LeBron James returned this Sunday after a month off due to injury, but his Los Angeles Lakers fell at home against the Chicago Bulls, on an NBA day in which the Dallas Mavericks worsened their crisis by falling to the Charlotte Hornets and in the that a triple by Karl Anthony Towns with 9.9 seconds left condemned the Golden State Warriors.
Bulls 118, Lakers 108
LeBron James returned after recovering from a hamstring injury suffered on February 26 against the Mavericks and contributed 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists, but his Lakers were outplayed by a rising Bulls, who accelerated towards the playoffs. -in’.
There was no shortage of controversy and friction. Patrick Beverly, formerly of the Lakers and the Clippers, sealed the match with a basket against LeBron’s marking and openly provoked him with a gesture with his right hand attached to the parquet, suggesting that ‘King James’ was too short to contain him.
Hornets 110, Mavericks 104
The Dallas Mavericks suffered their fourth consecutive defeat and are still out of the ‘play-in’ positions in the West, despite the forty points, twelve rebounds and eight assists from Luka Doncic.
The Slovenian also received the sixteenth technical foul of the season, which entails a one-game suspension that he will serve against the Indiana Pacers this Monday.
The Mavericks have been lost since the ambitious trade that brought Kyrie Irving to Dallas in exchange for Dorian Finney Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie and, with seven losses in the last nine games, they went from being in direct access to the ‘playoffs’ to occupy the eleventh place.
Timberwolves 99, Warriors 96
The Warriors led 96-95 and had possession with 19 seconds left, but Draymond Green naively fumbled under pressure from Kyle Anderson and Karl Anthony Towns hit a 3-pointer with 9.9 seconds left that sent the Californians away.
The Wolves achieved their third consecutive victory and placed seventh in the West (38-37), one win behind the Warriors.
Towns finished his game with fourteen points and four triples, while Naz Reid contributed 23 coming off the bench. For the Warriors, Jordan Poole signed 27.
Celtics 137, Spurs 93
Without Jayson Tatum, who missed the sixth game of his season due to a physical problem, Jaylen Brown directed the resounding victory of the Celtics over the Spurs with 41 points and thirteen rebounds.
Boston, second in the East behind the Bucks, had 57% shooting accuracy, with 19 points, eight rebounds and four 3-pointers from Derrick White. Dominican Al Horford contributed six points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Grizzlies 123, Hawks 119
Morant returned to the Grizzlies starting five and sealed the sixth consecutive victory for the Grizzlies, second in the West and already qualified for the playoffs, with 27 points.
The Hawks dropped to ninth in the East with a margin win over the Bulls despite Trae Young’s 28 points and 10 assists.
Raptors 114, Wizards 104
The Raptors achieved a momentous victory at home against the Wizards in a direct clash for the ‘play-in’ positions, driven by 29 points from OG Anunoby and 28 from Fred VanVleet.
The Canadiens are eighth in the East, while the Wizards lost their fifth game of the last six and are three wins behind the Bulls, tenth, with one more game.
Cavaliers 108, Rockets 91
The Cavaliers easily beat the Rockets, last in the West, with a double double of 24 points and fourteen rebounds from Jarrett Allen and 22 points from Donovan Mitchell.
The Spanish Ricky Rubio contributed two points, a rebound and two assists in 15.31 minutes on the track.
Magic 119, Nets 106
After achieving a great victory on Saturday in Miami, the Nets fell on their visit to the Magic despite the 44 points of a stellar Mikal Bridges.
Eight Magic players finished above ten points, led by Cole Anthony’s 21 and Franz Wagner’s 19, with ten rebounds.
Thunder 118, Trail Blazers 112
After seeing their chances of playing in the postseason fade, the Blazers, without Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons or Jusuf Nurkic, lost their eighth game in the last nine, losing to the ninth-ranked Thunder, tied with the Lakers.
Shai Gilgeous Alexander led again with 31 points and Josh Giddey contributed a double double of 18 points and eleven rebounds.
– Classifications:
Eastern Conference
.1. Milwaukee Bucks 53-21
.2. Boston Celtics 52-23
.3. Philadelphia 76ers 49-25
.4. Cleveland Cavaliers 48-28
.5. New York Knicks 42-33
.6. Brooklyn Nets 40-35
.7. Miami Heat 40-35
.8. Atlanta Hawks 37-38
.9. Toronto Raptors 37-38
10. Chicago Bulls 36-38
11.Indiana Pacers 33-42
12.Washington Wizards 33-42
13. Orlando Magic 32-43
14. Charlotte Hornets 25-51
15. Detroit Pistons 16-58
western conference
.1. Denver Nuggets 50-24
.2. Memphis Grizzlies 47-27
.3. Sacramento Kings 45-29
.4. Phoenix Suns 39-35
.5. LA Clippers 39-36
.6. Golden State Warriors 39-37
.7. Minnesota Timberwolves 38-37
.8. New Orleans Pelicans 37-37
.9. LA Lakers 37-38
10. Oklahoma City Thunder 36-38
11. Dallas Mavericks 36-39
12. Utah Jazz 35-39
13. Portland Trail Blazers 32-41
14. San Antonio Spurs 19-56
15. Houston Rockets 18-57