Los Angeles (AFP)
Hard-working or easy-going, Milwaukee and the Clippers held on to their title contenders on Monday, the day the entire NBA said a final farewell to Kobe Bryant in an emotional ceremony at the Staples Center.
. Bucks beat Beal
Decompression phenomenon? First team qualified for the play-offs, moreover the earliest in history in 56 regular season games (two less than the Warriors of 2016 and 2017), Milwaukee suffered a thousand evils to win in Washington after extra time (137-134).
Bradley Beal's fault. In the aftermath of his 53 points scored in the Chicago setback, he managed 55, still breaking his personal best. He is the first to achieve a back-to-back at least 50 points since ... Kobe Bryant in 2007.
The leader of the Wizards was especially magical in the 4th quarter, his 22 points having forced the Bucks to play five more minutes, during which his 7 points were however insufficient to create the feat.
Because in front of him, Khris Middleton managed 9 of his 40 points in overtime, taking over from Giannis Antetokounmpo, who left prematurely for 6 faults and limited to 22 points, 14 rebounds. Additional proof of the Bucks' resources, but also of their margin against a team like Washington, where Ian Mahinmi, incumbent, managed 10 points and 5 rebounds.
. The Clippers' awakening
Unhappy with the third consecutive defeat conceded Sunday against Sacramento, Kawhi Leonard, usually stingy in speech, had enjoined his partners to "get back to playing well". It is done and Memphis paid the price (124-97).
As the leader, the rear set an example, scoring 14 of his 25 points in the only first quarter won 40-14 against the Grizzlies who wore the vintage jersey of their hometown of Vancouver for the occasion . It didn't really bring them luck.
Voluntary and applied, the Clippers kept their thirty points ahead thanks also to Montrezl Harrell (22 pts, at 9/11), somewhat reassuring their fans, to maintain themselves in 3rd place in the West.
. Philadelphia catches up with Miami
Good or bad, habits have been kept by the Sixers and the Heat. The first have again demonstrated that they are masters of their prosecution, with a 27th victory (2 defeat) against Atlanta (129-112), the second confirmed that he was still traveling as badly with an 18th setback (13 successes) conceded after extension in Cleveland (125-119).
In the absence of Ben Simmons, touched on the back, Joel Embiid was the great architect of the victory for + Philly + by scoring 49 points, his personal best, accompanied by 14 rebounds.
Jimmy Butler also defaulted in Miami on the Cavs' floor and it felt from the third quarter, as Cleveland went 22 points behind to reverse the situation.
"We can not do worse. If we continue, we will lose all our away games," railed Bam Adebayo, the only one to hold his rank among the Floridians (22 pts, 13 rbds, 9 assists).
Miami is still fourth in the east at the moment, but Philadelphia is close behind.
. Houston advances, Utah regresses
The Rockets were able to count on James Harden, prolific (37 pts, including 30 in the first period, 9 assists) and skilful (14/25 on shots), to garner a 4th straight victory against New York (123-112).
In a less virtuous series, the Jazz conceded its third consecutive defeat at home against Phoenix (131-111), despite 38 points from Donovan Mitchell. Rudy Gobert settled for 13 points and 8 rebounds.
Consequence: Houston took a slight lead in 4th place over Utah (5th).
. The Frenchies
With 21 points scored, Evan Fournier largely contributed to the significant success of Orlando in Brooklyn (115-113). The Magic secures a little more its 8th place in the East, the last qualifier for the play-offs, even approaching the Nets (7th) of Thimoté Luwawu-Cabarrot (3 pts, 6 rbds).
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