A night with 15 games in the NBA, many interesting duels, excellent performances, but once again two great Canadians stood out... Jamal Murray led Denver to a triumph over Portland with 55 points (132:121), while Shai Gilges-Alexander stepped up in the last quarter and "took care" of Miami (115:101).
After the disaster against Detroit the day before, Chicago played a much better match against the same rival, our Nikola Vučević achieved another double-double (21 points, 13 rebounds), but the Bulls were defeated once again (128:110).
Luka Dončić played his second game for the LA Lakers, again against Utah, but this time he and LeBron James had to congratulate one of the weaker teams this season (131:119). First of all, it was Lauri Markkanen, as the brilliant Finn led the Salt Lake team to victory with 32 points.
The best indication of what kind of game Jamal Murray played is the fact that he became the player with the third best performance in Denver history - after David Thompson's 73 points in 1978 and Nikola Jokić's 56 points in December.
It was his career match, in which he hit seven three-pointers out of 15 attempts, while Jokić followed him up with another triple-double - 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
His teammate Gilges-Alexander was once again right when the match was breaking down, and Oklahoma tied its seventh triumph in a row, which still makes it the best team in the league.
Interestingly, Miami never lost until the last quarter, but then OKC won the match with a 24:0 run and 14 points in that period from the phenomenal Canadian.
SGA finished the match with 32 points and nine rebounds, while on the other side, Bem Adebayo scored 27 points and had 15 rebounds.
Oklahoma is at 44-9, while Cleveland is close behind in the East at 44-10. The Cavs defeated Toronto 131-108 the previous night, led by Donovan Mitchell with 21 points. The team from Ohio has won eight of its last nine games.
In the second match in a row with Detroit, Chicago scored more points in the first quarter alone (32) than in the entire first half of the previous match (29), but once again fell far short of victory, tying for its fourth consecutive loss.
Along with Vučević, the best player for the Bulls was Ayo Donsunmu with 23 points, while on the other side, the best was Cade Cunningham with 29 points.
LeBron James and Luka Dončić played their second match together, after the Slovenian arrived in Los Angeles following a spectacular trade, but this time there was no celebration.
The Lakers snapped their six-game winning streak, with Luka scoring 16 points against Utah this time, while LeBron finished the match with 18.
The best player for the California team was Rui Hachimura with 19, while Markkanen was followed on the other side by Jordan Clarkson with 21 points.
Dallas is without Doncic and Anthony Davis is injured, but everything is easier when Kyrie Irving is having his day. The Mavs' mastermind scored 42 points in his team's victory over Golden State (111:107).
Results
Chicago - Detroit 110:128
Oklahoma - Miami 115:101
Washington - Indiana 130:134
Orlando - Charlotte 102:86
Boston - San Antonio 116:103
New York - Atlanta 149:148
Brooklyn - Philadelphia 100:96
Toronto - Cleveland 108:131
Minnesota - Milwaukee 101:103
New Orleans - Sacramento 111:119
Houston - Phoenix 119:111
Utah - LA Lakers 131:119
Denver - Portland 132:121
Dallas - Golden State 111:107
LA Clippers - Memphis 128:114
Bonus video:
