Los Angeles (United States), March 9. The Phoenix Suns defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in the upset home debut of Kevin Durant, who injured his ankle in warm-up, while the Dallas Mavericks lost to the New Orleans Pelicans and saw Luka Doncic retire in the third quarter with quadriceps discomfort.
SUN 132 – THUNDER 101
With 44 points and a fantastic 17 of 23 shots from the field (including 6 of 10 from 3-pointers), Devin Booker commanded the triumph of the Suns who have won four straight games.
Lindy Waters III (23 points) was the Thunder’s leading scorer without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
PELICANS 113 – MAVERICKS 106
Kyrie Irving (27 points and 6 rebounds) led a few Mavericks who, diminished by the mid-game departure of Doncic (15 points and 8 assists), fell during their time in New Orleans.
CJ McCollum (32 points) led the Pelicans in which Brandon Ingram (12 points) was injured and in which Spaniard Willy Hernangómez contributed 6 points, 3 rebounds and an assist.
NUGGETS 96 – BULLS 117
In a disappointing season in Chicago, the Bulls feasted by surprisingly beating the powerhouse Nuggets in Denver (30-5) thanks to 29 points from Zach LaVine and 25 points and 15 rebounds from Nikola Vucevic.
Nikola Jokic came close to a triple-double (18 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists) in Denver.
CELTICS 115 – BLAZERS 93 After four losses in their last five games, the Celtics caught their breath by beating the Blazers at home with 30 points and 7 rebounds from Jayson Tatum.
Dominican Al Horford had 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
Damian Lillard stood out for the Blazers with 27 points and 8 assists.
HEAT 100 – JUMPER 104
With Darius Garland (25 points and 7 assists) leading a group of five players with more than 10 points, the Cavaliers beat the Heat led by Jimmy Butler (28 points) during their visit.
Spaniard Ricky Rubio added 5 points and 4 assists with Cleveland.
CLIPPERS 108 – RAPTORS 100
Kawhi Leonard (24 points and 12 rebounds) and Paul George (23 points) shook hands in the Clippers’ win over a Raptors who had better three-point percentage (40.6%) than field goal total ( 38.5%).
Pascal Siakam (20 points and 6 rebounds) was the benchmark in attack for the Canadians.
MAGICIANS 120 – HAWKS 122
Kristaps Porzingis signed the best score of his NBA career with 43 points but the Wizards fell in a very close game against the Hawks.
Trae Young (28 points and 10 assists) took the lead for Atlanta.
. Rankings:
. Eastern Conference:
.1. Milwaukee Bucks 47-18
.2. Boston Celtics 46-21
.3. Philadelphia 76ers 43-22
.4. Cleveland Cavaliers 42-26
.5. New York Knicks 39-28
.6. Brooklyn Nets 37-28
.7. Miami Heat 35-32
.8. Atlanta Hawks 33-33
.9. Toronto Raptors 32-35
10. Wizards of Washington 31-35
11. Chicago Bulls 30-36
12. Indiana Pacers 29-37
13. Orlando Magic 27-39
14. Charlotte Hornets 21-46
15. Detroit Pistons 15-51
. Western Conference:
.1. Denver Nuggets 46-20
.2. Sacramento Kings 38-26
.3. Memphis Grizzlies 38-26
.4. Phoenix Suns 37-29
.5. Golden State Warriors 34-32
.6. Los Angeles Clippers 35-33
.7. Minnesota Timberwolves 34-33
.8. Dallas Mavericks 34-33
.9. Los Angeles Lakers 32-34
10. New Orleans Pelicans 32-34
11. Oklahoma City Thunder 31-35
12. Portland Trail Blazers 31-35
13. Utah Jazz 31-35
14. San Antonio Spurs 16-49
15. Houston Rockets 15-50
THE NEXT DAY (Thursday, March 9)
Indiana Pacers-Houston Rockets
Orlando Magic – Utah Jazz
Detroit Pistons – Charlotte Hornets
Memphis Grizzlies-Golden State Warriors
Milwaukee Bucks-Brooklyn Nets
Sacramento Kings – New York Knicks. ECE
dvp/ea
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