By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Bogdan Bogdanovic stepped up with 21 points, 8 assists to lead the Atlanta Hawks (33-27) to a 118-103 victory over the Miami Heat (31-29). With Clint Capela sidelined, John Collins contributed 20 points for the winners, while Danilo Gallinari posted 17 points and 5 rebounds coming from the bench.
The Heat had won their previous three games prior to traveling to Atlanta and had Kendrick Nunn scoring 21 points, while Jimmy Butler added 19 points and 7 assists.
The Golden State Warriors welcomed back their fans to the arena for the first time since the pandemic began to beat the Denver Nuggets 118-97, in a matchup of MVPs. Stephen Curry scored 32 points for the Warriors (30-30), while Nikola Jokic had 19 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists for the Nuggets (38-21).
Draymond Green added 19 assists and 12 rebounds for the hosts, while Michael Porter Jr. led all scorers of the Nuggets with 26 points.
The Brooklyn Nets returned to the top of the Eastern Conference after beating Boston Celtics 109-104 also, to improve to a 40-20 record.
The Nets, who signed Mike James to a 10-day deal on Friday, was paced by Joe Harris who tapped 20 points, Jeff Green added 19 and Kyrie Irving had 15 points and 11 rebounds. On the other end of the court, Jayson Tatum erupted with 38 points, 10 rebounds for the Celtics (32-28).
Russell Westbrook added up one more triple-double with 37 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to lead the Washington Wizards (26-33) to a 129-109 win against the Oklahoma City Thunder (20-40).
Theo Maledon and Darius Bazley each had 20 points for the Thunder and Aleksej Pokusevski tapped 8 points and 3 rebounds in 25 minutes.
Jusuf Nurkic’s double-double of 26 points and 17 rebounds wasn’t enough to save the day for the Portland Trail Blazers who fell to Memphis Grizzlies 130-128 at home. Ja Morant led the way for Grizzlies (30-28) with 33 points, 13 assists and Dillion Brook added 25 points, while Damian Lillard posted a team-high with 27 points for the Trail Blazers (32-27).
Miles Bridges had 25 points and 10 rebounds, as the Charlotte Hornets (29-30) erased a 10-point second-half deficit to prevail over the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 108-102 win.
P.J. Washington and Terry Rozier also each had 25 points and Devonte Graham added 10 assists for the Hornets, while Collin Sexton had 28 points and Darius Garland scored 27 for the Cavs.
Paul George tapped 33 points and 14 rebounds to help the Los Angeles Clippers (43-19) beat the Houston Rockets (15-45) 109-104 and win their fourth straight game. John Wall paced the Rockets with 27 points and 13 assists and Christian Wood had 24 points and 19 rebounds.