6 games in the NBA tonight, let's get right into it.
Mavericks beat Raptors 136-125
The Raptors fall to Doncic and his Mavericks after a strong 3 game winning streak. Barnes got another double double, 19 points, 11 rebounds. Barrett had 26 and IQ had 28, but the Mavs offense was just too much for the Raps to beat. Doncic with another triple double, 30-16-11, while Irving had 29 and Washington with 23. The Raps kept up with the Mavs in the first half, even leading by 1 at halftime. But the 3rd quarter was the difference, where the Mavs outscored the Raps 40 to 25. The Raps never caught up to the Mavs lead and ended up losing the ball. Dick had a flaccid shot tonight, going 1/3 for 3 and 3/6 field goals.
Pacers beat Pelicans 123-114
Pacers came out of the gate strong, scoring 40 in the 1st quarter to hold a commanding lead over the Pels. The Pels kept chipping away at the lead, eventually got to within 3 points late in the 4th; at that point the Pacers turned it on again and pulled away, giving the Pels a loss. The Pacers had 14 offensive rebounds and 34 assists.
Bulls beat Cavaliers 132-123 in double OT
This game needed double overtime to have an outcome. Cavs had an early lead in the 1st, but the Bulls quickly battled back to tied the game late in the 2nd. Then the game was neck in neck, with numerous lead changes in the 3rd. Cavs tried to make the separation early in the 4th, at one point leading by as much as 12 points. But the Bulls battled back and the game was tied with the Bulls having the final shot. DeRozan went up for a tough turnaround midrange jumper, but missed and the game was headed for overtime. OT saw the Cavs claiming the lead most of the time, but the Bulls kept it close and the game was tied again. This time in OT, the Cavs had last shot, Mitchell drove ahead, then had a sudden stop and attempted a pull up midrange jumper near the elbow. The shot missed. Second OT was needed to settle things. 2 OT was all Bulls, which saw them outscore the Cavs 17-8 to get the win. The Bulls dominated the boards this game, grabbing a total of 74 rebounds, with 25 of them being offensive rebounds. They had almost double the number of rebounds than the Cavs, as the Cavs only had 39 rebounds.
Timberwolves beat Grizzlies 110-101
With this win, the Timberwolves are 1st in the West again. Anthony Edwards had 34 points, but Jaren Jackson Jr. also had a good game, with 33 points and 13 rebounds. Although the game was close throughout, with the Grizzlies leading for quite some time, the Timberwolves took the lead in the 4th and held onto the lead to get the win.
Nuggets beat Kings 117-96
Another win for the Nuggets, another triple double for the Joker, this time 14 points, 11 assists, and 14 rebounds. Jama Murray had a good game scoring 32. The Kings without De'Aaron Fox (injured from the Heat game) was not able to beat the Nuggets. Kings got outscored 37-20 in the 2nd, 35-17 in the 3rd, and lost the game as a result.
Lakers beat Clippers 116-112
The battle of LA was fun to watch. The 1st quarter was very close in terms of scoring. 2nd and 3rd quarters saw the Clippers building a comfortable lead over the Lakers. But things got interesting in the 4th, when the Lakers came storming back scoring 39 to 16 in the final quarter and ended up taking the game. LeBron had 34 points, five 3's and 19 points all in the final quarter. AD had 20 points 12 rebounds. It was a nice come back win by the Lakers and shame on the Clippers for losing a 21 point lead.
For my subjective play of the day, I present to you the showmanship of Tyrese Haliburton and the powerful jam of the 2022 Slam Dunk contest champion Obi Toppin.
Thank you for reading today's recap. Feel free to comment below to share anything you have in mind or anything you would like to discuss. Cheers and have a good night!