Dallas Mavericks, 99 – Brooklyn Nets, 102
Kevin Durant scored 24 points to lead the Brooklyn Nets 102-99 to victory over Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks. With one minute left, Durant soared over Finney-Smith and made the final score after an assist from Patty Mills, who prior to this play had scored a three-point basket. Tim Hardaway Jr., with 0.7 tenths remaining, had the tying shot, but his ball missed.
Durant, the best of the Nets (17-7), completed his great performance with 7 rebounds. The other great star of Brooklyn, James Harden, had 23 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists. In addition, Lamarcus Aldridge had 15 points, James Johnson 12 and Patty Mills 10 points.
For the defeated Mavericks (11-12), the best were Luka Doncic with 28 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds, Kristaps Porzingis with 17 points, 12 rebounds and Dorian Finney-Smith with 15 points.
San Antonio Spurs, 109 – New York Knicks, 121
The New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs (109-121) with 32 points from RJ Barrett in a great choral performance by the New York team that leaves its mark at 12-12 after the win. Alec Burks scored 18 points, Immanuel Quickley had 16, Julius Randle had 15 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, and Mitchell Robinson had 11 points and 14 rebounds.
For the Spurs (8-15) one more day the most complete on the court was the point guard Dejounte Murray with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Derrick White had 26 points and Doug McDermott and Jacob Poeltl each had 13 points.
Los Angeles Lakers, 117 – Boston Celtics, 102
Defensive strength and an explosive Russell Westbrook in the third quarter allowed the Los Angeles Lakers to clearly beat their great rivals, the Boston Celtics (117-102).
LeBron James was the Lakers ‘leading scorer (30 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists) but Westbrook (24 points and 11 assists) was the Los Angeles’ key man since his 15 points in the third set dynamited what until then was a very even match. Anthony Davis (17 points and 16 rebounds) also stood out in some Lakers (13-12) who enjoyed great aim (51.6% in shots to the basket).
On the part of the Celtics (13-12), Jayson Tatum (34 points and 8 rebounds) was too lonely and Dennis Schroder did not shine in the confrontation against his former team (10 points and 5 assists), while the Spanish Juancho Hernangómez got 3 rebounds and an assist in 5 minutes.
The game with the most legendary rivalry in the NBA (17 championships each team and historical duels such as Larry Bird and Magic Johnson) came this time with the two franchises in low hours, far from prestigious positions and still trying to find their pace this season.