NBA: Golden State Warriors shoot the frustration out of their souls

After another away bankruptcy the day before, the Golden State Warriors shot their frustration out of their souls in front of their own audience. Suffering are the Spurs, who get a three-point firework from the reigning champion and a season high from Jordan Poole. Jimmy Butler saves the Heat victory with a spectacular block, the Celtics narrowly escape the OKC stumbling block and the Bucks stumble.

Detroit Pistons (3-12) – Toronto Raptors (8-7) 111:115 (BOXSCORE)

• The horror series is over: the Raptors have lost six times in a row to their ex-coach Dwane Casey and the Pistons, now Toronto has secured a narrow victory – although three starters were missing. The defense put a lot of pressure on it, Detroit made mistakes and Dalano Banton had his best game in the NBA so far.
• The guard pulverized and almost doubled his previous career high (14). In the absence of Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr., he stepped in with 27 points. Chris Boucher also contributed 20 points from the bench, OG Anunoby scored 19 points (6/19 FG) and a poster dunk.
• In the third quarter, Toronto took a significant lead (+14) for the first time, by which time the home side had already had 18 turnovers, which punished the Raptors mercilessly. Numerous missed Pistons free throws also helped the guests. Detroit handled both problems better in the latter part (19:17 total turnover) and clawed their way back, but Banton mostly had the right answer with 11 points in the latter part.
• For the Pistons, who currently have to do without Cade Cunningham, rookie Jaden Ivey defended himself with 21 points (6/16 FG) and 8 assists. Bojan Bogdanovic didn’t have his best shooting night (2/8 threes), but still scored 18 points. Alec Burks came off the bench with 15 points in his second game of the season.

Orlando Magic (4-10) – Charlotte Hornets (4-11) 105:112 (BOXSCORE)

• Another strong performance from Franz Wagner, but after two wins in a row it wasn’t enough for Orlando this time. Instead, Charlotte ended her own eight-game losing streak after a lightning start. Already in the first quarter, the Hornets were up to 14 points and never looked back.
• At the start of the game, Orlando missed the offense of Paolo Banchero, who had to miss for the third time in a row due to an ankle problem. Wagner again shouldered a lot of the burden, but early on magic turnover became a problem that didn’t change as the game progressed. The hosts gave away the ball 22 times, which Charlotte took advantage of in transition (18:4 fast break points).
• At least the bank around Mo Bamba (14 and 11 rebounds, 8 of them on the offensive board) and RJ Hampton (10) gave the Magic some life again, the starters then blew to catch up in the final section. About one and a half minutes before the end, Wagner was unlucky when his attempt looked into the ring from a short distance, but still fell out. Orlando could have narrowed it down to -5, instead the Hornets made everything clear on the other side.
• The German led his colors with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, his brother Moritz was again absent. Wendell Carter Jr. contributed 20 points, Bol Bol put up 14 and 9 rebounds (but also 6 turnovers). Among the guests, seven players scored in double digits, including the full starting five around Mason Plumlee (18 and 10), LaMelo Ball (17 and 9 assists, but 4/15 threes) or Terry Rozier (17, 1/8 threes).

Boston Celtics (11-3) – Oklahoma City Thunder (6-8) 126:122 (BOXSCORE)

• The Celtics’ winning streak continues into game seven, but that was a tough one working against troublesome Thunder who have been on the winning side for a long time. Only in the fourth quarter (37:26 Boston) did the home side turn the game – mainly thanks to Marcus Smart and Derrick White.
• The Celtics defense left a lot to be desired for much of the game. OKC didn’t notice that they were playing in the second part of a back-to-back, the Thunder performed with significantly more energy and commitment and were repeatedly successful, for example with backdoor cuts against the sleepy Celtics. OKC pulled away to 15 points before Payton Pritchard (10, 4 rebounds) started the comeback late in the third period.
• The two guards Pritchard and White gave Boston an important boost, the latter also defensively. Through numerous steals, the Celtics now forced loss after loss of possession (7 in the fourth quarter, 19 in total at OKC), Jayson Tatum provided the icing on the cake with a crashing dunk on an 8-0 run to equalize. Then came Smart with two key jumpers, White from Downtown and Smart again, who put the lid on the comeback win with a drive in the final minute.
• He scored 20 of his 22 points after the change of ends (plus 8 assists), White had 16 points from the bench and by far the best plus/minus (+21). Tatum ended the game after initial problems with 27 points (9/23 FG, 1/9 three) and 10 rebounds, Jaylen Brown had 26 points. The story of the game, however, was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for a long time, who once again impressed offensively with his drives and 37 points (13/26 FG, plus 8 assists). Lu Dort threw in 21 points and Aleksej Pokusevski a double-double (16 and 14 rebounds).