Raptors 100 – Cavs 88
The Raptors win in the return of Paskal Siakam, the most important of the several casualties they have suffered in recent games. The Cameroonian returned to a high level and had 18 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists in 30 minutes of play. The Toronto team had gone 5-5 in his absence and improved their home record to 8-2, one of the best in the league. Although the Canadians are recovering troops, Juancho Hernangómez remains in the starting five. His situation has changed radically with the absence of his teammates and now he seems to have the full confidence of his coach, Nick Nurse. Today he has achieved 5 points, 6 rebounds and 1 block in 20 minutes. The Cavs, in a kind of game slump that makes them string wins and losses, see how the Pacers and Sixers, and also the Raptors themselves a bit, begin to threaten their third place in the East. Donovan Mitchell had a night to forget, making just 27.3% of the shots he attempted and staying at a season-low 8 points scored.
Pelicans 105 – Thunder 101
Zion Williamson multiplied in the Pelicans’ win over the Thunder. With the absence of the other two stars of the team, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum, the power forward did everything on the court and everything well. He is undoubtedly in one of the best moments of his career. The 8 assists that he distributed, a personal record, completely upset the rival defense, which we assume would have prepared for his attacks towards the basket, but to see him distribute the game like the best of point guards. He had 23 points in what was his 100th NBA game. In that time he has 2,524, the most for any player since Michael Jordan. Neither did Larry Nance, a backup center for the Pelicans who is playing pretty well so far. This circumstance was taken advantage of by Willy Hernangómez, who contributed good minutes (17) to the team, with 10 points and 9 rebounds. An oasis in a difficult season for him.
Nuggets 129 – Rockets 113
The Denver Nuggets little by little seem to occupy the position to which they seemed destined this season, after recovering all their troops. The most important Jamal Murray, who against the Rockets has achieved his best score of the season with 31 goals. The Colorado team is second in the West after linking three victories and has the lead, in the hands of the Suns, one game away. Nikola Jokic was like Nikola Jokic, staying 2 assists away from the triple double (32+12+8). The Rockets had managed to slightly straighten a catastrophic course at the start of the season, but they remain at the bottom of the Western conference and at the moment only the Pistons have a worse record than them. Usman Garuba continues to have minutes from the bench. In this case 11, for 4 points and 3 rebounds.