Two days after their confrontation which turned to the advantage of Utah, the Jazz confirmed their current excellent form at the expense of New Orleans (118-102) and Denver smiled again by beating Oklahoma City (119-101) , Tuesday in the NBA.
The Salt Lake City franchise had no trouble defeating the Pelicans on its floor, in the presence of a few masked spectators authorized to attend the meeting.
A sixth victory in a row, the tenth in 14 games, which allows him to join the Clippers in 2nd place in the Western Conference, just behind the Lakers.
Donovan Mitchell was the leader of the Jazz attack with 28 points registered at 9/15 on shots (7 rebounds), well helped by Jordan Clarkson (18 pts) and Joe Ingles who made 5 long distance baskets out of six attempted ( 15 pts) when leaving the bench.
The other star of the team, Rudy Gobert was still dissuasive in defense with his 14 rebounds and 3 blocks, not to mention a contribution of 13 points (6/8 on shots).
However, he was strong in the face with the phenomenon Zion Williamson, who planted 32 points (14/19 on shots) but was too alone for New Orleans (12th).
The Nuggets react
The start of the season for the unfortunate finalists of the Western Conference in the last play-offs, eliminated by the Lakers, is not obvious.
If the man with the gold hands Nikola Jokic is constant in excellence, this is not the case for the team which had a record of 7 defeats and 6 wins before receiving the Thunder.
And 48 minutes later, they rebalanced the scales after a finally convincing victory.
If Denver (now 9th in the West) has shown the best, it necessarily owes it to its Serbian interior, author of 27 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists in just 28 minutes.
It was in his wake that the gap grew in the 2nd and 3rd quarters to peak at 23 points, at the start of the final period.
If Jamal Murray was very little in sight (5 pts, to 2/10) - the only downside of the night for the Nuggets - his replacement Monte Morris stood out (13 pts), notably registering a double-step after a marvel pass behind and between the legs of the Argentinian Facundo Campazzo.
In the ranks of OKC (11th), Shai Gilgeous Alexander was contained to 14 points (7 assists) and it was Luguentz Dort who finished top scorer, while the French rookie Théo Maledon brought 7 points (3 assists) .
Foot fracture for McCollum
Portland point guard CJ McCollum will be out of court for at least the next four weeks after breaking his left foot, his NBA team said on Tuesday.
"It's just bad timing, terrible timing," pleaded McCollum the day after past exams which revealed a fracture of the lateral wedge bone.
An initial diagnosis had established a sprain after he was stepped on the inside foot of Atlanta Clint Capela on Saturday.
The 29-year-old, author of an excellent start to the season (26.7 pts on average) left his partners briefly after this action, before returning and then finally giving up on continuing the match, during which he had 16 points in 19 minutes.
McCollum's injury is a blow to the Blazers, who also lamented the fractured wrist of pivot Jusuf Nurkic last week.
The latter, who will have to undergo the operation, will be absent for at least six weeks.
Portland is currently 6th in the Western Conference.
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