben Lee (22) and Saddiq Bey (21, 5/8 threesome) were still the best players in the Pistons. The Pistons now have the second worst record in the league, the Wolves are in 25th place.
Boston Celtics (35-34) – Miami Heat (38-31) 121:129 (BOXSCORE)
- The race for the last safe playoff place in the east has been decided, the Miami Heat closed the sack with their renewed success in Boston – the Celtics, on the other hand, have to go to the play-in tournament. Although the home side showed a clear improvement compared to the first duel on Sunday, the balanced scoring of the guests and the defense of Bam Adebayo ultimately made the difference.
- Der Big Man advertised itself as Defensive Player of the Year after the game, before that he had gathered a few arguments on the floor. In the third quarter, both teams put more pressure on defensively, but when Duncan Robinson ran hot, Miami pulled away with a 17-4 run. In the final section, Goran Dragic had the hot hand, a low triple of the point guard put the guests at +21. After that, Boston at least succeeded in cosmetic results.
- Miami had to do without Jimmy Butler in the second half, who had to leave the floor after being accidentally hit in the eye. In return, several heatles jumped into the breach, Dragic scored 14 of his 17 points in the fourth round (5/7 three-pointers), Tyler Herro put on a double-double from the bench (24 and 11 rebounds). Robinson (5/9 threesome) and Adebayo each scored 22 points, the Big Man also collected 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks.
- Kemba Walker led the Celts with another strong performance (36, 14/27 FG), Jayson Tatum followed closely behind with 33 points (12/21 FG), 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Evan Fournier still scored 20 points, but too little came off the bench. Boston’s reservists couldn’t keep up with Miami’s Second Unit (20:50). “Everyone has to look in the mirror and ask themselves: Are we really giving everything we have? And to be honest, we don’t,” said Kemba. Boston has now lost seven of the last ten games.
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