Sunday night in the NBA was, as usual, very good. We’ve seen Jimmy Butler in his All-Star mode, Clippers getting on top of the Western Conference, Raptors holding their throne on the East, and many other interesting details. We are going to present them to you in this NBA roundup.
Brooklyn Nets had a 20-point lead in the late part of the second quarter. It appeared, that the Sixers are going to lose their second game in the last six. But that didn’t work for Jimmy Butler, who inspired his teammates to make a 16-2 run in the fourth quarter. With 1:03 until the end, the guests were ahead for the second time since the start. It was 121-120. The teams were changing the lead throughout the last minute, but Butler had the last word. With 2.3 seconds to go, he made a tough three-pointer to burry Nets’ hopes. !27-125 for the 76ers. 4-time All-Star scored 18 of his 34 points in the last period, adding 12 rebounds and 4 steals to that. Joel Embiid had 32 points and 12 rebounds, while Ben Simmons finished this match with 13 buckets and 9 assists.
D’Angelo Russell had a game-high 38 points, grabbing 8 rebounds and having the same number of assists, reminding all the folks that he didn’t forget to play ball. Spencer Dinwiddie also had an excellent night scoring 31 points.
Clippers No1. in the West
LA Clippers are on the top of the Western Conference after defeating Portland Trail Blazers in Oregon, 104-100. It seems that Danilo Gallinari likes to play close endings, as he once again scored a decisive basket. 47 second before the end, the Italian international, brought a two-point lead for his team, 102-100, which in the end turned to be the most important detail of the whole game. Portland led 60-45 at the start of the second half, but Doc Rivers’ boys responded with 36-10 run, getting the edge in the last period. Still Damian Lillard dropped two downtown bombs in just 18 seconds leveling the score to 100-100 with two minutes to go. However, Gallinari prevented the Blazers from winning this one.
Tobias Harris had a career-high 34 points and 11 boards. Gallinari delivered 17. On the other side, Lillard had 30 and 9 boards, while C.J. McCollum posted 18 points.
Toronto won its fifth straight, this time against Miami 125-107, and improved their record to 17-4. The match was determined in the third sequence, when the Raptors reached a 26 points advantage, 88-62. Leonard posted a double-double, 29 points, 10 rebounds, Siakam added 21, and Valanciunas 17.
Dwayne Wade looked like 10 years younger, dropping 35 on the Raptors defense, while Bam Adebayo had a monstrous night with 16 points and 21 boards.
Monstrous Performance by Enes Kanter
When talking about monstrous performance, we need to mention Enes Kanter who became the first Knicks player since 1997 to record 20+points and 25+rebounds in a game. The Turkish international posted 21 buckets and grabbed 26 rebounds in New York’s road win over the Memphis Grizzlies 103-98.
Utah blew out Sacramento away from home 133-112, without Donovan Mitchell, with Ricky Rubio’s 27 points. Rudy Gobert added 18 along with 15 rebs. Bogdan Bogdanovic had a team-high for the Kings, 20.
Kent Bazemore’s points, 4.6 seconds before the buzzer, brought a win to the Atlanta Hawks in one very intense battle against the Charlotte Hornets, 124-123. Bazemore scored 20 points, while Trae Young finished the night with 18 and 5 assists. Malik Monk had 26 for the guests, and Kemba Walker 22 and 9 dimes.