The Spurs put pressure on the Thunder and the Sixers get into the fight for the NBA playoffs

San Antonio Spurs this Saturday it overwhelmed Milwaukee Bucks and thus put more pressure on Oklahoma City Thunder in the fight for the top of the NBA Western Conference, on a day in which Philadelphia 76ers showed signs of recovery again, this time against Charlotte Hornets.

The Spurs beat the Bucks 127-95 and they were 2 games behind the Thunder with 8 games remaining until the end of the regular season.

Frenchman Victor Wembanyama led the Spurs with 23 points and 15 rebounds, supported by Stephon Castle’s 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the victory at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

San Antonio was above 55% shooting against the Bucks already without ambitions this season, who played without the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Giannis, whose future remains up in the air, missed the Bucks’ last six games due to a knee injury and the Greek is not expected to compete again this season.

The Bucks’ leading scorer was Gary Trent Jr., with 18 points.

The recovery of the Sixers

After sinking the Chicago Bulls with 157 points and 22 triples, The Sixers achieved an important victory on their visit to the Charlotte Hornets: 118-114.

They did it to the rhythm of their three stars: Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey.

Embiid scored 29 points, George had a double-double of 26 points and 13 rebounds and Maxey contributed 26 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists.

The 76ers are seventh (41-33) and are putting pressure on the Atlanta Hawks (42-33).

The Hornets are ninth in the East (39-35), tied with the Miami Heat, against whom they would play in the first round of the play-in.

Detroit Pistons establish themselves at the top of the East

Detroit Pistons reinforced their lead in the East with a comfortable 109-87 victory on their visit to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Pistons won their fifth game in six played without their brightest star, Cade Cunningham, and have the best record in the East, 54-20. They are ahead of the Boston Celtics (49-24), with eight games still to play.

Tobias Harris led the Pistons with 18 points and led a group of seven Detroit players with double figures in scoring.

The Wolves played without Anthony Edwards for the sixth straight game and were never in the game. They only connected on 31% of their field goals. Donte DiVincenzo was Minnesota’s leading scorer with 22 points.

The Wolves are fifth in the West (45-29) and could be caught in the standings by the Houston Rockets (44-29).

Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 27 points and Atlanta Hawks made 8 of 12 three-pointers in the fourth quarter to resist a comeback from the Sacramento Kings and win 123-113.

Atlanta coach Quinn Snyder reached 500 career wins.

Jalen Johnson had 26 points and 10 assists, while Jock Landale contributed 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Hawks, who won for the 15th time in their last 17 games.

Cedric Coward scored 24 points, including two on free throws with 6.5 seconds left, and Memphis Grizzlies resisted to beat the Chicago Bulls 125-124.

Tyler Burton finished with 18 points and Jahmai Mashack added 17 for Memphis, which snapped a five-game losing streak.

Matas Buzelis led Chicago with 29 points and Josh Giddey had 18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his 13th triple-double of the season with the Bulls, who lost three straight.

Jalen Green scored 31 points, Devin Booker added 26 and Phoenix Suns defeated Utah Jazz 134-109.

Grayson Allen scored 19 points, Oso Ighodaro scored 13 and Khaman Maluach added 12 and nine rebounds for the Suns, who had lost six of seven games. The victory brought Phoenix within 3 1/2 games of Houston, which occupies sixth place, the last place that avoids the need to compete in the play-in in the Western Conference.