Los Angeles (AFP)

In partnership with "Marvel", the stars of the NBA wore superhero clothes on Monday: Russell Westbrook that of "Iron Man", Stephen Curry of "Mr. Fantastic" and Julius Randle of "Black Panther" to win respectively Washington, Golden State and New York.

For the occasion, the televised broadcast of the matches was adorned with a comic book.

Smoke sometimes outlined the trajectory of a shoot, logos appeared with each spectacular basket and the names of the players were embedded in a white rectangle like in a comic book.

.

Jazz and stubborn sixers

Candidate for the title of MVP, Joel Embiid was in an average evening (13 pts, 10 rebounds), but the union made the strength on the side of Philadelphia to win in Chicago (106-94) and keep the lead at the 'Is.

In the end, like the "Avengers", the five holders of the 76ers each scored between 13 and 21 points, a sign of a well-oiled collective game.

In the West, Utah took back control, thanks to his victory against San Antonio (110-99), who owes a lot to his "Colossus" Rudy Gobert, ultra-domineering in the racket (24 pts, 15 rebounds, 3 counters).

.

Raging Knicks

No one has seen them coming this season and they are untenable: the Knicks have lined up a 12th victory in 13 games for the Grizzlies (118-104) to consolidate their 4th place in the East.

This success once again bore the stamp of their "Black Panther" Julius Randle (28 pts, 6 assists), who found invaluable support in his new found "Daredevil", Derrick Rose (25 pts, 11/15 on shots).

As for the formidable defense, it caught in its nets the young "Spiderman" of Memphis (9th in the West), Ja Morant (8 pts, 2/13).

NY is ahead of Atlanta (5th) scorer of Portland (123-114), thanks to the Italian Danilo Gallinari, who unleashed, like "Hawkeye", poisonous arrows (28 pts, 7/10 behind the bow), and to his "Ant-Man" Trae Young who still slipped everywhere (21 pts, 11 assists).

Opposite, Carmelo Anthony (14 pts) became the 10th best scorer in the history of the league ahead of Elvin Hayes, but the Blazers make the bad operation of the evening.

Seventh, behind Dallas, they lose ground on the Lakers, who reassured themselves against Denver (93-89) without LeBron James (ankle).

In "X-Men" mode Anthony Davis (25 pts, 7 rebounds) was decisive in the last seconds by inflicting his 3rd against, just after a winning shot over Nikola Jokic (32 pts, 9 rebounds), the " Dr Strange ”of Nuggets (3rd) nevertheless qualified for the play-offs.

.

Supercharged Wizards

Not content with stringing together the triple-doubles - he is 32 this season, the 178th of his career with three of Oscar Robertson's historic record - Westbrook, Washington's "Iron Man" handyman, achieves rare as the one against Indiana (14 pts, 24 assists, 21 rebounds) determining for the victory (154-141).

This is the third time in history that a "TD" has been successful with a minimum of 20 assists and 20 rebounds.

The legendary Wilt Chamberlain did it first, "RussWest" is two of it.

At 7 games from the end of the regular season, he is sure to finish it with a triple double average.

And this for the 4th time.

At his side, the "silver surfer" Bradley Beal (26 pts) has a valuable offensive relay, for the Wizards (10th) who are approaching a half-victory of the Pacers, whose porous defense made the efforts of Domantas Sabonis (32 pts, 20 rebounds, 9 assists) and Caris LeVert (33 pts).

.

Determined Warriors

In the West, New Orleans (11th) may have lost its chances of hitting the dams, beaten (123-108) by Golden State (8th).

A success due to Curry, his "Mr Fantastic" who for the 9th time this season exceeded the forty point mark (41, 8 assists), supported by Draymond Green, generous in the effort as "Captain America" ​​with a triple -double successful (10 pts, 15 assists, 13 rebounds).

On the Pelicans side, Zion Williamson was as often as strong as "Hulk", but he lacked the rage to crush everything in his path (32 pts, 8 rebounds).

© 2021 AFP