By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The Oklahoma City Thunder (19-24) poured a season-high of 27 threes to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves (10-33) 112-103. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the team’s efforts with 31 points, while Aleksej Pokusevski tapped 13 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in his seventh straight start, making this his second double-double of the season. Theo Maledon also added up 9 points and 5 assists for the winners.
Karl-Anthony Towns paced the Timberwolves with 33 points, 10 rebounds and Ricky Rubio had 11 points and 11 assists.
Western Conference leaders Utah Jazz (31-11) overcame the Chicago Bulls (19-23) 120-95 on Monday for the second straight win after a series of defeats.
Donovan Mitchell led all scorers with 30 points, while Rudy Gobert recorded a new career-high with 9 blocks, along with 21 points, 10 rebounds. Joe Ingles had 17 points for the Jazz coming from the bench.
Zach LaVine’s 27-point performance wasn’t enough for the Bulls to stay on the winning track. Tomas Satoransky had 13 points, 4 assists in 30 minutes and Lauri Markkanen posted 8 points and 7 rebounds.
Jonas Valanciunas dominated the boards once again as the Memphis Grizzlies (20-20) defeated the Boston Celtics (21-22) 132-126. The Lithuanian big man tapped 16 points along with 19 rebounds to help his team reach the win, as Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks scored 29 and 24 points respectively for Memphis.
Jaylen Brown paced the Celtics with 27 points, 9 rebounds, Jeff Teague had 26 points and Daniel Theis posted 13.
Despite missing Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks (28-14) held on to get a 140-113 win over the Indiana Pacers (19-23) at home, led by Jrue Holiday’s 28-point performance. Khris Middleton added 25 points for the winners and Pat Connaughton had 20 in the Bucks 7th straight victory.
On the other end, Domantas Sabonis dropped 22 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists to lead the Pacers.
De’Aaron Fox tapped 30 points and Tyrese Haliburton had a career-high with 28 points as the Sacramento Kings (18-25) beat the Cleveland Cavaliers (16-27) 119-105 on the road. JaVale McGee paced the Cavs with 18 points and 9 rebounds and Collin Sexton had 15 points and 7 assists.
The Houston Rockets (12-30) finally snapped back from a 20-game slip with a 117-99 win against the Toronto Raptors (17-26), as John Wall recorded a triple-double with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Jaesean Tate led the overall effort with 22 points and Sterling Brown posted 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets.
Fred VanVleet had 27 points and 8 rebounds for Toronto, while Pascal SIakam tapped 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points, Terance Mann added a season-high 21 and the Los Angeles Clippers (28-16) bounced back from a 22-point deficit in the second half to snap the Atlanta Hawks‘ eight-game winning streak (22-21) with a 119-110 victory.
Trae Young had 28 points and eight assists, and John Collins scored 23 points for the Hawks who haven’t lost any other game in March.
Gordon Hayward scored 27 points, Terry Rozier added 24 and Charlotte Hornets (21-21) defeated the San Antonio Spurs (22-18) 100-97 despite lacking LaMelo Ball who is sidelined with a wrist injury.
DeMar DeRozan had 28 points and Derrick White added 21 for the Spurs that slipped their second game in a row.
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