INDIANA PACERS 113 – 114 NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
Brandon Ingram scored 30 points as the leader of the New Orleans Pelicans attack, which beat the Pacers in Indiana. Ingram, who also had 6 rebounds and 7 assists, helped the Pelicans (9-12) win their second straight game and fourth in last six games. The starting forward for the Pelicans confirmed that he is getting more and more with his individual and team game and scored 12 of 21 shots from the field. Point guard Lonzo Ball added 20 points and 9 rebounds, all defensive, while Zion Williamson added 18 points, handed out 5 assists and put up 3 blocks. Willy Hernangómez (2 points and 6 rebounds) returned to having quality minutes with the Pelicans after coach Stan Van Gundy took him out for 18 minutes as a reserve. The Pacers attack was led by guard-guard Justin Holiday, who scored 22 points. While guard Jeremy Lamb had 17 points and reserve forward Doug McDermott reached 14, without being able to avoid the defeat of the Pacers (12-11), second in a row.
ORLANDO MAGIC 123 – 119 CHICAGO BULLS
Nikola Vucevic’s scoring inspiration reached its peak as a professional, contributing a double-double of 43 points and 19 rebounds that was rewarded by the Orlando Magic’s win over the Bulls and breaking a four-game losing streak. With an advantage of up to 14 points at the beginning of the fourth period, Chicago took advantage of a recovery behind guard Zach LaVine and forged ties at 112 and 114, respectively.. Evan Fournier hit a jump shot from the baseline and two free throws in the final 81 seconds to give the Magic enough of an advantage to secure victory. Vucevic raised his professional best record and sealed the victory with two free throws and 2.6 seconds left in regulation time. The Magic center, who is competing for the All-Star for the second time in his career, scored 13 of Orlando’s first 15 points. Vucevic made 17 of 29 shots and 4 of 10 triples. Surpassed his previous record of 41 points, scored in 2017 against the Brooklyn Nets. The Bulls, for their part, lost their second consecutive game and for the fifth time in six of the last they have played. Friday’s loss was similar to Chicago’s to the New York Knicks on Wednesday, when the Bulls fell behind early, used a 20-5 run in the fourth quarter, but ultimately came up short. This time Chicago had a 29-15 run to tie the game, but once again couldn’t do enough to score the deciding goals. Vucevic was very helpful as Fournier scored 14 of his 20 points in a seven-minute streak in the second quarter. Rookie Cole Anthony added 17 points and 9 assists, in addition to hitting two free throws with 16.4 seconds to go. James Ennis III added 14 points for Orlando, which improved to 8-1 this season in games when they have the lead at halftime.. The Magic kept LaVine under control for most of the game, without him being a winning factor for the Bulls after coming into the game averaging 26.5 points per night. LaVine missed six of his first seven shots and had just two points in the first three quarters. He finished with 26 points and 8 assists. Both teams will meet again tomorrow, Saturday, in Orlando.
BROOKLYN NETS 117 – 123 TORONTO RAPTORS
Total mess. Durant is late to the game against Toronto due to the anti-COVID protocol and has to leave the court, very angry, for the same. In madness, the Nets lost. Check the chronicle here.
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS 105 – 123 MILWAUKEE BUCKS
Giannis Antetokounmpo confirmed his great moment of form and with a double-double of 33 points and 12 rebounds allowed the Milwaukee Bucks to defeat the Cleveland at home. The victory came in the first game of a tour of six that began the Milwaukee team. The Bucks outplayed the Cavaliers in the fourth quarter and won their third straight game. Antetokounmpo committed two early fouls and started slow, but the current (NBA MVP found his rhythm in the second half, scoring 22 points. Jrue Holiday had 17 points with 7 assists and Khris Middleton scored another 15 for the Milwaukee team, which He is 14-8, leaders in the Central Division and second in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers (10-13) had the contribution of Collin Sexton, who scored 19 points that did not prevent his second consecutive loss. Andre Drummond had 18 points and 9 rebounds, while Darius Garland reached 13 points.
CHARLOTTE HORNETS 121 – 138 UTAH JAZZ
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 31 points as the leader of the Jazz, who beat the Hornets on the road for their third consecutive win. Bogdanovic had seven triples and the Jazz (18-5) added their 14th win in 15 games that consolidates them with the best brand in the Northwest Division, the Western Conference and the League. Donovan Mitchell had 30 points and reserve point guard Jordan Clarkson had another 15 as the Jazz’s sixth player. Rudy Gobert added a double-double of 12 points and 15 rebounds that left him leading the Jazz’s interior game, which overcame a 12-point deficit and led the Hornets 22-39 in the second quarter to take control of the game. For the Hornets, the rookie point guard Lamelo Ball contributed 34 points, his best mark as a professional, 4 rebounds and 8 assists, which left him leader of the team. Ball, selected number three by the Hornets, became the first rookie to score 30 or more points for the Charlotte team since Walter Hermann did it in 2007. Gordon Hayward had a double-double of 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, while guard Terry Rozier scored 15 points for the Hornets. The Hornets (10-13) lost to both Conference leaders this week after winning three straight victories.
MIAMI HEAT 122 – 95 WASHINGTON WIZARDS
Kendrick Nunn has once again shown that he is in great form, scoring 25 points as the leading scorer for the Heat, who beat the Wizards and snapped a two-game losing streak. Bam Adebayo, with 21 points, and power forward Kelly Olynyk, who scored another 17, were also the reference of the balanced attack of the Miami team (8-14). For the Wizards, the Ukrainian reserve center Alex Len contributed 18 points as the top scorer for the Washington team (5-14), which returned to the path of defeat. The point guard Russell Westbrook stayed at 13 points and Rui Hachimura added 12 points, which also did not prevent defeat. Bradley Beal, the NBA’s scoring leader, with an average of 34.8 points, missed his first 13 field goal attempts on Friday, and finished with seven goals in 27 minutes of action, his worst game of the season. It is the first time in the entire course that Beal has remained below 25 points.
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER 103 – 106 MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
After leaving the Suns, Ricky tiptoed through OKC before joining the Wolves. Weeks later, Minnesota prevails in a duel of the lower part of the NBA. Check the chronicle here.
PHOENIX SUNS 109 – 92 DETROIT PISTON
Devin Booker scored 23 points and led the Suns to victory over the Pistons. Point guard Chris Paul added 20 points and center Frank Kaminsky had another 15. Kaminsky also played his first game as a starter. Paul continued his streak of the past few weeks. The 10-time All-Star, who came to the Suns in a trade with the Thunder during the market, is averaging more than 22 points in the last seven games, and Phoenix has won four of them. For the Pistons, power forward Jerami Grant led the attack with 21 points. Rookie Saddiq Bey scored 14 points and center Mason Plumlee had 11, with 8 rebounds. The Pistons struggled in almost every facet of the game, but especially long-range shooting. They scored only 7 3s of 36 attempts, a poor 19%. The Pustons have lost three straight games and eight of their last 10. They are now at 5-17, the worst in the NBA.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS 115 – 119 BOSTON CELTICS
Extraordinary second half for Boston, which left the Clippers at 20 points in the third quarter. Tatum, with 34, beat Kawhi (28). Check the chronicle here.