In Los Angeles, you really have to start worrying: The Dallas Mavericks continued to threaten the Lakers’ play-off participation.
The situation of the Lakers is getting worse game by game these days. Tuesday night, the record champions, playing without the ailing LeBron James, suffered their next defeat – Luka Doncic excelled with a triple-double (34/12/12) in a 123-110 loss. As a result, the Lakers (31-44 record) themselves slipped out of tenth place – the last one still eligible for the play-in games.
The 2020 champions are stumbling, the 2021 champions are doing better: The Milwaukee Bucks beat Philadelphia 118-116 and are on the brink of a secure play-off ticket, even first place is still possible in the East. In the duel of the superstars, Giannis Antetokounmpo (40 points, 14 rebounds) had the edge over James Harden (32 points, nine assists) in the end – “The Beard” missed the potential “Game Winner” just like co-star Joel Embiid, who was blocked by the “Greek Freak” one second before the end.
Meanwhile, Harden’s former team from Brooklyn, currently eighth, celebrated an important success against the Detroit Pistons. The exceptional Kevin Durant excelled in the 130-123 win, scoring 41 points and pulling down eleven rebounds.
