The Denver Nuggets fell to second and the Warriors returned to the top without doing anything, all thanks to a big night from the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit steamrolled the Western Conference top seed in what could be said as one of their best wins of the NBA season. Andre Drummond came up huge for Motor City and deserved credit for holding his ground against All-Star and MVP candidate Nikola Jokic.
On the other games, the Houston Rockets continue their rise at the expense of the Suns and are now fifth after the San Antonio Spurs suffered a surprising defeat to the Sacramento Kings.
Denver Nuggets 103-129 Detroit Pistons
The NBA 2019 odds at SBOBET were clear on this game: Detroit—out of the playoff picture in the weak Eastern Conference—have no match against West-best Denver.
Boy, we (and the odds) couldn’t be more wrong.
Detroit are the NBA’s worst 3-point shooting team, but they got themselves a great night from beyond the arc and connected 16 of their 37 attempts from deep to trash the Nuggets.
Drummond was pivotal for the team, finishing with 27 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three blocks. However, the Pistons also received a massive boost from their bench unit that outscored the Nuggets’, 60-28.
Stanley Johnson led the reserve squad with 21 points, 13 of which came in the fourth quarter when they led by as much as 29 points. Langston Galloway chipped in 18 while Luke Kennard had 14.
With Jamal Murray and Gary Harris absent, the Nuggets had limited options offensively. It didn’t help they were outrebounded by the Pistons, 53-32.
Atlanta Hawks 137-129 Washington Wizards
Talk about sharing the ball!
Nine Atlanta Hawks players scored in double figures to torch the Wizards, who have lost their second consecutive match.
The difference maker for Atlanta, though, is their three-point shooting. The team made 20 of 41 attempts from beyond the arc, with Taurean Prince and Kevin Huerter going for five triples each.
Prince led all Hawks scorers with 21 while Huerter finished with 19. Rookie sensation Trae Young shot awfully at 15.4 percent, but he did make 10 assists to facilitate the Atlanta offence.
Bradley Beal bagged a game-high 27 points, but his efforts were not enough as the Wizards continue to struggle defensively. They were never able to recover after going down 35-20 in the opening quarter.
Milwaukee Bucks 113-94 Brooklyn Nets
Losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder last week seems to have a positive effect on the Milwaukee Bucks. Since that defeat, Milwaukee have won four straight—including their latest 19-point rout of the high-flying Brooklyn Nets.
Giannis Antetokounmpo nearly had a triple-double versus the Nets, putting up 30 points, 15 boards and nine dimes. The Greek Freak also had three blocks and shot an efficient 63.2 percent from the field.
First-time All-Star D’Angelo Russell made 18 points, but he was ineffective and went 7-of-20 from the field.
Both teams struggled offensively, shooting below 40 percent overall. However, a solid third-quarter display saw the Bucks pull away for good.
The defeat is Brooklyn’s third in a row.
Indiana Pacers 109-107 New Orleans Pelicans
Despite the absence of injured guard Victor Oladipo, the Indiana Pacers are doing well to stay in the playoff race.
The Hoosier State beat the New Orleans Pelicans, albeit in a relatively close encounter at Smoothie King Center. It was a nervy affair, to say the least, as the Pacers led by only six points or less in the final five minutes of play.
Unfortunately for the Pelicans, their shots didn’t fall, allowing Indiana to take the ugly W.
Darren Collison picked up the slack left by Oladipo and made 22 points on top of four rebounds and six assists. Domantas Sabonis, on the other hand, had 16 markers to go along with 13 boards.
Amid the trade rumours surrounding Anthony Davis, Jahlil Okafor and Jrue Holiday kept the Pelicans afloat. The two combined for 44 points.
Houston Rockets 118-110 Phoenix Suns
The Suns are serious in tanking for Zion Williamson. After all, they haven’t won—intentionally or not—for more than half a month now, with their defeat to the Pacers in mid-January starting their 11-game skid.
The Houston Rockets took advantage of the Suns’ apparent lack of motivation, and they never surrendered their lead after scoring the first basket 29 seconds into the match.
Houston led by as much as 20 points in the third quarter behind a well-balanced scoring from James Harden, Kenneth Faried, James Ennis and Chris Paul.
Harden grabbed 44 in the win, extending his scoring streak of 30-plus points to 27 straight games. Paul, meanwhile, had his best performance since returning from injury with 18 points, five rebounds, four assists and five steals.
San Antonio Spurs 112-127 Sacramento Kings
After producing one of their best NBA 2019 results against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Kings kept the momentum going to take down the Spurs.
Playing without injured point guard Derrick White, the Spurs had a hard time distributing the ball. That is evident with their 18 team assists, a huge difference to the Kings’ 26 dimes.
Rookie forward Marvin Bagley III took the spotlight, recording a career-high 24 points. The second overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft also tallied 12 boards, four assists, three blocks and one steal in an all-around effort for the Kings.
Although Spurs’ DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge combined for 46 markers, they didn’t get enough help from the bench unit that made a measly 32 points.
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