By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Led once again by Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks prevailed, 120-112, at the Cleveland Cavaliers and clinched a Playoff berth Wednesday. The Slovenian superstar banked in 35 points, 13 assists, nine rebounds, two blocks, and one steal in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. German Maxi Kleber and Latvian Davis Bertans added six and three points, respectively, but French Frank Ntilikina and Serbian Boban Marjanovic did not play. For the hosts, Finnish Lauri Markkanen registered 13 points with Turkish Cedi Osman stuck to the bench.
Similar to Doncic, Nikola Jokic fell one assist shy of yet another triple-double in the 2021-22 NBA Regular Season. The Serbian reigning MVP logged 37 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists, two steals, and one block powering the Denver Nuggets to the away win, 125-118, opposite the Indiana Pacers. Slovenian Vlatko Cancar (foot) has yet to be cleared to return to action. Starting for the home side, Georgian Goga Bitadze posted a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double with Spanish Ricky Rubio (knee) sidelined.
Shooting 11/18 from the field, Latvian Kristaps Porzingis dropped a game-high 35 points sending the Washington Wizards to the win, 127-110, over the Orlando Magic. Czech Tomas Satoransky did not score but logged a 13-assist, 10-rebound double-double. Israeli Deni Avdija contributed eight points, eight rebounds, and five assists. On to the visitors, German Franz Wagner recorded a team-high 28 points as his brother Moritz finished with four points and eight rebounds, and Lithuanian Ignas Brazdeikis ended up with ten points.
Besides Trae Young’s 41-point effort, Serbian Bogdan Bogdanovic put in 20 points as the Atlanta Hawks took down the Oklahoma City Thunder, 136-118. French Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot had ten points and Swiss Clint Capela grabbed 11 rebounds alongside four points. Italian Danilo Gallinari (elbow) was ruled out. On the losing end, French Theo Maledon and Olivier Sarr generated 18 points and a career-high 17 points, respectively, while Serbian Aleksej Pokusevski finished with 13 points and Czech Vit Krejci had nine points.
With the New York Knicks on the brink of elimination French Evan Fournier was initially ruled out due to personal reasons but became available and instead banked in 30 points. Connecting 6/8 three-pointers and 4/8 two-pointers were not enough to prevent the home loss to the Charlotte Hornets, 125-114. Lithuanian two-way player Arnoldas Kulboka remained assigned to the Greensboro Swarm, the Hornets’ G League affiliate.
Backed by Pascal Siakam putting up a triple-double with 12 points, 13 assists, and ten rebounds, the Toronto Raptors routed the Minnesota Timberwolves, 125-102. British OG Anunoby fired 22 points behind 9/13 field goals, including 4/4 triples. Ukrainian Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk missed his only shot and recorded one steal in a four-minute showing. German Isaac Bonga was on a G League assignment.
The Memphis Grizzlies edging the San Antonio Spurs, 112-111, clinched the Southwest Division title and the second seed in the Western Conference. Spanish Santi Aldama stayed on the bench with French Killian Tillie (knee) and Yves Pons on the injury list and G League assignment, respectively. For the Spurs, Austrian Jakob Poeltl went for nine points, seven rebounds, and five rebounds.
In his first NBA start, Spanish Usman Garuba registered eight points and seven rebounds as the Houston Rockets lost, 121-118, to the Sacramento Kings. German Dennis Schroder (shoulder) and Turkish Alperen Sengun (leg) were sidelined. The Kings, still missing Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis (knee), featured Ukrainian Alex Len packing two points but Portuguese Neemias Queta did not enter the court.
Lithuanian Jonas Valanciunas posted a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double, and CJ McCollum scored 25 points in his return to Portland as the New Orleans Pelicans claimed the win, 117-107, against the Portland Trail Blazers. Spanish teammate Willy Hernangomez did not play. Bosnian Jusuf Nurkic (foot) is among the several players sidelined by the Blazers.
German Daniel Theis scored 15 points in 17 minutes by making all of his six field-goal attempts but the Boston Celtics fell to the leaders of the Eastern Conference Miami Heat, 106-98. As for the team guided by Erik Spoelstra, Turkish Omer Yurtseven was not part of the rotation.
Deprived the services of Croatian Dario Saric (knee) since the 2021 NBA Finals, the Phoenix Suns improved their league-leading record to 62-14 by defeating the Golden State Warriors, 107-103. Serbian Nemanja Bjelica had five points, four rebounds, three assists, and one steal for the hosts.
Wednesday results:
Cleveland Cavaliers – Dallas Mavericks 112-120
Indiana Pacers – Denver Nuggets 118-125
Washington Wizards – Orlando Magic 127-110
Boston Celtics – Miami Heat 98-106
New York Knicks – Charlotte Hornets 114-125
Toronto Raptors – Minnesota Timberwolves 125-102
Houston Rockets – Sacramento Kings 118-121
Oklahoma City Thunder – Atlanta Hawks 118-136
San Antonio Spurs – Memphis Grizzlies 111-112
Golden State Warriors – Phoenix Suns 103-107
Portland Trail Blazers – New Orleans Pelicans 107-117
Standings:
Eastern Conference
1. y-Miami Heat 49-28
2. Milwaukee Bucks 47-28
3. Philadelphia 76ers 46-29
4. Boston Celtics 47-30
5. Chicago Bulls 44-32
6. Toronto Raptors 44-32
7. Cleveland Cavaliers 42-34
8. Brooklyn Nets 40-36
9. Charlotte Hornets 40-37
10. Atlanta Hawks 39-37
11. New York Knicks 34-43
12. Washington Wizards 33-43
13. x-Indiana Pacers 25-52
14. x-Detroit Pistons 20-56
15. x-Orlando Magic 20-57
Western Conference
1. y-Phoenix Suns 62-14
2. y-Memphis Grizzlies 54-23
3. y-Dallas Mavericks 48-29
4. Golden State Warriors 48-29
5. Denver Nuggets 46-31
6. Utah Jazz 45-31
7. Minnesota Timberwolves 43-34
8. Los Angeles Clippers 37-39
9. New Orleans Pelicans 33-43
10. Los Angeles Lakers 31-44
11. San Antonio Spurs 31-45
12. Sacramento Kings 28-49
13. Portland Trail Blazers 27-49
14. x-Oklahoma City Thunder 22-54
15. x-Houston Rockets 20-57
y-clinched Playoff berth
x-eliminated
Photo Credit: Getty Images