Lauri Markkanen makes Mavericks his latest victim

By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net

Lauri Markkanen scored 29 points and grabbed five rebounds as the Utah Jazz beat the Luka Doncic-less Dallas Mavericks 109 – 100. The Finnish forward also hit a key 3-pointer down the stretch with the score 108 – 103 to push back a comeback attempt by the Mavs.

Doncic was out due to an ankle sprain and his absence was, as always, visible on the Mavs’ offense. Dallas is 0-6 without the Slovenian superstar out of a 26-25 record overall.

The Jazz have one game and one win more to remain in the Play-In zone.

Too much Nikola Vucevic and Chicago Bulls for the Orlando Magic. The Montenegrin center dominated in every way with 26 points, 13 rebounds and six assists and the Orlando Magic fell 109 – 128.

Moe Wagner led the Magic with a season-high 27 points in 23 minutes but his team Orlando needed contribution for more players to counter Vucevic, along with DeMar DeRozan (32 points, eight assists) and Zach LaVine (32 points).

The Washington Wizards are on a roll with Deni Avdija as a key contributor. This time, the Israeli forward had 15 points and nine rebounds as his team defeated the New Orleans Pelicans to register its fifth straight win.

Avdija came off the bench and was a team-high-tying +14 in +/-. He shot 5-8 from the field and 4-6 from the free-throw line.

Jonas Valanciunas received a Flagrant-2 foul and left the game after an elbow hit on Taj Gibson, nine minutes into the match.

Rudy Gobert had 13 points plus 14 rebounds to help the Minnesota Timberwolves defeat the Sacramento Kings 117 – 100. Domantas Sabonis put up 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Sacramento.

The rest of Saturday’s results and notable Euro performers:

Philadelphia 76ers – Denver Nuggets 119 – 126 (Nikola Jokic 24 points/nine assists/eight rebounds)

Brooklyn Nets – New York Knicks 122 – 115

Detroit Pistons – Houston Rockets 114 – 117 (Bojan Bogdanovic 18 points)

Atlanta Hawks – Los Angeles Clippers 113 – 120 (Iviza Zubac 18 points/six rebounds, Clint Capela 12 points/13 rebounds)

San Antonio Spurs – Phoenix Suns 118 – 128

Boston Celtics – Los Angeles Lakers 125 – 121

Portland Trail Blazers – Toronto Raptors 105 – 123

2022-23 STANDINGS

EAST

WEST