By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Lauri Markkanen has been making a case for being an All-Star player throughout the 2022-23 season so far and made another statement last night with possibly the best game in his career so far.
Markkanen dropped a career-high 49 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Utah Jazz defeated the Houston Rockets 131 – 114 on the road. The Finnish forward had 15-27 shots, including 6-15 3-pointers, and made all of his 13 free-throw attempts en route to his new scoring record.
“I’ve said it over and over again this year, it’s just my teammates, the coaching staff, they put me in the right spots to succeed,” Markkanen said after the match. “My teammates did a great job delivering me the ball and it was just finishing my shots.”
Alperen Sengun delivered 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets that didn’t manage to keep up with the Jazz offense and contain Markkanen.
Nikola Jokic took a break from his otherworldly performances and looked pretty tame for his standards with 12 points, nine assists and six rebounds in 24 minutes to help the Denver Nuggets crush the Los Angeles Clippers 122 – 99 at home and bounced back to wins after a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Vlatko Cancar came off the bench to produce 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Ivica Zubac had eight points plus five rebounds for the Clippers.
Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks were on a roll with seven straight wins coming into the game against the Boston Celtics but Jayson Tatum couldn’t be denied. The Celtics’ superstar posted a triple-double of the 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists and his team took a 124 – 95 blowout victory.
Doncic scored 23 points but shot 7-23 and was 0-6 on 3-pointers. He had a season-low three assists while the Mavs finished with 34-90 from the field.
In the other Thursday’s (5/1) NBA game, the Memphis Grizzlies downed the Orlando Magic 123 – 115 behind Jarren Jackson’s 31 points plus 10 rebounds.