Five games of the NBA basketball championship were played during the Italian night and among the highlighted results were the victory of the Los Angeles Clippers over Denver and those of Philadephia in Miami.
With the defeat against the Clippers (102-100) Denver loses the top spot in the Western Conference and momentarily slips to second place. Even without Leonard, the Californian team managed to make a comeback after having been down by 17 points against the reigning champions (without Murray). The Clippers smile thanks to 28 points from Paul George, 20 from James Harden and 14 with 15 rebounds from Zubac. Yet another triple double (36 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists) from the usual Nikola Jokic isn't enough for the Nuggets.
Third victory in a row for the Philadelphia 76ers (42-35), who beat the Miami Heat (42-34) 105-109 and are now threatening sixth and seventh place in the Eastern Conference. Tyrese Maxey was decisive, coming close to a triple double (37-9-11), but Joel Embiid also did his part with 29; on the other side 6 in double figures and Terry Rozier at 22.
Comeback success for New York which wins 120-109 at Madison Square Garden over Sacramento. Jalen Brunson was unleashed, scoring 35 points and 11 assists and, aided by Hart (31 with 9 rebounds and 8 winning passes), nullified Fox's excellent evening (29 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists).
Golden State dominates the direct clash with Houston and is increasingly closer to the play-in in the Western Conference: 133-110 is worth a four-game advantage over Houston with six matches left for both of them until the end of the Regular Season. Steph Curry scored 29 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. There are 29 also for Klay Thompson.
Dallas beats Atlanta 109-95 to consolidate a place in the playoffs. The Mavericks, led by the usual Luka Doncic (25 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists), overturned the +6 (31-25) of the first quarter and already spread in the second (40-26), closing the first half at 65-57 and stretching in the second half. Dejounte Murray's 16 points and Bogdanovic's 17 were not enough for the Hawks, while Kyrie Irving (26) also contributed to Dallas' success.
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