After their victory against Oklahoma City on Thursday, the San Antonio Spurs followed up, a rare occurrence this season, with a success against the Indiana Pacers (117-105). Their French prodigy Victor Wembanyama was once again decisive with 31 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 blocks. Omnipresent, “Wemby” once again showed great three-point skill (3 out of 4), each time making the public and his teammates on the bench roar. He hadn’t scored more than 30 points since January 22.
The Boston Celtics, best team of the season (leading in the East, record of 48 wins and 12 losses), crushed the Golden State Warriors (140-88) for an eleventh consecutive victory. The venerable Massachusetts franchise has thus achieved the 3rd largest success in its long history. On his 26th birthday, Jayson Tatum scored 22 of his 27 points during a devastating first period (82 to 38 at halftime). The Celtics became the first team to win three games in the same season by more than 50 points. The Warriors, led by a Stephen Curry who was quickly put to rest (4 points, no successful long shots) gave up after having already succeeded in their “road trip”, they who remained on three away successes in the week.
The Minnesota Timberwolves ceded the lead in the Western Conference because of their defeat against the Los Angeles Clippers (89-88). Throws from Kawhi Leonard (32 points) made the difference in the final seconds of the game, against Anthony Edwards’ 27 points.
The triple-double of Slovenian magician Luka Doncic (38 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) did not prevent the Dallas Mavericks from losing 120 to 116 against Philadelphia. The New York Knicks deplored the injury exit of their All-Star leader Jalen Brunson, injured in one knee at the start of the match against Cleveland (107-98).
