ONE System | 23/02/2021 06:20
George Niang (Reuters)
Dallas (15:14) – Memphis (14:13) 92: 102
Despite a very solid evening by Luka Doncic, the Mavericks managed to pick up a fifth win in six games against a direct rival for a place in the playoffs and continued to climb the Western table en route to ninth place. The Grizzlies, on the other hand, lost for the second time in a row and allowed the Texas team to pass them in the table. Unusually this season, Dallas put up a tough defense in the first half and went down to the break with a promising 36:54, when during the third quarter the advantage had already jumped above the 20-point mark. The guest managed to minimize damage in the last 12 minutes, but no more than that. Doncic finished with 21 points and cleared the stage this time for Tim Hardaway Jr., who led the winner with 29. On the losing side, 22 points from Ja Morant were not enough.
Phoenix (10:20) – Portland (12:18) 100: 132
The exciting team from Arizona continued to establish its place among the top four in the West with a ninth win in its last ten games’ when it had no difficulty against Damien Lillard and his teammates, to reach 20 wins this season. The Trailblazers still managed to stay in the area at the end of the first half with a lag of 63:54, but a huge third quarter of the Suns with 17:37, turned the last 12 minutes into a trip for the locals. Devin Booker led the celebration with 34 points, 24 of Lillard on the other side did not prevent the visitors from losing for the second time in a row.
Oklahoma (19:12) – Miami (17:14) 108: 94
The Heat, who are trying to make their way into the opening eight in the East after the weak season opener, completed a third straight win and took advantage of Charlotte’s loss to narrow the gap from where ‘Play-In’ leads at the end of the regular season. The Thunder, on the other hand, failed to rise with a fourth loss in five games. The meeting was conducted closely for three quarters, but upon entering the decisive quarter the guest pressed the pedal and ran away on the way to a double-digit gap. Duncan Robinson led the winner with 22 points, while Adbaio was the standout with a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds. 27 of Shea Gilgus Alexander were far from enough for the locals.
Utah (6:25) – Charlotte (16:14) 110: 132
The Western Conference leader quickly recovered from the loss to the Los Angeles Clippers and collected a tenth victory in its last 11 games, to keep the gap from the two teams from City of Angels that are chasing it. Along the way, the host also recorded a tremendous club record of 28 threes with no less than 55 attempts. Despite the performance of the Jazz off the arc, the guest was there for three quarters and stayed as close as possible with the promotion to the last quarter when they were 91:90 behind, but for the remaining 12 minutes only one team appeared and with 21:40, the Jazz escaped another impressive victory .
Donovan Mitchell was the winning scorer with 23 points, but apart from him six other players scored in double digits. Gordon Hairwood and Lonzo Ball finished with 21 points each, but that really wasn’t enough in front of another great group performance by the group from Salt Lake City.
In another game: Houston (18:11) – Chicago (16:14) 120: 100
