Kyrie Irving put in his best performance of the season to lead the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets to victory at the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday. Ja Morant had an even stronger performance in Memphis.
Irving finished with 38 points and five rebounds and assists apiece in a 126-123 win at Milwaukee on Saturday night (local time). It was only the guard’s 15th outing of the current season. He had missed the first 35 games of the season because he refused a vaccination against the corona virus. Irving is not allowed to play any home games in Brooklyn due to New York’s vaccination requirements.
For the Nets, who had won only two of their previous 15 games, the win at the reigning champions was very important in the battle for the play-offs. Brooklyn, who are still without injured superstar Kevin Durant and newcomer Ben Simmons, are currently only eighth in the Eastern Conference. The Nets will be without Irving again for Monday’s home game against the Toronto Raptors.
Morant pours in 46 points for Bulls – Miami take top spot in East
In the top game of the day, the Memphis Grizzlies took a 116-110 win over the Chicago Bulls. The outstanding man on the field was Ja Morant, who contributed 46 points to the victory and thus reaches at least 40 points for the fifth time this season. The Grizzlies consolidated third place in the Western Conference with the win, while the Bulls lost first place in the East to the Miami Heat, who won their home game against the San Antonio Spurs 133-129.
The Boston Celtics won their second game after the All-Star break even without Daniel Theis. The Celtics won 113-104 (56-54) at the Detroit Pistons on Saturday and came to their eleventh success from the past twelve games. Jaylen Brown with 27 and Jayson Tatum with 26 points were the best scorers for the winners. Theis was not used by coach Ime Udoka.
