In a powerful duel of MVP contenders between Jayson Tatum and Luka Doncic, the Boston Celtics prevailed this Wednesday in which the Sacramento Kings and the Indiana Pacers, who came with a solid winning streak, fell to the Atlanta Hawks and Minnesota Timberwolves, respectively.
Celtics 125, Mavericks 112
Jayson Tatum (37 points and 13 rebounds) and Jaylen Brown (31 points) joined hands to defeat the Dallas Mavericks of a great Luka Doncic (very close to the triple-double with 42 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists).
Dominican Al Horford had 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a block in 35 minutes for the Boston Celtics while Argentine Facundo Campazzo played 2 minutes for the Mavericks and contributed one point.
Hawks 115, Kings 106
After seven consecutive victories, something they hadn’t achieved since 2004, the Sacramento Kings lost to the Atlanta Hawks who dominated this game from start to finish thanks to Trae Young (35 points and 7 assists).
Malik Monk was the standout for Sacramento with 27 points.
Timberwolves 115, Pacers 101
Others who also saw their winning streak broken were the Indiana Pacers, who lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves after chaining five consecutive victories.
The joy thus changed the neighborhood since now it is the Wolves who have accumulated five games won in a row.
The Dominican-American Karl-Anthony Towns touched the triple-double (23 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists) while the Pacers were guided by Myles Turner (31 points and 7 rebounds).
Nuggets 131, Thunder 126
Until overtime and with a stellar Nikola Jokic (39 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists) it was the Denver Nugetts to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder and thus climb to second place in the West.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued his tremendous season with the Thunder, adding 31 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists.
Bulls 118, Bucks 113
A 3-pointer by Coby White and another by Nikola Vucevic, both in the last minute, gave the Chicago Bulls a valuable victory on their visit to Milwaukee just after defeating the Boston Celtics in their previous game.
Giannis Anteokounmpo had 36 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists but DeMar DeRozan responded to the Greek with 36 points and 8 assists.
The Spanish Serge Ibaka did not have minutes in the Bucks.
Warriors 124, Clippers 107
The Golden State Warriors had no mercy on a Clippers without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and they scored the win easily thanks to 31 points from Andrew Wiggins.
Marcus Morris (19 points) stood out in a Clippers that had arrived in San Francisco with three consecutive victories.
Heat 113, Wizards 105
The Miami Heat rebounded after losing four straight games and beat the Kyle Lowry-driven Washington Wizards with 28 points.
Kyle Kuzma was the top scorer for Washington with 33 points despite his lousy 2 of 13 triples.
Nets 112, Raptors 98
Kyrie Irving silenced the Toronto Raptors with 29 points (26 of them in the second half) in a game in which the Spanish Juancho Hernangómez got his first double-double with the Canadian team (10 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals in 33 minutes).
Gary Trent Jr., with 19 points, was the benchmark for the Raptors.
Hornets 107, Sixers 101
The Sixers accused the effort on Tuesday, when they beat the Brooklyn Nets in Ben Simmons’ return game to Philadelphia, and this Wednesday they lost to the Charlotte Hornets led by Terry Rozier (22 points and 6 assists).
Without Joel Embiid, James Harden and Tyrese Maxey due to injury, Shake Milton took over the Sixers with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists in a game in which neither team reached 30% from 3-pointers.
Cavaliers 114, Blazers 96
With four consecutive losses, the Portland Trail Blazers have lost much of their momentum in the first weeks of the season and this Wednesday they took the knee against the Cleveland Cavaliers led by Donovan Mitchell (34 points) and who, in turn, have four straight wins.
Jusuf Nurkic (22 points and 6 rebounds) led some Blazers in which Damian Lillard is still injured.
Pelicans 129, Spurs 110
Nor are the San Antonio Spurs raising their heads, who have already lost six games in a row after being defeated by Zion Williamson’s New Orleans Pelicans (32 points and 11 rebounds).
Puerto Rican José Alvarado had 5 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals in 30 minutes for the Pelicans while Willy Hernangómez of Spain had 3 points and a rebound in 5 minutes.
The top scorer for the Spurs was Devin Vassell (26 points and 8 assists).
Pistons 125, Jazz 116
Bojan Bogdanovic, with 23 points, shone in his return to Utah as the Detroit Pistons unexpectedly defeated the Jazz thanks to a 12 of 24 three-pointer.
Malik Beasley led the locals with 29 points.