By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Luka Doncic flirted with triple-double numbers as the Dallas Mavericks (17-16) defeated Orlando Magic (13-22) 130-124 on Monday night.
Doncic, who recently turned 22, posted 33 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists to pace his team to victory, alongside Kristaps Porzingis who had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Mavs.
Red-hot Nikola Vucevic wasn’t enough for the Magic who slipped their fourth straight game, despite tapping 29 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists for his team, while Evan Fournier followed with 26 points.
Nikola Jokic also came close to triple-double numbers and the Denver Nuggets (19-15) prevailed over Chicago Bulls (15-18) 118-112. The Serbian big man posted 39 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists, and narrowly missed his 50th career-triple double.
Zach LaVine led all scorers of the Bulls with 23 points and Coby White had 20 points.
Bojan Bogdanovic posted 31 points and Rudy Gobert added up 22, though the Utah Jazz (27-8) fell to Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans (15-19). Williamson registered 26 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists as the Pelicans held off the current league-leaders’ comeback to grab a 129-124 win.
Joel Embid had 24 points and 15 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers (23-12) bounced back to grab a 130-114 victory over the Indiana Pacers (15-18). Malcolm Brogdon led the Pacers with 20 points and All-Star Domantas Sabonis had 15 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.
James Harden added a triple-double with 30 points, 15 assists and 14 rebounds and the Brooklyn Nets (23-13) overcame the San Antonio Spurs (17-13) 124-113 in overtime. This marked the Nets‘ first win in San Antonio after 17 games, with their last win tracing back to January 22, 2002. DeMar DeRozan led the Spurs with 22 points, 11 assists.
Collin Sexton had 39 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers (14-21) forced the Houston Rockets (11-22) to their 12th consecutive defeat with a 101-90 victory, their fourth straight. John Wall added 32 points for the Rockets and Victor Oladipo had 20 points.
Carmelo Anthony added 29 points for the Portland Trail Blazers (19-14) coming off the bench, to lead his team to a 123-111 win against the Charlotte Hornets (16-18). Anthony hit 6 out of the Trail Blazers‘ franchise-high 24 threes to bounce back from a four-game losing streak. Damian Lillard had 23 points for the winners, while Enes Kanter tapped 11 points and 11 rebounds. On the other end of the court, Lamelo Ball dropped 30 points and 8 rebounds for the Hornets.
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