Ben Simmons (11 points at 4/7, 7 rebounds, 11 assists) expected Philly fans to be “noisier” but was still whistled for his return to Pennsylvania tonight. Facing the Sixers (16/32 at 3-pointers against 9/28) yet deprived of Harden, Embiid and Maxey and led by 24 points from Tobias Harris, Brooklyn (23 points from Kyrie, 20 from KD), dominated 49- 35 on the rebound and 30-24 in the final quarter, lost 9 points at the Wells Fargo Center.
In Sacramento we were able to celebrate a 7th victory in a row by turning on the laser: De’Aaron Fox (32 points at 11/21, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals) and Harrison Barnes (26 points at 7/13) led the team against Memphis despite the return of Ja Morant (34 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists). The latter brought his team to 109-108 at 5.3 seconds but Malik Monk returned 2 shots behind. Morant missed 2 of 3 in stride.
After 7 defeats in a row, Detroit found the way to success in Denver, led by 22 points from Bojan Bogdanovic. The Pistons had yet to win on the road this season. Alec Burks scored 7 of his 21 points in the final quarter. The team made the Nuggets suffer an 11-1 (31 points at 12/16, 9 rebounds and 10 assists from Nikola Jokic) to go from +2 to +12 (96-84) in the 4th.
Finally Phoenix led by Devin Booker (25 points at 10/24, 4 rebounds, 5 assists) and Mikal Bridges (25 points at 10/17, 6 rebounds, 3 assists), ended the Lakers’ 3-game winning streak. Patrick Beverley was sent off late in the game for an altercation with Deandre Ayton following a flagrant foul whistled at Booker against Austin Reaves. Anthony Davis signs 37 points (11/17, 15/16 in free throws), 21 rebounds, 5 blocks and 5 steals in vain. LA finished just 4/22 from 3-point range, compared to 16/34 for the Suns.
Sixers – Nets 115-106
Kings – Grizzlies 113-109
Pistons – Nuggets 110-108
Suns – Lakers 115-105
