The Bucks once again underlined their ambitions, two other teams stopped their free fall – and Bogdan Bogdanovic made it rain in Oklahoma. The NBA on Monday.
Champion Milwaukee Bucks won the top game against the Phoenix Suns and handed the league’s current best team only their 13th loss of the season. For the reigning champions it was the fourth win in a row and the third against another top team. The Bucks had already won against the Miami Heat on Wednesday and the Chicago Bulls on Friday, also coming back from a deficit in each case.
With his season-best 44 points, Khris Middleton was the most successful thrower on the field in the 132-122 win and also clearly outshone Giannis Antetokounmpo with his 19 points. It was the first time the Suns had played in Milwaukee since losing the final series for the title last season. The Suns, however, had to continue to do without their stars Chris Paul and Devin Booker. Paul has a broken thumb and Booker is on the league’s Corona list. The Bucks climbed to third in the Eastern Conference with the win and are becoming more and more of a candidate for a title defence.
Tatum excels against Durant & Co.
Even before that, the Boston Celtics had already won their home game against the Brooklyn Nets and again proved their recent strong form. Jayson Tatum had an outstanding night with 54 points and set a personal season best. “It’s fun the way we’re playing. Everybody’s helping, we’re having fun,” the 24-year-old said on US television after the 126-120 win over the team led by Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Durant finished with 37 points in his second game back from injury and Irving had 19.
Like Tatum and Middleton, Nikola Jokic also had a strong evening. Last season’s MVP scored a triple double for the Denver Nuggets in a 138-130 overtime win over the New Orleans Pelicans. With a total of 46 points, twelve rebounds and eleven assists, the Serb recorded 30 points after the third quarter alone. A combination of a triple double with at least 40 points and four blocks was last achieved by LeBron James in the NBA twelve years ago.
Rockets surprise without Schröder
The Memphis Grizzlies, who have played so furiously this season, surprisingly lost 112-123 at the Houston Rockets, who had to do without national player Dennis Schröder, who injured his ankle, for the third time. For Houston (Kevin Porter Jr. with 29 points) it was the first win after twelve defeats in a row.
Ex-Maverick Kristaps Porzingis led his new team to a 133-123 win over the Indiana Pacers in his first game for the Washington Wizards, keeping alive their hopes of qualifying for the play-offs. And Bogdan Bogdanovic set a new franchise record for the Utah Jazz with eleven converted threes in a 116-103 win at the Oklahoma City Thunder. The 32-year-old forward sank 11 of his 18 attempts and totalled 35 points.
And look: The New York Knicks can win after all – after seven losses in a row RJ Barrett (24/9) and his team mates managed a 116:93 at the L.A. Clippers with Isaiah Hartenstein.
