The Oklahoma City Thunder have also overcome the high hurdle of Salt Lake City. In the East duel, the New York Knicks beat Washington with another strong Isaiah Hartenstein. The NBA on Friday morning
No one is better than him at the board so far in January: Isaiah Hartenstein uses his many minutes of action for the New York Knicks for excellent rebounding work and once again grabbed a whopping 17 rebounds in the 113:109 work victory against cellar dweller Washington Wizards. The German center has averaged 14.3 rebounds since the start of the year – no NBA pro is better in this period.
Harteinstein’s high – he added six points and three assists on Thursday – matches the Knicks’ uptick in form, as they won eight of 10 games in the first month of the year to improve their record to 25-17 (Wizards at 7-33). Point guard Jalen Brunson had an outstanding performance with 41 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Rajakovic complains about the Raptors’ poor shooting
World champion Dennis Schröder and the massively rebuilt Toronto Raptors (16-26) meanwhile conceded their fifth defeat in the last six encounters. In the 110:116 (58:63) defeat against the Chicago Bulls (20-23), the Canadians led by one point with two-and-a-half minutes to go before failing to score a single bucket from the field. Coming off the bench, Schröder scored just seven points with five assists, while DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic (24 each) led the way for the former champions. Toronto is still twelfth in the East and outside the play-off places.
“We missed six or seven threes in a row that would have been good shots – and that affected our defense,” said Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic.
Favorite wins in the West – Mathurin carries the Pacers
Nothing new in the West: The top-ranked Minnesota Timberwolves (30-11) defeated the injury-plagued Memphis Grizzlies (15-26) 118:103 (50:55), dominating the final period 37:17 and recording their fourth win in a row. Anthony Edwards scored 26 of his 28 points in the second half.
The second-placed Oklahoma City Thunder (28-13) won away at the Utah Jazz (22-21) by 134-129 (76-67). The protagonists on the Great Salt Lake were Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31) and Jalen Williams, who scored eleven of his 27 points in the hot final phase. For the first time after six wins in a row, the Jazz (Collin Sexton with 31) suffered another defeat.
The Sacramento Kings (23-18) ultimately lost the West-East duel with the understrength Indiana Pacers (24-17) by the narrow margin of 121-126. Benedict Mathurin scored the best for the Carlisle team (25), which was still without new signing Pascal Siakam. All-Star Tyrese Haliburton is still missing from Indiana’s control center with a hamstring injury. Kevin Huerter scored a career-best 31 points for the Kings, while Domantas Sabonis notched up his third triple-double in a row (21/11/10).
