The Lakers won again in Houston, the Nuggets fell in Memphis and the Hawks remain unstoppable
Luka Doncic This Wednesday he converted 40 points in the second victory of Los Angeles Lakers in Houston in 48 hours, Memphis Grizzlies surprised Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks won his eleventh game in a row.
Doncic reached the triple-double, with 10 assists and 9 rebounds, in addition to his 40 points to the 124-116 of the Lakers against the Rocketstwo days after winning 100-92.
The victory consolidates the Lakers as third in the West (44-25) while sinking the Rockets to fifth position (41-27), now surpassed by the Minnesota Timberwolves (43-27).
LeBron James finished with 30 points after shooting an excellent 13 of 14 from the field (92.9%), while on the other side of the court, Kevin Durant had to settle for 18 points after closing the first half with a single basket.
The Rockets overturned a 12-point deficit at halftime with a 37-22 run in the third quarter, with 13 points from Durant, but they were unable to maintain the level in the final stretch.
The Lakers became experts at winning games in the final minutes, the complete opposite of the Rockets.
Memphis Grizzlies surprised Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets received a new blow when they were defeated 125-118 in Memphisagainst the Grizzlies who had lost their last eight games.
Serbian Nikola Jokic almost reached the triple-double (29-14-9), but had 10 costly losses. Furthermore, the Nuggets’ substitutes only contributed 18 points.
Ty Jerome (21-9-9) also had a triple-double, leading the Grizzlies who were ahead almost the entire game.
In the fight for third place in the West with the Lakers, Rockets and Timberwolves involved, the Nuggets were relegated to sixth place with a balance of 42-28.
Eleven consecutive wins for Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks added their eleventh consecutive victory by beating the Dallas Mavericks at home by 135-120their best streak in more than a decade and a victory with which they are already at the gates of the playoff positions.
The Hawks (38-31) share seventh position with the Miami Heat, just half a game behind the Orlando Magic (38-30).
CJ McCollum, key since his transfer in January from Washington, scored 24 points, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 22 and Jalen Johnson finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists.
Oklahoma City Thunder defeated Brooklyn Nets 121-92. The Nets were down to 24 points at halftime, the second-worst record in NBA history, behind the Phoenix Suns’ record of 22 points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points in just 25 minutes on the court.
Boston Celtics beat Golden State Warriors 120-99 with 32 points from Jaylen Brown and 24 from Jayson Tatum, while Minnesota Timberwolves, without Anthony Edwards, overwhelmed the Utah Jazz 147-111.
Toronto Raptors defeated Chicago Bulls 139-109 to continue taking air in the East and Los Angeles Clippers fell 124-111 against New Orleans Pelicans which, outside of all competition, is having a good end to the season.
Indiana Pacersthe last NBA finalist, added another defeat – the fifteenth in a row – and remains the worst team in the league with a balance of 15-55. They fell to the Portland Trail Blazers 127-119.
