Los Angeles (AFP)

The Clippers who beat the Miami Heat with an unprecedented triple-double from Kawhi Leonard, the Bucks from Giannis Antetokounmpo to their advantage in Paris and an XXL performance by Russell Westbrook: the main lessons of Friday's NBA evening.

- Leonard sees triple (double) -

In a nine-year NBA career, Kawhi Leonard had never done it before. The Clippers' winger, designated Thursday holder of the All Star Game for the 4th time Thursday, achieved his first triple-double. The Klaw's 33 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists (for 2 interceptions and 1 against) greatly contributed to the Los Angeles team’s victory over the Miami Heat (122-117), second in the conference is. Leonard is definitely going at full speed these days. The former Raptors winger, NBA champion last season, has just scored at least 30 points for his seventh consecutive game. The Clippers remain third in the west (32 wins - 14 losses).

- The Bucks love Paris -

Nothing stops the Bucks, not even the jet lag. In Paris, Milwaukee dominated Charlotte (116-103) in the first regular season game ever organized in France by the NBA. A host of stars have helped fill the Paris-Bercy arena like an egg: Kylian Mbappé and Neymar, judoka Teddy Riner and decathlon world record holder Kévin Mayer. Among the former basketball players, Michael Jordan had made the trip as boss of the Hornets, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, champion with the Bucks in 1971, as well as Tony Parker. The Bucks, with Antetokounmpo still performing (30 pts, 16 rbds, 6 assists), made Nicolas Hornum's Hornets fold (5 pts, 6 rbds, 5 assists). With now 40 wins for 6 losses, Milwaukee maintains the best record in the League.

- 45 points for Westbrook -

After a difficult period - 4 losses in a row - the Rockets are back in orbit. The Houston team signed a second success in a row, at the expense of Minnesota (131-124), during an evening marked by the XXL performance of Westbrook. The former Oklahoma City leader scored 45 points (for 6 rebounds and 10 assists), his biggest total since arriving in Texas last summer. "RussWest", who racked up 27 points after half-time, overshadowed his friend James Harden. The latter had only 12 points (4 rbds, 5 assists) to get his teeth into and failed any of his six attempts behind the arc. "The Beard" has never had so few points this season.

- Williamson stands out -

The Zion Williamson nugget has shone again. The N.1 of the 2019 draft stacked 15 points, 6 rebounds and 1 against (very authoritarian) in 21 minutes of play with the New Orleans Pelicans without preventing the defeat against Denver (113-106). The former winger of the University of Duke managed a second successful result in a row, certainly less impactful than that of Wednesday against San Antonio (defeat 121-117 of the Pelicans) against whom he had scored 22 points including 17 in less than 4 minutes for his big NBA debut. The phenomenon of massive size (1.98 m, 129 kg), had been removed from the floors for three months due to a right knee operation. If his performance on Friday did not go unnoticed, that of Nikola Jokic either. The Serbian interior signed a double-double (27 pts, 12 rbds) to lead the Nuggets, 4th in the west, to their 31st success.

- The night of the Frenchies -

Evan Fournier aligned 30 points (and 5 rbds) with Orlando but that was not enough to prevent defeat against Boston (109-98) where Vincent Poirier was little used (2 rbds, 1 pass, 1 against in 10 minutes). Frank Ntilikina also played little with the Knicks (2 pts, 3 rebounds, 3 assists in 13 minutes), dominated by Toronto (118-112). Sekou Doumbouya (5 pts, 3 rbds, 1 pass) also had a difficult evening with Detroit against Memphis (defeat 125-112).

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