There were only two NBA regular season meetings on Tuesday, and both involved French players. Evan Fournier and the New York Knicks were beaten in front of their home crowd by the Minnesota Timberwolves (112-110). The tricolor rear was the best scorer of the match with 27 points (10/17 shooting including 5/10 from three points).
The visitors had made the best start, counting up to 12 points ahead (61-49, 24th) in the first period. New York then regained control and dug a small gap at the end of the third quarter (91-82, 34th), quickly taken over however by Minnesota.
Fournier blocked for the equalizer
The last quarter was very tight. The Timberwolves took the lead for the last time (110-109), 30 seconds from the buzzer, on a Karl-Anthony Towns shot. A free throw from the latter and then another from Patrick Beverley finally allowed Minnesota to win. Evan Fournier could have equalized, but his shot was blocked by Jaden McDaniels. Alec Burks then missed a three-point shot for the Knicks.
It’s a second consecutive defeat for New York, already beaten at home by Charlotte (97-87) on Sunday. Besides Fournier, the New York franchise relied on Julius Randle (21 points), Kemba Walker (19 pts) and RJ Barrett (17). Minnesota won, thanks in particular to Anthony Edwards (21 pts), Towns (20) and D’Angelo Russell (17).
Klay Thompson leading scorer
In the other game of the night, the Golden State Warriors dominated the Detroit Pistons (102-86), penultimate in the Eastern Conference. The Californians quickly distanced themselves, since they were already leading 66-38 at the break. Klay Thompson (21 pts), Andrew Wiggins (19) and Stephen Curry (18) won Golden State. Back from injury, Thompson delivered his best performance of the season, in five matches played.
On the Detroit side, Killian Hayes only played nine minutes. The young Frenchman (20) injured his hip in the first half. He returned a completely blank stats sheet (0/3 shooting). Rodney McGruder was the Pistons’ leading scorer with 19 points.
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