There was no Viktor Vembanyama, but even that does not diminish another great NBA night by Nikola Vucevic...
Although he started his 14th season in the strongest league in the world, the Montenegrin center plays like in his best days - with 39 points, eight rebounds and five assists, he led Chicago to a victory in Texas against San Antonio (139: 124).
"Start the All-Star campaign for Vucevic," said Ajo Dosunmu, a teammate of our center.
It was Dosunmu who was the best alongside Vucevic in "Frost Bank Center", as he reached a triple-double (27 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds), so the Bulls tied two triumphs and are now 10-13.
"Dosunmu was fantastic, posting a utility rating of +23, but the most notable performance came from the veteran who seemed to turn back the clock and deliver a performance reminiscent of his All-Star games," Sports Illustrated wrote.
The performance of 39 points is one of the best in Vučević's career, since he scored more four times - the record remains 43 points in the match with Golden State almost two years ago and against "his" Orlando in 2021.
Interestingly, he also scored 42 and 41 points against his former club from Florida.
For the Spurs, who are struggling without the first star of Vembanyama, the best player was Keldon Johnson, who scored 28 points.
The evening derby was played in Ohio, where Cleveland continued its incredible games against Denver this season - the Cavs reached a score of 20-3 with a 126:114 victory.
Maybe the Nuggets didn't shine, but Nikola Jokić once again pushed the boundaries - the guy from Sombor climbed to third place in NBA history for the number of triple-double effects.
He recorded 27 points, 20 rebounds and 11 assists, which is his 139th triple-double, so he passed the legend of Irvine Magic Johnson on the eternal list, and Russell Westbrook (200) and Oscar Robertson (181) remained in front of him.
Cleveland "crushed" Denver with 7,24 shots outside the line, as Kenny Atkinson's boys made 22 three-pointers and finished the 28th game in a row with at least 10 three-pointers per game.
Donovan Mitchell with 28 points and six rebounds, Darius Garland with 24 points, Chris Levert with 21 points and six assists and Evan Mobley with 20 points and nine rebounds led the Cavs to victory.
Dallas also celebrated, which was better than Washington (137:101) - it was the Wizards' 16th consecutive loss, which tied the franchise's negative record.
The most effective player in the winning team was Kyri Irving with 25 points, while Luka Dončić also improved on the list of triple-double performances.
With 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, the Slovenian master reached his 78th triple-double and tied for seventh place on the all-time list with Wilt Chamberlain and Jayce Harden.
Even without Steph Curry and Draymond Green, Golden State won over Houston (99:93), with 33 points from Jonathan Cumminga.
Results
San Antonio - Chicago 124:139
Cleveland - Denver 126:114
Memphis - Sacramento 115:110
Golden State - Houston 99:93
Washington - Dallas 101:137
New York - Charlotte 125:101
Toronto - Oklahoma 92:129
New Orleans - Phoenix 126:124
Bonus video:
