Even another strong performance by Franz Wagner was not enough to lead Orlando to their third win in a row. Convincing: defending champion Milwaukee and James Harden for the Sixers. The NBA on Thursday morning.
The Philadelphia 76ers underlined their ambitions in the home debut of newcomer James Harden. “The Beard” shone in the duel with the New York Knicks with 26 points. Top star Harden was more successful on his home debut for the Philadelphia 76ers. Harden, who came to Philadelphia from the Brooklyn Nets in a high-profile blockbuster trade, had 26 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the 123-108 win. Joel Embiid (27/12) and Tyrese Maxey (25) helped heavily in the Sixers’ 38th win of the season.
They’re knocking on the top in the East louder and louder. The top 4 in the conference are only three wins apart. Defending champion Milwaukee Bucks (38:25) are also among them, even more so after the remarkably turned top duel with primus Miami (41:22). Despite trailing by 15 points with six minutes to go, the Bucks, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, rallied for a 120-119 home win after long being unable to do anything against the visitors’ three-point barrage (21, six by Tyler Herro alone, 30 points). Antetokounmpo’s 28 points and 17 rebounds gave the Bucks a successful start to their top week with an away game against the Chicago Bulls (second in the East) on Friday and a home game against the West-leading Phoenix Suns on Sunday.
The Suns won their duel with the Portland Trail Blazers even without their top stars Chris Paul and Devin Booker clearly with 120-90 – it was already the 50th win of the season for the team from Arizona.
28 Wagner points, an injured Schröder ankle
The Orlando Magic, meanwhile, missed out on a third straight win as they blew an 18-point lead against the Indiana Pacers and lost in overtime. After the 114-122 loss, Berlin’s Franz Wagner, his team’s best scorer with 28 points, said: “This is a good opportunity to learn something.” The rookie was particularly impressive in a sequence shortly after the halftime break, when he collected twelve points in five minutes of play. But the Magic buckled after the third quarter, committing too many ball losses that led to easy Pacers points.
National player Dennis Schröder did not play in the Houston Rockets’ 127-132 overtime win over the Utah Jazz due to a right ankle injury.
