Philadelphia clinched its fourth victory in a row, which the Sixers do not hope to be Pyrrhic after Joel Embiid’s left knee injury on Friday in the NBA where Denver also continued its good streak in Memphis thanks to Nikola Jokic.
. Bittersweet sixers
The evening seemed quiet: + Philly + was heading towards an easy success, actually recorded in the end (127-101), when in the middle of the third quarter, Joel Embiid hyperextended his left knee by landing badly after a dunk.
The Cameroonian pivot (23 pts, 7 rebounds), wincing in pain, was finally able to get up on his own and join the locker room. His team is now hoping that the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) he is about to undergo does not herald too bad a diagnosis.
In the meantime, it was a walk in the park for the 76ers, who shot 54.4% success against the Wizards in which Russell Westbrook (25 pts, 8 assists) stood out more than Bradley Beal ( 19 pts).
Philadelphia consolidates its first place in the East, Washington remains 12th.
. Utah takes off again
After two defeats to finish the first part of the season, where he gave the home in the Western Conference, the Jazz resumed the path of victory (114-99) at the expense of Houston, which does not get better after this, however. 15th consecutive defeat.
The leader had a 17-point lead at the break, without the Rockets managing to make up for this delay in the second half. Donovan Mitchell was the top scorer (28 pts, 8 assists, 7 rebounds), well supported by Mike Conley (20 pts), Rudy Gobert adding a double-double (14 pts, 13 rebounds) and always showing himself as a deterrent in defense , with six counters inflicted.
. The Lakers too
Los Angeles (3rd in the West), still deprived of Anthony Davis for at least two weeks, did not have a single game but ended up having the last word against Indiana (105-100) thanks to better control in the last minutes.
An interception by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 8 seconds from time and the two free throws registered behind secured the victory for his team. Previously, Kyle Kuzma, man of the game on the Lakers side where LeBron James was content to achieve 18 points and 10 assists, had just registered 15 of his 24 points (13 rebounds) in the last quarter.
Pacers side (10th in the East), remains the impression of having just missed a nice shot, like Malcolm Brogdon, author of 29 points, but also the lost ball on the penultimate possession .
. Denver released its Joker
It took Nikola Jokic’s cool in the money-time for the Nuggets to get out of the Grizzlies’ clutches and win in Tennessee (103-102).
The Serbian winger did everything in the last 72 seconds: first scored a basket behind the arc, then another halfway to give his team four points, before taking the rebound for the win after a failed attempt by Ja Morant almost to the buzzer. In total he finished with 28 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists.
He was not alone, Michael Porter Jr and Will Barton, 21 points each, taking care of compensating for the big slump of Jamal Murray (3 pts, 1/14 on shots).
This 5th success in a row gives 5th place to Denver in the West, Memphis slips to 10th.
. The Heat gets hot again
Miami, the finalist of the last championship, is transfigured after a very difficult start. Proof of this is his victory in Chicago (101-90), his ninth in ten matches.
And it is no coincidence that this spectacular return to form materializes in the wake of that of Jimmy Butler, worried by the Covid-19 in January, and who has shone since his return. Still evidenced by his 28 points (8 assists).
The other great architect of the Heat’s victory, now 4th in the East, was Goran Dragic, icy him in the 4th quarter during which he planted 20 of his 25 points off the bench.
Side Bulls (11th), the 30 points of Zach LaVine were in vain.
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