The New York have a balanced record again thanks to a win at the Golden State Warriors. Draymond Green flies in the second quarter, but the exclusion is highly controversial. Donovan Mitchell excelled for Utah in beating the New Orleans Pelicans.
Donovan Mitchell also leads the Jazz to a win against the Pelicans in the second game, while the New York Knicks also put Curry and Golden State on the chain.
Milwaukee Bucks (9-6) – Los Angeles Lakers (11-4) 106:113
Click here for the detailed match report.
Utah Jazz (11-4) – New Orleans Pelicans (5-9) 129:118
- The second game between the Jazz and Pelicans went to Utah, it was the seventh success in a row, and that was due to the outstanding performance of Donovan Mitchell. The Shooting Guard gave New Orleans 36 points and also almost sent noble defender Eric Bledsoe to the boards with a killer crossover. The All-Star converted six of his eight distance throws and grabbed 7 rebounds.
- The guests from New Orleans got off to a better start, mainly because it ran off the triple line. The Pelicans sank eight triples in the first twelve minutes, even Zion Williamson posted his first converted throw of the season. However, after that it was over with the glory, in the following three sections only three more were added.
- Among other things, the Jazz put in a 21-2 run in the third quarter, which increased the lead to up to 16 points. A good phase from Williamson brought New Orleans closer again, but the Jazz countered with another 10-2 run, after which the success was no longer in danger. The catalyst for this was Rudy Gobert, who plays more with the second unit this season and once again played an absolutely dominant defensive role.
- The Frenchman put on the next double-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks, and Mike Conley (20, 8/14) and Jordan Clarkson (19, 6/15) were also able to convince. Brandon Ingram (23, 8/14) and Williamson (27, 9/14) did too little for New Orleans. Coach Stan Van Gundy was ejected towards the end of the third quarter after violent protests.
Golden State Warriors (8-7) – New York Knicks (8-8) 104:119
- Setback for the Warriors, who had big problems against again defensive Knicks. Stephen Curry already had 20 points at the break, but only 10 were added afterwards. Once again the Guard had too little support, only Andrew Wiggins (17, 9 rebounds), James Wiseman (15, 8 boards) and Eric Paschall (12) scored double digits.
- The crux of the game was a controversial scene just before the breakwhen Draymond Green was ejected. The forward probably gave rookie Wiseman an inlet, but the refs took this as a criticism of their performance and gave Green a technical foul. It was already number two for the former Defender of the Year, which resulted in an automatic ejection. The Warriors tried to change the referees’ minds, but the decision stood and Golden State had to contest the second half without his defensive anchor.
- Green had only scored 3 points by then, but had already collected 8 assists in 17 minutes. But it must also be mentioned that the Knicks were already leading at 60:55 at this point. That succeeded because RJ Barrett played a strong first half and recorded 18 of his 28 points (10/17 FG) in those 24 minutes. It was a career high for the Canadian who also played 5 assists.
- The big plus of the Knicks was that the Warriors fouled way too much. The first 55 seconds of the fourth quarter were emblematic, when Golden State fouled four times and New York was in the bonus for the rest of the game. In the end, the foul statistics were almost even (41:39 New York), but the dubs only caught up in garbage time.
- In the Knicks, all starters scored double digits, Julius Randle (16, 4/11, 17 rebounds, 9 assists) scratched a triple-double again. Mitchell Robinson contributed 18 points (8/11) to the win, Backup Nerlens Noel (6) grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked 4 throws.
