Sometimes it’s Christmas in March with the NBA – as in an all-night big-game lineup. This is what we had on Thursday night, like Fight Night in the NBA with a card full of great matches. Let’s break them all down, starting with a declaration from the champions.
DENVER 115, BOSTON 109
“You come to the king, you better not miss it.”
Omar wasn’t talking about Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets when he said this line about “
The Wire,” but it might as well have been. The Boston Celtics have been the best team in the NBA this season – best record (48-14), best point differential (+11.1) and starting five with a net rating of +12.6.
However, they are 0-2 against the defending champions this season. The Celtics were reminded Thursday night that taking the Larry O’Brien Trophy away from the Nuggets would require another level of execution on their part.
Nikola Jokic strengthened his MVP case with 32 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his 20th triple-double of the season, leading Denver to the victory. His best plays of the game were two late alley-oops against Aaron Gordon, after Jokic backed his defender deep in the paint and forced Kristaps Porzingis to slide and assist (a play they called against the Lakers earlier in week and other teams this week). season also).
Boston wasn’t sharp against the Nuggets’ length — the ball got stuck too often, their passes weren’t crisp and Jayson Tatum had five of the team’s 12 turnovers on the night. They also shot 11 of 38 from 3 (28.9%), Boston’s reliance on that shooting leaving them vulnerable when they’re not falling.
The only Celtic that was hot was Jaylen Brown, who finished with 41 points. Kristaps Porzingis had 24 points but needed 23 shots to get there. Jrue Holiday came on late and scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth to keep it close.
Jamal Murray added 19 points and eight assists for Denver, but ultimately it was the Nikola Jokic show — and no team in the league has figured out how to beat him yet.
DALLAS 114, MIAMI 108
This is exactly why none of the teams at the top of the West want to see Dallas in the first round – Luka Doncic can take over and take the Mavericks to victory almost any night.
On Thursday night, he had a triple-double of 35 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists against a top-10 Miami defense to help Miami hang on for the fourth and earn the victory. I mean, what are you going to do about it?
Kyrie Irving added 23 for the Mavericks, while Terry Rozier led Miami with 27.
MINNESOTA 113, INDIANA 111
This game initially felt like it was sparked on the first possession of the night, when Anthony Edwards tried to drive down the baseline, stepped on defender Aaron Nesmith’s foot and kicked him rolled his ankle. He limped straight back to the locker room and Timberwolves Nation held its breath.
Don’t worry, Ant’s ankle was fine. Not only was he back on the court four minutes later – presumably after further tape work – Edwards dominated the rest of the game, scoring 44 points, then making the block of the season to save the game and avoid overtime.
SACRAMENTO 131, SAN ANTONIO 129
Let’s ignore the fact that the Kings needed late-game heroics to beat a Victor Wembanyama-less Spurs team and instead talk about this:
Domantas Sabonis should be seriously considered for All-NBA. I don’t know if he’ll make it; The Kings’ struggles don’t help his cause, but the man is averaging 19.8 points per game on 60.7% shooting (41.2% from 3) plus 13.5 rebounds and 8.4 assists decisive per night. On Thursday night, his breakaway steal and dunk proved to be the game-winning play.
CHICAGO 125, GOLDEN STATE 122
The story here isn’t that the Warriors are inconsistent — we already knew that — but rather that, late in the fourth quarter, Stephen Curry rolled his ankle and then limped back to the locker room.
Nikola Vucevic and DeMar DeRozan had big nights for the Bulls, each scoring 33 points. Vucevic was the hero, hitting two free throws with 6.1 seconds remaining to secure the victory.
