The Boston Celtics have taken a close win against the Washington Wizards, despite 46 points from Bradley Beal. His good buddy Jayson Tatum spoils the game and saves the Celtics with a game winner. Suns guard Devin Booker is hot against the Timberwolves, the Grizzlies dismantle the Rockets with a franchise record. And: The Hornets celebrate a crazy comeback victory in Sacramento.
Daniel Theis also knows how to please in the crime thriller between the Celtics and Wizards. The Knicks are back with a positive balance and Miami puts Trae Young cold.
Milwaukee Bucks (21-13) – L.A. Clippers (24-12) 105:100 (BOXSCORE)
You can find the detailed match report here.
Toronto Raptors – Chicago Bulls: Postponed
After several Raptors players were included in the corona protocol, Toronto could not compete with the necessary eight men. Pascal Siakam and head coach Nick Nurse were already unavailable last Friday after they were included in the corona protocol.
Boston Celtics (17-17) – Washington Wizards (13-19) 111:110 (BOXSCORE)
- Two victories in a row, the Celtics haven’t been able to do that since the end of January! This dry spell has now come to an end, even if the success against the Wizards was anything but convincing. Only a game winner from Jayson Tatum a few seconds before the end saved Boston, Washington in the end even Bradley Beal’s 46 points were not enough.
- The Wizards have lost the eleventh game in a row in which the Shooting Guard cracked the 40-point mark. He seemed to bring the guests with 14 points in the final section on the winning road, a good three minutes before the end Russell Westbrook (24 and 11 rebounds, 10/22 FG) sank a threesome and put on +8. But Boston stormed back again, in the final minute Tatum then took command.
- 15 seconds before the final buzzer, he shortened it to 109: 110 with an acrobatic layup, the Celtics then doubled Beal after the throw-in. The 27-year-old stepped on the line, Boston possession. And again it was Tatum who refueled to the basket and sank the game winner against two defenders. In the final turn of the Wizards, Boston made life difficult for Beal with a good double team, his jumper only landed on the ring.
- Tatum was the home team’s best scorer with 31 points (12/22 FG, 3/10 threesome), while Kemba Walker (21 and 8 assists) and Daniel Theis (20 and 9 rebounds, 8/11 FG) also showed strong performances. The German delivered a good production, especially at the beginning of the final section, when he kept the Celts in the game with several pick’n’pop jumpers. The offense of the Celtics had problems for a long time, in the middle of the third quarter the hosts even had more turnover (18 in total) than assists.
- Without the injured Jaylen Brown (knee) and Marcus Smart (calf), Boston also had enormous problems getting Beal under control. The Guard sank 16 of his 29 field throw attempts. Davis Bertans scored 20 points (5/9 threes) from the bench, Moritz Wagner (13 minutes) and Isaac Bonga (16 minutes) remained without points. The latter partly knew how to convince defensively.
Detroit Pistons (9-25) – New York Knicks (18-17) 90:109 (BOXSCORE)
- The Knicks ended February with another win, the seventh of the last nine games, and are thus back on a positive balance sheet. According to SportRadar New York was last in 2012/13 at such a late point in a season with a win rate of over 50 percent. That is currently even enough for fourth place in the east.
- When visiting Detroit, the Knicks had a relatively easy game. The home side kept up well for a quarter and a half, then New York gave themselves some breathing space with a 14-2 run. After the break, Julius Randle made sure that victory was no longer in danger. The Big scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half and New York pulled out to 24 points.
- RJ Barrett contributed 21 points and Alec Burks came off the bench on 16. Derrick Rose put on 14 points (6/14 FG) and 5 assists on his return to Detroit. New York sank a total of over 50 percent from the field, so Detroit (38.4 percent FG) could not keep up. Ultimately, the 21 points from Jerami Grant (7/19 FG) or the 15 points from Wayne Ellington did not help much.
Miami Heat (17-17) – Atlanta Hawks (14-20) 109:99 (BOXSCORE)
- Speaking of positive results: The Miami Heat are finally getting a taste of it again, after the Eastern champion was bobbing around in the table basement a few weeks ago. Against the Hawks, Miami expanded the current longest winning streak in the league to six games and is now 17-17. The most diligent point collector for the Heat was Kendrick Nunn with 24 points.
- It was he too who sank an important threesome two and a half minutes before the end, which put the Heat a bit at a distance. The home side followed up with an alley-oop from Bam Adebayo and another three from Goran Dragic and used a late 10-0 run to bring the victory to a dry sheet. Defense was a decisive factor.
- Especially Trae Young had the heat under very good control, the point guard only recorded 15 points at 3/14 from the field and 2/8 from downtown. His 9 assists and 8 rebounds also faced 7 ball losses. “He knows the teams throw a lot of different defensive strategies at him,” said Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce. “The focus is often on getting the ball out of his hands. We have a means of punishing this, but if you don’t hit throws then there is nothing you can do.”
- Young hadn’t scored a single point on the scoreboard until a good three minutes before the end of the first half, and it wasn’t much better for his colleagues. Atlanta only hit 8/35 from a distance, only John Collins (34, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks at 13/21 FG) and Clint Capela (20, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks) delivered strong production. On the side of the Heat, who had to do without Jimmy Butler (knee), Nunn also convinced Adebayo (16, 13 boards, 5 assists and 3 blocks), Tyler Herro (12 of 14 points in the fourth quarter), Precious Achiuwa (14) and Dragic (13).
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