The defending champion, Golden State, led by Klay Thompson, engulfed the Thunder (141-114) on Monday and made the NBA wait on the eve of the match which could allow LeBron James to become the best scorer in the history of the League.
Against this same team from Oklahoma, Tuesday with his Lakers, "
King
" James can indeed exceed the legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points).
And, since he only lacks 36 units for that, he can draw inspiration from the performance of Klay Thompson, aerial with the Warriors (42 pts) against a non-existent Thunder or almost after the first quarter.
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The Golden State guard himself almost broke a record, certainly a personal one, by scoring a total of 12 three-point shots – he only needed two to do as well as one night in 2018. Never mind;
Klay Thompson is still released under the ovation of the Californian public, after the 2nd and 3rd quarter during which Oklahoma conceded a 73-42.
In fact, it was the entire Warriors team who proved to be skillful at three points (26 out of 50), in the wake of Thompson but also Jordan Poole (21 pts, 12 assists and four rebounds) .
Enough to boost the morale of the defending champions, deprived for an indefinite period of Stephen Curry, injured, even if Klay Thompson admitted a slight frustration after being released at the end of the match.
"
I was on the hunt
" (from his personal three-point basket record, Ed), he gritted a little, before changing his mind.
“
But we will quickly follow up with another match on Wednesday (…).
Besides, I don't think the basketball gods like it when you're aiming for records.
They should happen naturally.
»
If the Warriors (7th, 28 v., 26 d.) will still have to work hard to move up the Western Conference standings, the horizon is clearer in the East for Milwaukee, which won an eighth straight victory on Monday, in Portland (127-108).
Giannis Antetokounmpo was obviously there, with 24 points and 13 rebounds, but the Greek giant left the spotlight on the scoreboard to Brook Lopez (27 pts).
Among the Traiblazers, Damian Lillard could not do anything despite his 28 pts.
Thanks to this convincing success, the Bucks, 2nd with a record of 37-17, keep under pressure the leader Boston (38-16), winner at the same time in Detroit (111-99).
Orphan of Jaylen Brown (adductors), Jayson Tatum took matters into his own hands (34 pts and 11 rebounds), to allow the C's to erase Friday's misstep against the Suns and therefore remain in control.
The Celtics star, who had achieved a poor 3 of 15 shooting against Phoenix, however, took time to manage to settle the sights (only 3 of 13 in the first period).
"
I just needed to wake up a bit
," said Tatum, who resumed his march forward in the third quarter with 18 pts scored.
Is it the same for the Massachusetts franchise?
Lately, "
we haven't played as well as we would have liked
," he noted, as Boston is coming off a four-game losing streak in six games.
"
We just had to react by keeping our objective in mind (the title, editor's note), and by continuing to work in this direction
, ”he added.
In the other meetings, Brooklyn lost 124-116 at home against the LA Clippers, authors of a good collective performance and which consolidate their 4th place in the West.
Conversely, the Nets continue to cough, still without Kevin Durant (convalescing) and now without Kyrie Irving, whose new franchise, Dallas, won in Utah (124-111) despite the absence of its Slovenian star Luka Doncic (heel).
From star, this Tuesday evening (from 4:00 am, Paris time), there will be only one: in Los Angeles, on the floor of the former Staples center, where LeBron James therefore has a possible date with history.
