Philadelphia came in with 28 straight losses in 2016 and Houston is moving toward restoring that dubious achievement by leaps and bounds. Tonight (Sunday) she was defeated for the 20th time in a row. Ouch.
Tonight’s games
Houston (29:11) – Oklahoma City (24:17) 114: 112 Miami (21:22) – Indiana (22:19) 109: 106 (in overtime)
Houston – Oklahoma City 114: 112
Less than three minutes to go, John Wall raised the Rockets to 109: 110 and it looked like the Nahas might break. Only this time too it was not their day. A minute to the buzzer, 113: 111 behind, Wall was sent to the line. Missed the first, scored the second. From the other end, Alexei Fukushevsky also scored only once from the penalty spot, 5.3 seconds to go and set 112: 114.
Houston took a timeout, the last ball went to Wall who missed a three and a chance to get with his team something rare: a win. Lugwants Dort stood out for the Thunder with 23 points, Isaiah Robbie added 18 and all this while Shay Gillags-Alexander is out of the squad. Christian Wood (27) and Wall (24) stood out for the loser.
Miami – Indiana 109: 106 (overtime)
The hit is already with a third consecutive loss, and especially dramatic. 12.2 seconds to the end of legal time, Jimmy Butler was sent to the line, scoring only once and set 98:98. Going for an extension. Miami has already risen to plus five, only to see Indiana become 103: 104 from a Justin Holiday three-pointer. Charis Lewart set 106: 109, 48 seconds to go and Butler missed a critical three from the other side.
No less than seven players scored in double digits for the winner. Domantas Savonis scored 17 points and 11 rebounds, Miles Turner added 16 and Doug McDermott 15. From the other end, Bam Adbayo provided 29 points, 10 rebounds and a monstrous dunk on Savonis. Butler added 21 and 15 respectively.